Paracord Card Wallet With Hidden Compartment

Everyone has their own idea of a great card wallet, this is mine. Nice, rounded corners, holds 10 cards, robust. It'll hold over 2m of paracord around the outside, which is held firmly in place by shallow grooves so there are no lumpy knots in your pocket. Hidden in one corner is a hole that grips an ordinary dressmaking pin, a remarkably handy object for hooking things out of cracks with and also removing splinters when you're not pinning something up with it.

But the big surprise in this wallet is the false bottom. This is held in by two pivots and a detent, and is opened by pressing down on one end of the bottom with your finger or a pen etc. The compartment is 8.5mm wide and 5.5mm deep - enough to hold emergency medication, firemaking kit, fishing kit, or other small EDC items of choice.

It will take one less card, or one extra card. Note that cards with embossed numbers on take up more space than a perfectly flat card. Don't put card signatures facing the case as they may wear off on the 3D printed finish.

Business cards and stray bills can be wedged between the paracord and the side of the wallet.

Printing & Assembly

This one is printed in eSUN Bismuth PLA for a nice rainbow shine. No support material necessary, probably needs a brim, and I did find random perimeter starts improved the appearance.

There is an assembly video here 

 to help you put it together. The pin just pushes in (the hole kinks to retain the pin). The  false bottom is lined up with the pivot holes, lowered as far and as flat as you can in the bottom of the card cavity, and is then firmly pushed down so that the pivots snap into their holes. I found a thick stack of cards an excellent tool for the job.

The paracord goes through the large holes, and the free ends lay in the long grooves - one on each side. When the paracord is wrapped on top, the pressure locks the end firmly in place. When you've done winding, measure the paracord so it is the right length for the last groove and cut/seal the end. Tuck it under the wrapped paracord and push it into the groove. Again, credit cards are useful tools for lifting and tucking.

The OpenSCAD source code is supplied, should you have slightly more or fewer cards.