...has afflicted me big time. I got my iPhone 5 about a month ago and have been on an unending quest to find that just-right case for me.
It started right after I walked out of the AT&T store and into the local mall where the cellphone accessories kiosk was. Had to get something for "protection", just for now, until I decided on the best case for me.
Bought a black textured polymer case with a flip out "kickstand". Twenty bucks and the guy even put it on for me right then and there. I was hooked.
Turns out I didn't really Need a kickstand as I rarely watch stuff on my phone, and then I discover this forum and a strange contraption called a "credit card case". Hmmm. Seemed so perfectly natural before to carry a phone in one pocket and a wallet in the other. Suddenly I was made to realize I was suffering from the dreaded, "inconvenience and agony of carrying TWO items when I could be just carrying ONE". Oh, the shame.
I immediately ordered the Targus Wallet Case and camped out by the mailbox for what seemed to be the eternity of three days.
Got the case and realized it was quite bulky. So although it did hold two or three cards it seems I was still carrying the equivalent of two cases. Plus the edge where the credit card door met the back of the case never aligned right, either too closed (edges would slip past each other without enough cards) or not closed enough.
So then in the quest to find a slimmer case I Googled credit/card/wallet iPhone 5 cases and therein lies the real danger because now, I ended up seeing nearly EVERYTHING that might possibly hold a credit card and, just incidentally, my phone too.
Decided on the Incipio Stashback because the Youtube video of the guy sitting at a bar table and flipping the bottom open to whip out his credit card for the pretty waitress just seemed so cool.
Ordered That and again began checking my mailbox every few hours starting the next day.
Got it, woo hoo, and it was so dang easy to get the phone in the case, just flip open the bottom hatch and slide the 5 right in. As well as three credit cards. Felt like I coulda forced another one in but I remember reading somewhere that you might end up scratching the back of the phone (it is exposed to direct contact with the cards inside). To Incipio's credit they include not one, but TWO screen protectors, one is for the phone back.
But it turns out I am not the guy in the bar, the bottom hatch does not open that smoothly or swiftly, and I have to use the fingertips of both hands to get it to work, unless I just wanted to force it open against the pressure of the clasping mechanism which I could tell would not make for a long hatch life.
But I was impressed with Incipio's quality and the freebie screen protectors, so I figured I'd try their Stowaway, with a handy-dandy SIDE opening rear hatch. Surely it would work smoother than the heavily spring-loaded and latched bottom of the Stashback.
Sitting on the beach chair I had now installed by my mailbox, I met the Stowaway's arrival in a couple of days and off I went. Side-opening hatch is better, smoother and easier to use. Still had the phoneback protector film installed from the other Incipio so no worries there. And I actually carried this around with me for a few days. Got loads of questions and comments from pretty cashiers. But I realized that I did not like how the cards did not always remain in the compartment when you opened the hatch, despite Incipio engineering little rubbery tabs along both sides of the card slot (credit card edges are not always arrow-straight, especially after they are a few months old).
And I finally realized that any truly "hard" case is going to come in a fixed size, whether you have one card or three, thick or thin (and cards do vary slightly in thickness from one to another), and all three cases so far were still kinda bulky.
So then I figured I should get something with some "give", that would accommodate different payload thicknesses. And that is when I found the Sinjimoru, or "Sinji", pouch for cell phones. Imported from Korea, it was made of Lycra and was stretchy, and although it was a tiny half-the-length-of-the-phone little thing and might seem like not too many cards would fit, you quickly discover that it stretches a Lot if needed. I figured I could cram four, maybe five cards in there, along with a folded bill sandwiched in between the cards. I even saw pictures of people stuffing their earphones in there. Seemed amazing.
So I was sitting on my beach chair and holding an umbrella (it was raining) when the mail truck rolled up with my Sinji. Cool!
It's when I opened the package that I realized something - to install the Sinji card case you have to stick it directly ONTO YOUR PHONE. And the back of the peel-off release paper said, "3M Industrial Strength VHB" (Very High Bonding) adhesive or something like that. Hmmm, no way I wanted to do that. Not just because of the seemingly semi-permanent stick-on bonding part, but because I tend to change phone cases from time to time, for different uses, environments, occasions and stuff.
So I came up with a brilliant idea - I bought a cheap, black, ~two-buck TPU (Thermo Poly Urethane?) snap-on case and stuck the Sinji onto That. Worked perfectly.
I stuffed all the cards I needed (within reason) inside, and used it for a few days. A couple of things though - the version I got was like a black denim jeans color, with a printed orange-yellow stitch pattern around the edge. Looked just like a Levis pocket. Manly, I thought. But the top edge of the pocket was sewn permanently slanted, plus the stitching pattern turned out to be paint or something, and after sliding it in and out of my pocket the stitch pattern began coming off in little pieces. Plus a buddy of mine casually commented that it looked like a little miniature "pocketbook". What?
