# How often do you use the small pocket of your 5 pocket jeans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502 "2019-10-08T23:29:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/1 "2019-10-08T23:29:40Z")
I guess I have worn 5 pocket jeans most of my entire life. That little pocket which is kind of inside your right front pocket, how often do you use it, and for what? I think as a kid I may have put something in it and then forgot about and whatever it was that I put in there probably came out in the wash. As such I don’t use that pocket for anything. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/2 "2019-10-08T23:30:57Z")
Back when I did drugs, drugs. Probably not before or since. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/3 "2019-10-08T23:36:51Z")
Quite a bit actually. The big pocket on that side is where I keep my loose change, so I use the little pocket for things I want to keep handy but don’t want to have to fish around for. Examples would be the thumb drive with music for my car, the RSA token for my network login at work, and my little spare hearing aid battery holder. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/4 "2019-10-08T23:37:40Z")
Never intentionally. I find a coin there once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/5 "2019-10-08T23:42:12Z")
All the time. Special keys, things that need to be kept apart from the junk in the regular pocket, my pocket watch. You know, stuff like that. If the mailbox key isn’t on its hook, check the watch pocket on my jeans. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/6 "2019-10-08T23:43:04Z")
If I’m taking the subway to work (which I do just about every day), I keep subway tokens in there. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/7 "2019-10-08T23:43:57Z")
Used it for change, quarters, dimes, etc. The pocket was originally made for a watch, but stayed on after people began wearing wristwatches. Also, that little pocket isn’t the fifth pocket. Levi’s originally had one back pocket on the right side of the jeans. They became five-pocket in 1901, when the second rear pocket was added. [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjrkr7U6o3lAhWWtZ4KHX-9CGUQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Fsmall-pocket-pants-jeans-watch-2018-03&psig=AOvVaw1DZTvaFtrZAQsDt\_tmriy2&ust=1570664312409924](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjrkr7U6o3lAhWWtZ4KHX-9CGUQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Fsmall-pocket-pants-jeans-watch-2018-03&psig=AOvVaw1DZTvaFtrZAQsDt_tmriy2&ust=1570664312409924) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/8 "2019-10-08T23:44:51Z")
I used to keep change there, as it is easier to retrieve at the POS and didn’t jingle that much there. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/9 "2019-10-08T23:45:10Z")
My Daddy used to keep his nitroglycerin in that pocket. I can’t say ever used it, myself. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/10 "2019-10-08T23:53:48Z")
Depends of course on the fit, since they are not all the same size. So small change; transit pass, or if driving the newer car the e-key fob. Back before the Coming Of The Smartphone in the 00’s when the mobile phone style trend was to make them as small as possible, I had at one point one that could securely nestle in there when folded! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/11 "2019-10-08T23:55:26Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Back when I did drugs, drugs. Probably not before or since. I’ve occasionally put drugs, of the mundane, OTC type (e.g. ibuprofin) in there, if I suspected I might need them later. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/12 "2019-10-09T00:00:37Z")
I use mine for change, and for guitar picks. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/13 "2019-10-09T00:31:16Z")
Zippo lighter. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/14 "2019-10-09T00:31:30Z")
All the time, I only use it for loose change though. ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/15 "2019-10-09T03:16:21Z")
All the time: Zippo® lighter, back when I smoked; pillbox nowadays; I wear a ring on my right hand and keep my keys in the right front pocket, so I’ll tuck the ring into the “watch pocket” when I take it off for hand-washing, so the keys don’t scratch the bejeebus out’n it; oh, and sometimes an honest-to-goodness pocket watch. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/16 "2019-10-09T03:36:01Z")
Every week. My mother is the church webmaster, and the service is recorded on a thumb drive. I put the thumb drive in my fifth pocket, where it stays until I get it to her. She puts it in a small blue bag in her purse. ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/17 "2019-10-09T03:49:23Z")
Car key fob fits perfectly ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/18 "2019-10-09T04:00:57Z")
That’s where I keep the key fob to my car ('12 VW Golf TDI), the switchblade key fits perfectly in there. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/19 "2019-10-09T04:08:06Z")
My house and bike keys. Tickets or tokens on metro systems (such as Paris or Bangkok) that require the ticket to be reinserted at the end of the journey, or may require its presentment to an inspector during the journey. A thumb drive when I’m headed to the library and may do some scanning there. I quite miss what I jokingly call the “condom pocket” (from an award-winning 1980s Levi’s commercial) when I’m wearing pants that lack one. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502/20 "2019-10-09T04:23:57Z")
The lighter pocket? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-use-the-small-pocket-of-your-5-pocket-jeans/841502.md?page=2)