It’s a constant quest ’round these parts to find the thinnest, lightest wallet. Mark Winstein was tired of his thick, leather wallet and not happy with the duct tape, Tyvek, and rubber band “slim” wallets he’d seen, so he designed the Butterfly Wallet. Made from super-thin ripstop nylon, it weighs only 0.2 ounces (less than the weight of a quarter) and is 3mm thin when empty. Its design is simple: classic wallet style with a full-length bill slot and three card slots that hold multiple cards. It’s available in six colors for $14.95 each.
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All-ETT has been doing this for years. They are even slimmer.
http://www.all-ett.com/
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@kirkrr – Appreciate that feedback. I am aware of ALL-ETT, as well as their main competitor Big Skinny. Both of these companies claim to produce the “world’s thinnest wallets” and I’d love to try out both of them to evaluate these claims.
However, no product is perfect for everyone, and where ALL-ETT and Big Skinny may not work for some folks for various reasons, Butterfly Wallet may be a perfect fit. It’s good to have options in a free market economy. 😉
I have an ALL-ETT original wallet in leather and it’s a great idea – every four credit cards add a single credit card thickness to the wallet. Unfortunately, all the credit cards slide towards the center fold and if the credit card slots aren’t stuffed, they can slide out too easily as you search for a card.
The Butterfly looks interesting but it has the problem that all the cards overlap so four cards add four card thicknesses to the wallet.
Ages ago I had a wallet that was the size of the ALL-ETT but instead of built in pockets it had a multi=page plastic insert which snugly held two credit cards per page. Unfortunately the plastic broke down eventually and I’ve never been able to find a similar wallet.
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@HildyJ – Thanks for your feedback. I think the original ALL-ETT would work well for someone who is trying to minimize the thickness of their wallet and doesn’t mind increasing its footprint to do so. The Butterfly Wallet (and some of the ALL-ETT styles also) would work well for someone who is trying to balance both minimizing thickness as well as minimizing footprint.
Another American sellout. I was considering buying one of these but checked out their facebook page where the creator of the wallet said they were forced to have these made in China because of the better quality! They couldn’t find a company in America that could meet their quality standards. Can you believe that? Quality and China in the same sentence??? It’s all about profit!
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@JD – I agree somewhat with you comments. It is a bit disappointing to see an entrepreneur of a small American company feel like he has to go to China for manufacturing. But I don’t know if I believe that the quality was much better in China. Instead, I suspect that it was all about reducing manufacturing cost so as to be able to sell a profitable product. Which, when you are selling a product with as low a price as the Butterfly Wallet must be difficult to achieve. Based on my experience, I do think that many products made in China are just simply poorer in quality than American-made products, but this is a not a rule: iPhones and many other high-tech products are made in China and are some of the highest-quality products on the market.
@Andy – Yes, that was my point. I don’t believe for a second that an American company cannot produce a simple wallet that’s equal or greater in quality than one made in China. It just bugs me that the creator of the wallet is trying to use that excuse as a reason for having them made there when it’s obvious he’s doing it for the cost reduction. There is a greater profit margin using Chinese sweatshops instead of hiring Americans to produce them.
While it’s true that SOME products made in China (like the iPhone) may be high quality, those are exceptions to the rule. For the most part, MADE IN CHINA = junk.
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@JD – I agree 100% with those comments. (Sorry it may have come across otherwise in my comment above.)