So it came OFF my phone right away. No pocketbooks for me, man.
Then I happened onto the Quirky.com site, seemed similar to Kickstarter, where you come up with ideas and if they like it, it gets financed for production. Maybe that's not quite the Kickstarter model (I think for KickStarter you get regular people on the internet to pledge contributions, not sure how Quirky.com finances things) but anyway there's this iPhone walletcase called the Keeper. Sleek, slim, elegant, refined, LEATHER wallet with a brass-like snapdown closure that's glued and sewn onto a hard grey poly/plastic snap-on case. Really cool looking. Really liked the look of it, and it had two credit card slots on one side and an ID slot with open front (so you don't have to take out your license to show it to the police officer) on the other side.
The catch was it cost thirty-five bucks. Plus who knows what the shipping would be. So I passed, partially on the cost and also because I saw/heard about another even more classy one that cost about double that. Killspencer Precision Card Carrier. But not the original version, which was made of mostly all wood and seemed way too thin to hold up against the continual in-and-out of credit cards and pocket insertions. Plus it was for the iPhone 4/4S. This new one is the 2.0 designed for the iPhone 5. Sooo expensive though.
But then while I was scrounging around on ebay one day I found a genuine Quirky Keeper being sold as new, but with box opened for inspection. For like two-thirds the price of a new one. And only $1.95 shipping. After some brief messaging (plus the seller had a perfect 100% feedback score), the good old Buy-It-Now button responded to my mouse click and it was on its way to me.
Got it, still in box, absolutely brand-new condition, beautiful. No clear plastic over the ID window but that was told to me by the seller and apparently they all are made this way. But no matter, for I now had in my hands what seemed like the Ferrari of all iPhone credit card cases - well, except for the KillSpencer, which would be what - the Bugatti Veyron of all cases?
The four credit cards (one in each slot on one side and two in the looser fitting ID side) went in hard and tight, but all very do-able and you could tell the leather would break in to fit them well quite soon.
Kept it on the phone but did not carry it out much, for fear of marring the leather or doing some kind of harm to its amazing good looks. That's the thing about these upscale elegant phone cases, you really hate to take them out anywhere and they become back-in-the-box, dresser-drawer queens.
Plus that Veyron was calling. You see, I couldn't resist and had already struck up an e-mail conversation with KillSpencer about their Card Carrier 2.0 before I found the Keeper on ebay. But I had resisted the 2.0 because first of all, it was $69.00 plus shipping ($17+ for 2nd-Day UPS but that story is coming up a couple paragraphs down) plus it said on the Checkout page (yes, I had gone that far) that it takes up to three weeks to build one of these since KillSpencer is a custom-order two-man shop. But when I mentioned the waiting period during one of the e-mails, they very evilly said they happened to have one "made and in stock", in just the color and combo I wanted, too...natural oil-tanned leather casing, lined with Italian Alcantara suede, and all bonded to a base of Macassar Ebony Wood. And speaking of Wood, that's right about when I realized I had to have it...so $86.00 later, my Bugatti of cases began winging its way from the Pacific Coast to me...
Man, what a scintillatingly scrumptious, elegantly classic piece of art this KillSpencer case is. Incredibly beautiful, with four (just EXACTLY FOUR, as it says on the literature) credit cards gliding in and out along the edges of the Alcantara suede with buttery smoothness. And since this too is a stick-on design, I bought another black TPU case and adhered it to that. Unfortunately I began to realize that this is yet another case which will never leave the house...
So what practical, yet reasonably priced and actually usable iPhone card case will I ever find? That does not cost an arm and a leg, is easy to find and replace if I need another one, and is flexible enough to hold one card or four, or anything in between?
I think I found it. It's the CM4 Q Card Case, freshly redesigned for the iPhone 5. Although I knew about the case before, it just never struck me as being that desirable. That is until I saw it in the new Mahogany Brown color, and read a bunch of glowing Amazon reviews.
So I got one, and it is indeed everything I need. Well, almost everything.
Because in my quest to become truly "cashless", I would have to forego the little Mom 'n Pop food stands at lunch break that still don't take credit cards. I would have to make special ATM trips before poker night with the guys. And I would always have to worry about the little emergencies, the ones that come up when you least expect that always require you have some hard green dead presidents on hand, like the time we were driving up to a mountain resort and it snowed bad on the way and the roadside tire chain guys would only take cash. You know, Murphy's Law.
So FINALLY, I find a stainless steel money clip on ebay of the exact right size. And I clip it to my Ferrari of cases, the Quirky.com Keeper. And it will take a couple of folded bills along with four cards and together, they provide a total solution to my phone-and-wallet carry needs.
But I still look, and all it would take is another new case and off I'll go. Like I said, it's a disease.
