Pro Photo Show

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.

Gavin Seim