Like many magicians/mentalists I reached a stage where I asked myself, how do I carry my packet tricks?
After trying several wallets I decided upon the JOL Packet Trick Wallet. Invented by Jerry O’Connell in the 1980’s it is perfect for carrying all my packet tricks, cash, debit cards and more. It is from the JOL/Propdog line of products so you know it is quality and built to last. Here’s a breakdown of the wallet and my experience with it.
According to Dave Bonsall Director of Propdog Jerry O’Connell used to make these wallets by hand, but he eventually had more orders for his products than he was able to make himself. After that Jerry went over to India and found a company who could produce them for him. This same company have made the JOL Packet Trick Wallets ever since.
Specifications of the wallet:
Size: Approximately 10.5cm height x 8cm wide. Slightly larger than a deck of cards when its loaded with all your wonderful goodies! It has 9, yes NINE compartments.
What are the colour options?
The JOL Packet Trick Wallet is manufactured in black, brown and for the ladies pink! It’s rare to find wallets in pink and it would be nice if other manufacturers followed Propdog’s lead.



What is the wallet made from?
The wallet seems to be made of your standard cowhide leather.
Are there any logos or markings on the wallet?
Yes. There is small JOL logo on the bottom right hand corner of the wallet. The logo doesn’t look out of place.
What compartments are there in the wallet?

Compartment 1: Cash Compartment
It fits His Majesty’s UK notes and America’s dollar bills just fine. The largest paper I could fit in this compartment was 15.6cm x 9.5cm.
Compartment 2: Front Window Compartment
This will fit a Poker sized playing card or your business card.

Compartment 3: Rear Window Compartment
This will also fit a Poker sized playing card or your business card.
Compartment 4: Left Side Coin Compartment
This is where you can place your gimmicked coins.
Compartment 5: Left Side Packet Trick Compartment 1
For storing packet tricks.
Compartment 6: Left Side Packet Trick Compartment 2
For storing packet tricks.
Compartment 7: Right Side Coin Compartment
This is another compartment where you can place your gimmicked coins.
Compartment 8: Right Side Packet Trick Compartment 1
For storing packet tricks.
Compartment 9: Right Side Packet Trick Compartment 2
For storing packet tricks.
Do you even need it?
If you carry packet tricks I’d say this is ideal. Packet tricks and gimmicked cards are of course worth protecting. You don’t want to pay the money for a packet trick and damage one card and then need to repurchase the whole packet trick effect. Envelopes are an alternative but they don’t offer the same level of protection for your cards and lets face it – WE LIKE WALLETS! Whilst there are other packet trick wallets out there, I believe this wallet stores more than enough and at the same time feels very compact. This wallet give easy access and frees up your pockets. In fact I was so impressed with the JOL Packet Trick Wallet that I actually purchased two.
Will it last?
Again, its from the JOL/Propdog line so it’s going to hold up very well. I have owned this wallet and carried it practically everyday for the last 4 years. It’s been in my jacket, my jeans, I’ve dropped it and it’s still going strong with no stitching issues. It’s so compact for what it can hold that I often forget I have it on me.
What will it hold?
So much that it in could quite easily be renamed the Tardis Wallet (now thats a great name for a wallet!). Right now mine holds:
Compartment 1: Cash Compartment
2 Notes (and plenty of room for more).
3 Elastic bands for CMH (1 being a spare).
2 Transparent Plastic Sleeves which I use to hold gimmicks.
Compartments 2 and 3: This is the only modification I made to the wallet. I actually removed this and use it as a thumbtip holder in another pocket.
Compartment 4: This holds my debit card, store card and a gimmicked debit card.
Compartment 5: Left Side Packet Trick Compartment 1
10 Poker size ESP Cards
Compartment 6: Left Side Packet Trick Compartment 2
7 pre-folded billets
Compartment 7: Right Side Coin Compartment I hold 2 gimmicked credit cards here and also a written prediction.
Compartment 8: Right Side Packet Trick Compartment 1 I hold 2 packet tricks here (9 Poker sized playing cards in total)
Compartment 9: Right Side Packet Trick Compartment 2 Here I hold 3 UK size business cards
Center Spine: On the centre spine I attach a mini pen so I always have something to write with.



Conclusion
Whether you are working pro looking to store your packet tricks or someone who wants a small EDC (Every Day Carry) wallet that holds your cash, your debit cards in addition to your packet tricks this could very well suit your needs. Although it has no magical features it is no less impressive because of that. Personally, I do not use the coin compartments on this wallet for coins. I did try for a short while but the coin compartment wasn’t as secure as I liked. But not being a ‘coin guy’ I rarely have coins on me other than my Coin Unique. Your experience might be different but this is predominantly a packet trick wallet for cards. For me, it’s important to carry packet tricks in a wallet that looks like a regular wallet rather than a holder for packet tricks. The difference being the former looks like you are pulling regular playing cards out of a wallet and the latter looks like you are pulling trick cards out of their storage compartment. Of course that’s just my opinion. Yours may be different. But its a worthwhile point to consider. What image do you want to present? If you decide to purchase one of these and carry it on your person every day as I do, then as well as having your essentials like cards and cash you will also have a large capacity of magic or mentalism to show people for those “show us a trick” moments. In my opinion the JOL Packet Trick Wallet does its job exceptionally well! Highly recommended!

Alternatives to The JOL Packet Trick Wallet
When I wrote this short article I was surprised how many packet trick wallets were out there (I really DO need to create a search facility on the site). Everybody has different requirements when it comes to carrying packet tricks. What you want to hold, your style and how you want to carry them might be different from someone else. In addition to the JOL Packet Trick Wallet some alternative packet trick wallets (many of which I have yet to add to the site) you may wish to consider might be.
Plastic Wallet
Single Bi-Fold Holder by Jerry O’Connell and PropDog
Single Packet Trick Holder by Jerry O’Connell and PropDog
Card Trick Holder Wallet by Heinz Minten
Packet Wallet by Amor Magic
The Bigblindmedia Card Trick Wallet
The Bigblindmedia Card Trick Wallet Deluxe
The “Little Squeeze” Packet Trick Sleeve by Tony Antoniou
Deck Sleeve for 26 Poker Sized Cards by Tony Antoniou
Black Premium Leather Packet Trick Wallet by Tony Antoniou
Brown Premium Packet Trick Wallet by Tony Antoniou
ESP Card Case – With Prediction Strap by Tony Antoniou
ESP Packet Holder – With Reveal by Tony Antoniou
and finally…
Well that’s my first blog post finished and I hope you wonderful people enjoyed it. Please let me know in the comments what you think. Did I miss any? I’m aware that I still have a large number of wallets to add to the main index. I apologise it has not been updated for a while. Its a steep learning curve creating a website. But I am back on it now. Honestly I never realised just how many wallets were out there. Of course, we like wallets don’t we?
Peace!
Neil (John 3:16)
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