# Do you put your wallet in your back pocket? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 28, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134 "2020-12-28T22:33:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/42 "2020-12-29T16:18:13Z")
Similar story here. Went to the doctor for some crazy pains in my leg and back. First thing he asked me was if I kept my wallet in my back pocket. Even though, after that, I have not put it in my back pocket in about 15 years, I still have sciatic issues. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/43 "2020-12-29T16:28:33Z")
It’s from a Seinfeld episode: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yoPf98i8A0g/hqdefault.jpg "George's Exploding Wallet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPf98i8A0g) ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/44 "2020-12-29T16:35:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Anyone have any suggestions which pocket I should move my wallet to now to make my knees stop hurting? A purse with a shoulder strap? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/45 "2020-12-29T16:37:54Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Wallet in right hip pocket, change in left hip pocket, keys in right back pocket. For as long as I can remember. I’ve tried the keys in a rear pocket. They end up sticking into my car seat at one end, and my butt on the other. I’ll carry them that way walking while shopping though, with wallet in one front pocket, phone in the other. Never done the wallet in rear pocket due to the pickpocket thing. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/46 "2020-12-29T17:21:55Z")
I recently watched a video comparing a suit costing $399 to one costing $7800. One of the tailors asked the customer if he carried a wallet in the back and adjusted the pants to accommodate it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/47 "2020-12-29T17:42:26Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > So none of you carry a purse? > [@running\_coach](#): > > \< grunt \> Manbag \< /grunt \> > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Sporran. And sgian dhu, lest any bastard tries tae gie me shit aboot it. I gtot tired of Thick Wallet Syndrome so a couple months after I got a new smartphone that was also a little large to carry in a pocket comfortably, I got a [passport holder](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8VCHMY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Bonus: There is a spare pocket that fits my Kindle so I can now keep it handy as well. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/48 "2020-12-29T17:44:08Z")
When I walk, I use a similar passport holder to contain my phone and some tissues. Definitely better than the pocket for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/49 "2020-12-29T18:47:10Z")
A poll would’ve been good for this. My wallet has been in my back left pocket ever since I carried one. And I thank Dennis the Menace reruns for that, the old B & W TV series, 1959-1963 (explained below). I’ll be 60 in June. In my younger days I liked trifold wallets, but now for many years I like hipster wallets. They aren’t as thick ([web image here](https://is.gd/QSZeaK)). No back or hip problems. Never been pickpocketed and I have done a lot of traveling and I lived in San Francisco many years. I’m extra vigilant, especially in crowds. Wallet in back left, keys in front left, with Swiss Army Knife, and my phone in front right for many years. Why Dennis the Menace? I searched YouTube for this episode but couldn’t find it. In one episode Mr. Wilson got his hands stuck in a public USPS mailbox. Don’t remember why or how, but you can bet that Dennis the Menace was involved. A thief walked up to Mr. Wilson and in the course of the conversation he said, “You’re probably right handed, so your wallet must be in your back left pocket.” It was, and he promptly stole it. To my young mind I couldn’t figure out why that’d be the case (but now I know), and I was puzzled. I’m right handed, and my wallet has been in my back left pocket ever since. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/50 "2020-12-29T20:10:16Z")
If it common knowledge? I read a joke/story about it in Readers Digest maybe 40 years ago… The punchline was that the doctor cured the man’s back pain by performing a walletectomy. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > So none of you carry a purse? 😉 > > I don’t like things in my back pocket because they make my butt sweat. And there was that time my phone was in a back pocket and ended up in the terlit… 😮 Naw. When i commute i carry a large shoulder bag that holds my laptop, spare pens, and maybe my lunch or gym clothes. But i keep all my “wallet things” in my pants or suit jacket pockets. That would be keys, cash, cards, and phone. I pay a tailor to put “men’s pockets” into my pants so i can do it. If the pocket is deep enough that the whole phone fits “below the fold” it’s way more comfortable. I always felt anxious about where my purse was when i used to carry one. I feel much freer now that i don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/51 "2020-12-29T20:35:28Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > . . . but now for many years I like hipster wallets. Reminds me of the “[cowboy wallets](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=cowboy+wallet&iax=images&ia=images)” I see every time I go into the boot store. These things are so huge, they’re more like cowboy _ **checkbooks** _ and I frequently see them chained to the belt loop of a person’s jeans. [Mine](https://specops.us/wallet-jr-od.html) is pretty straightforward–fits in my back jeans’ pocket easily. Tripler I am [unchained](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx86CxKYtg0). ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/52 "2020-12-29T21:18:53Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I have my wallet and Swiss Army knife in my right pocket, and credit card case and keys in my left. So much for my plan of suggesting that I was probably the only one to have two separate wallets! I’ve long kept my wallet in my back pocket and figured that credit cards and other embossed plastic cards would eventually get damaged in a wallet that I was always sitting on. So I have a separate, small credit card case, about half the size of an ordinary wallet, where I keep all my plastic cards of various kinds. That goes in my left pocket, keys and loose change in my right, and wallet at the back. In these cashless times, the wallet rarely gets opened. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/53 "2020-12-29T21:23:12Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > . . . but now for many years I like hipster wallets. > > Reminds me of the “[cowboy wallets](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=cowboy+wallet&iax=images&ia=images)” I see every time I go into the boot store. These things are so huge, they’re more like cowboy _ **checkbooks** _ and I frequently see them chained to the belt loop of a person’s jeans. [Mine](https://specops.us/wallet-jr-od.html) is pretty straightforward–fits in my back jeans’ pocket easily. > > Tripler > I am [unchained](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx86CxKYtg0). Those are big. Too big for me. My wallet fits easily in my back pocket. Nothing is visible other than the slight bulge. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/54 "2020-12-29T21:39:15Z")
Wallet in left back pocket. Phone in left front pocket. Keys in right front pocket. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/55 "2020-12-29T21:40:01Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I recently watched a video comparing a suit costing $399 to one costing $7800. One of the tailors asked the customer if he carried a wallet in the back and adjusted the pants to accommodate it. Was that the $399 tailor or the $7800 one? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/56 "2020-12-29T21:41:17Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > [@mixdenny](#): > > > > I recently watched a video comparing a suit costing $399 to one costing $7800. One of the tailors asked the customer if he carried a wallet in the back and adjusted the pants to accommodate it. > > Was that the $399 tailor or the $7800 one? - The 399 suit. If you’re paying 7800 for a suit, you have a servant to carry your wallet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/57 "2020-12-29T21:42:58Z")
I no longer carry a wallet. I have a cell phone case that has enough room to carry ID, credit card, debit card, health/dental card, and a few bills. No need to carry anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/58 "2020-12-29T21:46:22Z")
Up until I was about 40 my wallet was always in the back right pocket. Then I started getting (more) back pain so I switched to a “smallet” in the front left. My buddy got me a [secrid](https://secrid.com/en-us/wallets/miniwallet) small wallet as a groomsman gift last year and I’ve been going with that ever since. So it’s wallet, chapstick, glasses wipe, and change in front left, phone front right, keys on clip on left hip belt loop. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/59 "2020-12-29T21:49:57Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If you’re paying 7800 for a suit, you have a servant to carry your wallet. Alternatively, maybe if you’re paying $7800 for a suit, you can’t _ **afford** _ a servant! ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/60 "2020-12-29T21:57:34Z")
> [@FastDan1](#): > > I no longer carry a wallet. I have a cell phone case that has enough room to carry ID, credit card, debit card, health/dental card, and a few bills. No need to carry anything else. I’m with you on this one - my NiteIze cell phone case is big enough for all that. Hangs on my right front pocket. Folding knife clipped to my left front pocket. Hankies in both back pockets. Back when I wore other than relaxed-fit jeans, I had to quit clipping the pocketknife to my left front pocket. Developed a rather strange burning sensation in my upper left thigh, which, curiously enough, was numb to the touch. Did some research, found there’s a nerve that runs through the hip joint that the knife was impinging on and causing the problem. Moving the knife helped it in a matter of a few weeks, switching to old-man jeans let me move it back to it’s 30+ year location, and haven’t had a recurrence. ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134/61 "2020-12-29T22:03:13Z")
Just to add, I’ve been on a simplify kick. In addition to my cell phone case, I carry the fob for my car. No other keys. Nothing else in my pockets. I rarely use cash, so almost never have change either. I realize that if my garage door opener has a problem, or the electricity goes out, I might have trouble getting into my house. But as old as I am, that has never happened to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-put-your-wallet-in-your-back-pocket/929134.md?page=4)