With todays ever smaller flash drives I kept feeling I should have one in my wallet. There are a few out there like the Blue Flash
, or Walletex, but their more spendy than regular flash drives, and I got to thinking… Those things would actually be kinda clunky when plugged into my laptop.
My data packing life changed today when I made my own credit card flash drive. Even if your not a photographer you’ll find good use for 2-4 gigs of usb data in your wallet everywhere you go. It’s not only cool, it’s cheap, and you can use just about any old (or stylish new) card to do it with.
Start with a very small USB drive. You can get the 2gb KingMax I used here on Amazon for under 10 bucks. There’s also a 4gig version under 20. These things are great! Their low cost, sturdy, and tiny.
Once you have your ultra small and flat usb drive just sort thru your wallet for a sturdy card that you don’t really need (or heck your could use a current one. The card should still work after, depending on where you cut the hole)
Lay the drive on the card and use a pencil or other writing device to outline the edge of the usb drive. Then take a razor blade and cut out the hole. A good thick card may take a few passes. Just lay it on a solid surface, and cut it carefully till you can break out the cut piece.
Once you have the hole cut you may need to trim it a bit so that the USB card fits snug but not too tight. If it’s too loose you can wrap a little tape around the edges to make it fit tighter. Then add some tape to the back of the card and you now have a snug little pocket for the USB drive to sleep in. I used a little tape in the front of the hole to cover up most of the exposed stickiness from the tape behind.
Also these drives have a hole in them for a lanyard. If you wanted to keep it attached you could run a small string thru the hole, and attach to the card for even more safe keeping.
That’s all there is to it. Slip this baby in your wallet along with your other cards and you’ll hardly know it there until you need it. I love this thing. It’s always with me, it was uber cheap, and it’s safe and sound in my wallet, yet barely adds to the thickness. When I need to move a file I just pop it out of the card and into a usb port. I’m a happy photographer with a little more storage than before.
Very nice, I got this search through google. And I appreciated your time for posting this.
You are an idiot. Why waste the time to put a flash drive that size in a credit card when you can just put the drive by itself in your wallet? The drive isnt going to be any more protected in that card, and it sure doesnt look cool. In fact it pretty much is just “ghetto.” It would be nice if you had shown how to convert a larger flash drive that people might already own to carry in a wallet, but this is a bad and useless idea.
Lol Bob, Gavin wasn’t going for protection or style points, he just wanted something easy to carry around in his wallet. This fit the bill.
Bob – you’re a dick. Somebody is sharing some knowledge which may be useful to some and you shoot it down whilst sitting anonymously behind your PC. Would love links to the information you have shared and ideas you have presented to the general public in your own spare time. So tell me, how DO you convert a larger flash drive? link me.
Bob is right, this is a stupid useless idea, he takes a small flash drive and makes it BIGGER!! The guy isn’t 4 years old so he should be able to take some well-deserved abuse from the guys…THIS IS ONE OF THE DUMBEST IDEAS I HAVE EVER SEEN
All the haters – just grow up!
This is a good idea, because if the negative tools out there bothered to put a tiny USB in their wallet; you’d find out that after a while it will stress the other cards. I’ve had a credit card snap this way. So yeah – sleaving the USB stick in a credit card form factor is worthwhile.
Well done Gavin.
You are less prone to losing a tiny drive if you house it in a credit card. And If you place the usb drive in your wallet by itself, it will cause a dent after some time. This is a great idea except most cards aren’t thick enough to hold a thumb drive.
Quick question, does that usb drive stick out? I find most usb drives to be a bit too thick for most credit cards.
That one sticks out a little, but no bad. No problem sliding it with the flash drive in my wallet with other cards… Gav