Top Ten Geek Wallets

Wallets are a pretty good element of style to get geeky with: you can hide them most of the time, only bringing them out for show when you need to buy something or show your geek friends. A lot of guys see full-grain leather as an indicator of a fine wallet, but it takes a particular sensibility to appreciate stainless steel or dot matrix paper. Some guys go for a feature like a see-through license compartment, but it takes a geek to seek out a wallet built with a nano compartment. But one thing we can all agree upon, that George Costanza wallet just doesn't cut it in the tech environment these days. In honor of geeks who accessorize, we present you with the Top Ten Geek Wallets.

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Dot Matrix Wallet: Anyone who feels sentimental about Dot Matrix Paper, even if expressed through irony, is operating on a healthy dose of geek sensibility. Made from Tyvek, this Dot Matrix Wallet looks like something only a geek could love and is made from a material that no one but a geek could truly understand.

RFID-Blocking Wallet and Passport Cases: A geek's fascination with technology, its power to monitor the individual, and the methods the individual might use to evade that monitoring is often only a slight distance from paranoia. But that counts, too. RFID tags, like those currently found in passports and a variety of bank cards, can be read through most wallets with a basic receiver. Of course, this RFID Blocking Wallet is made to keep the man out of your business.

Walit Illuminating Wallet: The intention behind the Illuminating Wallet is totally sensible: when you open your wallet in low lighting, the wallet lights up to give you an idea of what bills you are handling. But the kind of glee that comes from having this sort of tricked out billfold can't be measured in sensible terms. Powered by three replaceable watch batteries, the Walit's electroluminescent strip makes it all happen.

DIY Illuminated Wallet: Walluminate: For a die-hard tech geek, the only thing that might improve upon the Illuminating Wallet above is a guide for building it yourself. Make:Blog comes to the rescue, offering the how-to in a trully geek-friendly form: the podcast. Dubbed the Walluminate, this wallet utilizes LEDs from an old cell phone to light the interior bill pocket.

Crossword Wallet: Did the concept of geek exist before the computer age? No? Well what did they call your dorky grandfather who spent all his free time with his head in a crossword puzzle. Niche-brilliant, socially awkward, and infatuated with intellectual games...sounds like a geek from here. This Crossword Wallet celebrates the old-school geek.

Stainless Steel Wallet: Why would you want a stainless steel wallet? Sounds a little uncomfortable right? Not when it's made from a cloth variation on stainless steel that is otherwise only used in industrial applications. What kind of person do you have to be carry this kind of thing around, doubtlessly anticipating the chance to show it off? I think you know where we're going with this...

C.E.O. Billfold Wallet (AKA: nano Wallet): It probably didn't take long after the arrival of the first nano for someone to realize that it was thin enough for him to slip into his wallet. Thereafter, it likely wasn't long before some designer set to creating a wallet built specifically for an iPod. This full-leather C.E.O. Billfold Wallet looks great as a wallet on its own, featuring standard credit card pockets and clear ID pocket alongside a nano pocket with a plastic screen cover, a click wheel protector, and ready access to both the hold button and the earphone jack.

Mophie Knox Aluminum nano Wallet: By the time the 2nd generation nano rolled around, a few people who had used the nano Wallet above had probably realized that smashing the player in that wallet was a real possibility. Enter the Mophie Knox, made with aircraft grade aluminum, designed to hold your iPod on one side and your cash and cards on the other. The wallet's play-through design allows you to plug in while the Knox is closed.

Tyvek Wallet: Rawhide Tri-Fold: If the Dot Matrix Wallet mentioned above is a little too clever for you, this standard Rawhide Tri-Fold should do the trick. The basic wallet is cool and understated, but still features the miracle of Tyvek, a material that, as mentioned above, only a science loving geek can trully understand. The perfect mix of geek and chic--is this not Kevin Rose's wallet?

The Sammy Titanium Wallet: Featuring sheet titanium, a military specification extruded aluminum piano hinge and rivets, and hand finished in a state-of-the-art aerospace facility, this piece, known simply as The Sammy, is enough to geek out on as an industrial gadget. Of course, you also get to carry it around in your pocket as a functional wallet that includes a riveted money clip and and a slot for credit cards and business cards. This one is only for the geeks that can afford it: $320 (Brushed), $340 (Polished).

By: robert o'neill