Here are some pictures of the cases and the final combo I went through.
So far.
It started right after I walked out of the AT&T store and into the local mall where the cellphone accessories kiosk was. Had to get something for "protection", just for now, until I decided on the best case for me.
Bought a black textured polymer case with a flip out "kickstand". Twenty bucks and the guy even put it on for me right then and there. I was hooked.
Turns out I didn't really Need a kickstand as I rarely watch stuff on my phone, and then I discover this forum and a strange contraption called a "credit card case". Hmmm. Seemed so perfectly natural before to carry a phone in one pocket and a wallet in the other. Suddenly I was made to realize I was suffering from the dreaded, "inconvenience and agony of carrying TWO items when I could be just carrying ONE". Oh, the shame.
I immediately ordered the Targus Wallet Case and camped out by the mailbox for what seemed to be the eternity of three days.
Got the case and realized it was quite bulky. So although it did hold two or three cards it seems I was still carrying the equivalent of two cases. Plus the edge where the credit card door met the back of the case never aligned right, either too closed (edges would slip past each other without enough cards) or not closed enough.
So then in the quest to find a slimmer case I Googled credit/card/wallet iPhone 5 cases and therein lies the real danger because now, I ended up seeing nearly EVERYTHING that might possibly hold a credit card and, just incidentally, my phone too.
Decided on the Incipio Stashback because the Youtube video of the guy sitting at a bar table and flipping the bottom open to whip out his credit card for the pretty waitress just seemed so cool.
Ordered That and again began checking my mailbox every few hours starting the next day.
Got it, woo hoo, and it was so dang easy to get the phone in the case, just flip open the bottom hatch and slide the 5 right in. As well as three credit cards. Felt like I coulda forced another one in but I remember reading somewhere that you might end up scratching the back of the phone (it is exposed to direct contact with the cards inside). To Incipio's credit they include not one, but TWO screen protectors, one is for the phone back.
But it turns out I am not the guy in the bar, the bottom hatch does not open that smoothly or swiftly, and I have to use the fingertips of both hands to get it to work, unless I just wanted to force it open against the pressure of the clasping mechanism which I could tell would not make for a long hatch life.
But I was impressed with Incipio's quality and the freebie screen protectors, so I figured I'd try their Stowaway, with a handy-dandy SIDE opening rear hatch. Surely it would work smoother than the heavily spring-loaded and latched bottom of the Stashback.
Sitting on the beach chair I had now installed by my mailbox, I met the Stowaway's arrival in a couple of days and off I went. Side-opening hatch is better, smoother and easier to use. Still had the phoneback protector film installed from the other Incipio so no worries there. And I actually carried this around with me for a few days. Got loads of questions and comments from pretty cashiers. But I realized that I did not like how the cards did not always remain in the compartment when you opened the hatch, despite Incipio engineering little rubbery tabs along both sides of the card slot (credit card edges are not always arrow-straight, especially after they are a few months old).
And I finally realized that any truly "hard" case is going to come in a fixed size, whether you have one card or three, thick or thin (and cards do vary slightly in thickness from one to another), and all three cases so far were still kinda bulky.
So then I figured I should get something with some "give", that would accommodate different payload thicknesses. And that is when I found the Sinjimoru, or "Sinji", pouch for cell phones. Imported from Korea, it was made of Lycra and was stretchy, and although it was a tiny half-the-length-of-the-phone little thing and might seem like not too many cards would fit, you quickly discover that it stretches a Lot if needed. I figured I could cram four, maybe five cards in there, along with a folded bill sandwiched in between the cards. I even saw pictures of people stuffing their earphones in there. Seemed amazing.
So I was sitting on my beach chair and holding an umbrella (it was raining) when the mail truck rolled up with my Sinji. Cool!
It's when I opened the package that I realized something - to install the Sinji card case you have to stick it directly ONTO YOUR PHONE. And the back of the peel-off release paper said, "3M Industrial Strength VHB" (Very High Bonding) adhesive or something like that. Hmmm, no way I wanted to do that. Not just because of the seemingly semi-permanent stick-on bonding part, but because I tend to change phone cases from time to time, for different uses, environments, occasions and stuff.
So I came up with a brilliant idea - I bought a cheap, black, ~two-buck TPU (Thermo Poly Urethane?) snap-on case and stuck the Sinji onto That. Worked perfectly.
I stuffed all the cards I needed (within reason) inside, and used it for a few days. A couple of things though - the version I got was like a black denim jeans color, with a printed orange-yellow stitch pattern around the edge. Looked just like a Levis pocket. Manly, I thought. But the top edge of the pocket was sewn permanently slanted, plus the stitching pattern turned out to be paint or something, and after sliding it in and out of my pocket the stitch pattern began coming off in little pieces. Plus a buddy of mine casually commented that it looked like a little miniature "pocketbook". What?
