Friday, August 2, 2013

How to Make a Mighty Wallet!

A Mighty Wallet is a wallet made of Tyvek. It's amazingly thin, due to Tyvek being literally as thin as paper. However, the interlocking plastic fibers provide strength, tear-resistance, and water resistance. As a bonus, the entire wallet can also be recycled. (But remove the cash first!) Not bad right? Here's a link to the Original Mighty Wallet: https://www.dynomighty.com/mighty-wallet/ Check out the price. $15 for a Tyvek wallet. That's crazy mark-up. So I just made my own. I believe the only difference is that I only have 1 cash pocket. I've never owned a mighty wallet though, so I can be off. So this isn't an exact copy, but it's similar enough. Thin tyvek wallet.

Here's the wallet. 7 bills, 7 cards, and one challenge coin. 





First, you need to get a sheet of Tyvek. You can either buy it, or you can get one from the post office. Tyvek envelopes are used for Priority and Express mail. (Side Note: It's illegal to misuse these envelopes. I got the idea for the wallet when someone sent me mail and reused the priority envelope. However..... well let's just say there's no difference in the final product.)

So, take a piece of Tyvek, 12" by 11.5". (Technically the 11.5" doesn't matter. It needs to be more than 8" and less than 15" The larger this dimension is, the more secure the wallet is. 11.5" works bests for me.)  With the 12" being your length, fold it in half. Now you should have 6" by 11.5". Unfold, and fold the two sides to the middle crease. It should now be divided into 4 sections of 3".


Alright, the image above shows your fourths. Now, cut the side flaps, evenly. You need to leave 7.5" uncut. (If you have trouble, take your height, subtract 7.5", and divide by 2. That's how long each flap needs to be.) Make 3 cuts along the folded lines to create your flaps. 

Note: When planning your wallet, this entire side, the face up side, is hidden. However, the other side is not. On the other side, the following panels correspond to the following places: The leftmost panel goes on the inside of the cash slot. The one next to it is the back/outside of your wallet. The one next to that, with the hole, is your credit card slot. The last one, the rightmost, also goes inside the cash slot.

This is how the hole is used. Notice mine is almost too small for the cards. I probably will enlarge it in the future.

Then, in the third panel, cut a round hole. (Well, any shape actually. This is where your cards will be inserted. My circle was a little too small- make it bigger than your credit card, but keep it within the two folds.) Fold the 2nd and 4th flaps in as shown. 

Now, fold the leftmost and rightmost flap into the center. 


The picture shows the right and left flap on top of the center flaps.

Now, fold the entire wallet in half one more time. It's time to seal the wallet together.




So, this should be your wallet right now. From left to right, you have a hole, flap, hole, flap. Yes? Good. Now take the left-most flap, and fold it into the hole to its right. Essentially, the center is now sealed by folding that flap in.

EDIT: Just as a side note, I now glue that flap against the wall of the wallet, just to facilitate an easier insertion of the cards. Superglue the edge of the flap, slide it in, hold it there.


This is the result. There are now three layers. The outside of the wallet, the just-sealed layer, and a flap. Now, take the flap and fold it over the middle layer and tuck it into the outside hole. Repeat the process on the other side. (Note: If you want to RFID-proof the wallet, slip a sheet (or two if you're paranoid), of aluminum foil inside the wallet. See that slot right next to the flap? The one that you can see all the way through? Cut a piece of aluminum foil to size, and slip it in there. It'll be sealed into the wallet.)




You should now have a big hole going through the wallet. That's alright. Might Wallets says you can use this for business cards and stuff so you won't have to open your wallet to take them out.. but it's not secure at all. Your choice. I ignore the hole.
 

Unfortunately, there are no graphics with this wallet. So I took my fountain pen and some water to mess around with this. It should wear in interestingly.

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