The top questions to consider when choosing a wallet: 1) Size-How thin? 2) How much do you want to carry in the wallet? 3) Where to carry your wallet: Front or back pocket, or purse? 4) Coin pocket? 5) RFID protection? 6) Billfold area to stretch out cash or fold it up? 7) Style: Bi-fold, tri-fold or no fold? 8) Versatility-water resistant sports nylon and machine washable, or classic leather?
Our Big Skinny Wallet filters on the left side of our product pages can help you zero in on the right wallet quickly by choosing the answers to these top questions. Start by clicking these options: Shop for men's wallets or Shop for Women's Wallets or Card Case Wallets
If you are buying for yourself or someone else, the decision-making process is very similar.
Let's examine those top 8 questions in greater detail:
1) How Thin Do You Want? Leather Hybrid or Nylon?
Our Big Skinny nylon wallets are wildly thinner since they are entirely crafted from our proprietary nylon which is only .22 mm thin–Big Skinny are the thinnest wallets in the world. Our nylon material has a non-slip side that faces your bills and cards so it’s harder to lose your goods to gravity–these are not your grandparents' thick nylon velcro wallets!
Our Big Skinny leather hybrid wallets are STILL about 50% thinner and lighter than traditional leather wallets because our ultra-thin nylon does all the work on the inside while the super thin top grain leather keeps the outside beautiful. Only the best quality top grain leather is used because it is the only leather that can be cut thin enough and still hold up over time. Our leather hybrid outer layer is around .95 to 1.11 mm depending on the model whereas regular leather wallets are usually at the very least 2.6 mm thick or much more. Then once you add up all the leather card pockets in regular leather wallets, you can easily see how significantly thinner even our leather hybrid wallets are.
Both Big Skinny leather and nylon wallets last for many years; our leather hybrid wallets last 30% longer than our nylon wallets.
2) How Much Do You Want to Carry?
Plastic cards are the biggest drivers of size as they are usually the thickest part of what we carry. Figuring out how many plastic cards are usually carried is important as 16 plastic cards is the average carried today. A rule of thumb is that 2 cardboard business cards are usually as thick as 1 plastic card so factor that in. When you squeeze cash or paper, you see how thin it really is unless of course, you just came from the bank with lots of cash...Choose from small-medium-large wallet sizes depending on what is to going to be in it.
3) Where do you want to carry it? Front or Back pocket or Purse?
Carrying your wallet in the front pocket is better for your back than the back pocket but everyone has personal preferences which is why we have dozens of wallet sizes for all pockets and purses. For example, card case wallets will fit in front, back or even shirt pockets as well as purses. We even have special full service bifold wallets shaped and designed to fit snugly in the way your front pockets are actually cut: Curve Wallet and Taxicat Wallets so there are no sharp etches to cut into your legs.
4) Coin Pocket?
Yes, change matters and sometimes a special pocket is needed. We've got a number of wallets both small, medium and large for men and women that have special zippered coin pockets on the outside so they are easy and quick to access. Some are slightly gusseted so you can carry a lot of change. Or a key or something else that won't fit easily into a regular card pocket.
5) RFID Protection?
If you are worried about having bank or credit cards scanned by high tech thieves, then we recommend buying a Big Skinny RFID Wallet. Our RFID metal layer adds another .09mm to the outer layer of your wallet. It will block frequencies between 10Mhz to 3000Mhz; 2.45 Ghz. International standard bank and credit cards' frequencies are usually 13.556.Mhz. Garage, ID or other types of cards may be also blocked by the RFID layer if they fall within that range. An apple air tag signal will not be blocked by the RFID wallet layer. One of the best protections is buying a separate RFID blocking sleeve for the individual card.
6) Billfold area for cash?
Would you prefer your cash to be stretched out and easy to see and access or do you prefer to fold your cash up and tuck it away? That choice will bring you to make a decision between a regular full size wallet that offers a billfold area or card case wallet where cash is folded and tucked into a card pocket. Some folks keep their cash in one pocket, in which case you could choose a Cash Clip and then a card case wallet like our most popular New Yorker card case wallet for the other pocket.
7) Style of Wallet: Bifold, Trifold or No Fold?
Those are the 3 major options but keep in mind that the more times material is folded over, then the thicker your wallet. Bifold wallets are the most popular. Trifold wallets give you added security because of the extra material folded over and sometimes they can have a more compact footprint. No fold usually means you really want the thinnest and most compact wallet but it may not carry everything you need--no folds means it is a card case wallet or a money clip wallet.
8) Versatility? Performance Nylon Sports Wallet or Classic Leather?
Our nylon Big Skinny wallets are performance sports wallets that are water-resistant and tough enough to machine washable regularly. So if you are athletically oriented and also sometimes spill things onto your wallet, then perhaps a nylon Big Skinny is better so you can machine wash it when necessary (just air-dry, don't put into a dryer). Our top grain leather hybrid series gives you the best of both worlds, beautiful long-lasting leather on the outside with the ultra-skinny nylon doing all the thinning work on the inside where all the layering and stacking takes place. It's a win-win situation with 30+ choices of styles to choose from.