So it came OFF my phone right away. No pocketbooks for me, man.
Then I happened onto the Quirky.com site, seemed similar to Kickstarter, where you come up with ideas and if they like it, it gets financed for production. Maybe that's not quite the Kickstarter model (I think for KickStarter you get regular people on the internet to pledge contributions, not sure how Quirky.com finances things) but anyway there's this iPhone walletcase called the Keeper. Sleek, slim, elegant, refined, LEATHER wallet with a brass-like snapdown closure that's glued and sewn onto a hard grey poly/plastic snap-on case. Really cool looking. Really liked the look of it, and it had two credit card slots on one side and an ID slot with open front (so you don't have to take out your license to show it to the police officer) on the other side.
The catch was it cost thirty-five bucks. Plus who knows what the shipping would be. So I passed, partially on the cost and also because I saw/heard about another even more classy one that cost about double that. Killspencer Precision Card Carrier. But not the original version, which was made of mostly all wood and seemed way too thin to hold up against the continual in-and-out of credit cards and pocket insertions. Plus it was for the iPhone 4/4S. This new one is the 2.0 designed for the iPhone 5. Sooo expensive though.
But then while I was scrounging around on ebay one day I found a genuine Quirky Keeper being sold as new, but with box opened for inspection. For like two-thirds the price of a new one. And only $1.95 shipping. After some brief messaging (plus the seller had a perfect 100% feedback score), the good old Buy-It-Now button responded to my mouse click and it was on its way to me.
Got it, still in box, absolutely brand-new condition, beautiful. No clear plastic over the ID window but that was told to me by the seller and apparently they all are made this way. But no matter, for I now had in my hands what seemed like the Ferrari of all iPhone credit card cases - well, except for the KillSpencer, which would be what - the Bugatti Veyron of all cases?
The four credit cards (one in each slot on one side and two in the looser fitting ID side) went in hard and tight, but all very do-able and you could tell the leather would break in to fit them well quite soon.
Kept it on the phone but did not carry it out much, for fear of marring the leather or doing some kind of harm to its amazing good looks. That's the thing about these upscale elegant phone cases, you really hate to take them out anywhere and they become back-in-the-box, dresser-drawer queens.
Plus that Veyron was calling. You see, I couldn't resist and had already struck up an e-mail conversation with KillSpencer about their Card Carrier 2.0 before I found the Keeper on ebay. But I had resisted the 2.0 because first of all, it was $69.00 plus shipping ($17+ for 2nd-Day UPS but that story is coming up a couple paragraphs down) plus it said on the Checkout page (yes, I had gone that far) that it takes up to three weeks to build one of these since KillSpencer is a custom-order two-man shop. But when I mentioned the waiting period during one of the e-mails, they very evilly said they happened to have one "made and in stock", in just the color and combo I wanted, too...natural oil-tanned leather casing, lined with Italian Alcantara suede, and all bonded to a base of Macassar Ebony Wood. And speaking of Wood, that's right about when I realized I had to have it...so $86.00 later, my Bugatti of cases began winging its way from the Pacific Coast to me...
Man, what a scintillatingly scrumptious, elegantly classic piece of art this KillSpencer case is. Incredibly beautiful, with four (just EXACTLY FOUR, as it says on the literature) credit cards gliding in and out along the edges of the Alcantara suede with buttery smoothness. And since this too is a stick-on design, I bought another black TPU case and adhered it to that. Unfortunately I began to realize that this is yet another case which will never leave the house...
So what practical, yet reasonably priced and actually usable iPhone card case will I ever find? That does not cost an arm and a leg, is easy to find and replace if I need another one, and is flexible enough to hold one card or four, or anything in between?
I think I found it. It's the CM4 Q Card Case, freshly redesigned for the iPhone 5. Although I knew about the case before, it just never struck me as being that desirable. That is until I saw it in the new Mahogany Brown color, and read a bunch of glowing Amazon reviews.
So I got one, and it is indeed everything I need. Well, almost everything.
Because in my quest to become truly "cashless", I would have to forego the little Mom 'n Pop food stands at lunch break that still don't take credit cards. I would have to make special ATM trips before poker night with the guys. And I would always have to worry about the little emergencies, the ones that come up when you least expect that always require you have some hard green dead presidents on hand, like the time we were driving up to a mountain resort and it snowed bad on the way and the roadside tire chain guys would only take cash. You know, Murphy's Law.
So FINALLY, I find a stainless steel money clip on ebay of the exact right size. And I clip it to my Ferrari of cases, the Quirky.com Keeper. And it will take a couple of folded bills along with four cards and together, they provide a total solution to my phone-and-wallet carry needs.
But I still look, and all it would take is another new case and off I'll go. Like I said, it's a disease.
Here are some pictures of the cases and the final combo I went through.
So far.
