Hauling More Stuff… The Clinch Wallet

I, like probably most guys used to have a traditional leather wallet that was crammed full of cards and all that other junk that seems to somehow, magically end up in your wallet. It was sufficiently stuffed with plastic that was impossible to put in a pocket anyway, so I always carried it in a small sling bag (such as the these) with my other essentials...Keys, MP3 player, cell phone, bits of paper that wouldn't fit in my wallet… you know, essentials. I used this set up for most of my adult life and for the most part this worked out just fine… Right up until my dexterity started to go…

The traditional wallet became problematic for accessing any of the cards your ID, and being a fold wallet, it would often get stuck or hung up when I would try to pull it out. This started to become very inconvenient, and quickly quite frustrating.

The first thing that I was suggested to try was one of those "as seen on TV" aluminum fold wallets. This didn't really work for me, I will write more about it in another post.

The next wallet I found was the clinch wallet which I discovered while researching the grab it pack (discussed in another post here). At first I was a little skeptical that it would live up to all the claims it makes. But, I figured that it wasn't very expensive and worth a try. Besides, when I purchased it from http://www.clinchwallet.com/ they offered a package deal with a grab it pack which gives me free shipping… Essentially giving the wallet for just about free. So why not?

I have to admit, I am very pleased with the clinch wallet and grab it pack. The wallet really does hold as much as it says it does, everything remains easily accessible, and doesn't thicken up as the traditional fold wallet does. There are a few card pockets that are little tighter than others, these tend to be the plastic ones and getting things out is a little more tricky. But this is no big deal as I put things like my ID and cards I don't need often, or simply need to display in them.

It also has three nylon pockets for cards. These are great for the cards you need to use often, like your credit or debit cards. The nylon these cards slide in and out very easily.

The clinch wallet also comes with a lanyard chain, which I found to be quite cool but because of my dexterity limitations, it gets in the way. I removed that and replaced it with a large zipper pull tab which makes it just a little bit easier for me to fish out of the grab it pack. the great thing is that the wallet is actually designed for the large pouch of the grab it pack. It fits perfectly with room to spare, the enough so you can get your hand in to grab it quite easily, even with my messed up hands. Not to mention that both of these products being made of nylon means the slide against each other with very little resistance.

The one thing that I really had to do because of my dexterity limitations was reduce the amount of Velcro on the opening tab. This was simply done by sticking another piece of Velcro on for most of the opening tab, reducing the amount of contact when it's closed. Making it easier to open.

The clinch wallet is a great replacement to the traditional fold wallet. I can once again fit all my cards into one wallet and I find that with a slight modification made with to the opening tab, it works really well for me with my dexterity limitations… I highly recommend it.

Pro: 

• great, discreet looking wallet
• hold a huge number of cards and remains thin. You should never suffer from the exploding wallet again.
• fits perfectly with the grab it pack

Con:

At the moment, I don't really have any. I'm very pleased with the product and its price.

Cost:
If you were to purchase the wallet by itself it will cost you US8$ plus about 7$ for shipping. If you purchase it with the grab it pack, they pay for your shipping. I bought the package deal.

Recommendations:
The clinch wallet is well worth trying and I highly recommend the package deal with the grab it pack.

Dealing with Zippers

One of the first things that really started to get in my way after my fine dexterity started to go was dealing with zippers. Grabbing the end of the zipper just became increasingly difficult and now it's pretty much impossible.

Around about this time I also started attending a rehabilitation facility here in Montréal or had access to ergo therapist. I explained this problem to them in the solution they came back to me was... keyrings.

Now the idea of having a shiny silver keyring hanging from my zipper did not appeal to me. Sure it would work and I did find it rather humorous to have something that resembled the pin on a grenade hanging from my jeans, I felt it would look odd and attract attention to me and my disability. Now of course there's all sorts of the zipper pull options out there, but to be honest I actually had a hard time finding them in my local sporting goods stores. And yes I could have also had some made at the local shoe cobblers as well.

What's interesting here is not so much the zipper tab itself, as where I got them… And the best thing is I got about 30 of them for free! Enough for me to address every pair of pants and shorts that I own… And then some…

The first thing I did was to walk into the local Mountain equipment co-op store  showed them the ones I had on my bag, explain my situation and asked if that were possible to acquire some. The customer service person was more than happy to do so and gave me what was on hand which is only three or four of them. Once again for free.

Obviously, this wasn't quite enough to address my needs. So I got on the phone and called Mountain equipment co-op's online customer service directly. I once again explain the situation and what I was looking for to the agent and I would be more than happy to purchase number of them. He paused for a second and said "don't worry about it, I will send out a bunch classified as a repair".

I've always liked shopping at Mountain equipment co-op anyway, then this level of generosity and customer service I thought was just great. Sometimes all you have to do is ask ;-)

What I particularly like about the zipper pulls is there discrete, durable and little plastic knob at the end makes it reasonably easy to grab. There are a couple different types, the ones they sent me have a little small plastic knob. But the better ones I find is you can actually get a form longer plastic knob to grab onto. Those are the best…

Also if you prefer to purchase some or are having a hard time finding some, I find you can order  zipper pulls online at CPGear for about $2C a pair. I find this to be a little bit expensive, so maybe it would be worth shopping around at various online military surplus/tactical stores.

Cost: free!
Pro: much more discreet than a key ring, easy to grab… did I mention I got them for free?
Con: there are various types, and the wrong ones might not address your dexterity needs.