17 October 2024

Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 15 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this fifteenth instalment of his wonderful guest post series.
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.  
 

Filohax wallet 

Do you know that feeling when you spot something that you know you need, but don't yet know why? That's what happened in a charity shop six months ago, when rummaging through the sad old wallet section, and saw an old calf skin wallet that was nearly Filofax personal format, but not quite. For £1 I thought it was worth sitting on for a while. The leather is uncannily similar to my favourite Winchesters and thin, with no stiffener or substrate. 

Then recently while passing my local handyman store, I asked if he could punch holes in thin leather... and before you know it, I've got a leather credit card holder/wallet for my Winchester EDC, and saved myself a hundred plus pounds on a branded Filofax one. 

 

 

It looks totally at home, and fits like it has been made for Filofax with the height and width dropping just short of the Winchester. Although not strictly credit card holders, there are two rows into which I can fit six cards - not quite enough for all my cards, but certainly my six most regularly used ones, with the balance stored in the Winchester's gusseted back pocket. It even has a small 'Real leather, Made in England' embossed in gold! 


 

Another major benefit of having cards / cash in the rings of your EDC is that, if you have to suddenly 'travel light' and can't carry a binder, then you just click the rings open and the wallet is in your pocket in seconds, no fiddling about getting the correct cards / cash for your needs. Yes, it adds a bit more bulk, but the trade off in losing inserts is worth the extra happiness this brings me...


 

10 comments:

  1. What a good idea…and a great result.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matching match... such a luck 🤗🤝🏻🎊

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful find and a great idea to add the holes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmm... I have a similar wallet, from a similar source, for a similar price (a RBS Coutts wallet)...

    Does yours really have '£1' embossed in gold...?

    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, and £5 and £10. Don't forget that the UK used £1 paper notes until the mid 1980's

      Delete
  5. I wonder what it was like back then? Did people use their Filofaxes as wallets back in the 80s? I see that the Winchester model didn't have credit card slots or a zippered coin pocket...am I right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wonder what it was like back then? Did people use their Filofaxes as wallets in the 80s? I can't see any credit card slots or a zippered coin pocket on the Winchester models...am I right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Filofax did use the term “wallet” to describe the models with several pockets, and some of the layouts matched wallet designs of the period. The extra thickness caused by the rings meant that only the small ring models would have been suitable to carry in a jacket pocket though. The Winchester design was once offered with 1/4” rings.
      Card holders didn’t feature much in the oldest models, because such cards weren’t that prevalent.Even in the 1980s you might have had only a credit card and a cheque guarantee card. Card holder inserts were added into the Filofax range to compensate.

      Delete
    2. I have a Lockwood Personal Slim which I use as a weekend carry and wallet combined. I can't imagine a better solution. It fits in my inside jacket pocket perfectly, amazingly without spoiling the cut, and is less of a nuisance than my smaller but more bulky 'proper ' wallet. Highly recommended.

      Delete