Tap’mups Mk. 2

After carrying around the Tap’mups (Mk. 1) for about ¾ of a year, I noticed the plastic sleeve was starting to crack.

More disturbingly, the bottom was cracking to the point where I feared the cards would fall out.

But before I could even make a trip to Toronto to buy a replacement pouch, something worse happened.

One afternoon after work, getting on the bus, I noticed that the card pouch was loose in my hand. Given that I made that particular version of the Swipe’mups in 2007, and carried it for quite a long time, I’m a bit surprised it lasted this long before the thread broke.

I went on a trip to Lee Vally with the idea I would buy one of these. I stopped into a Staples next door and found a (possibly ?) better solution. Certainly cheaper than the retractable lanyard at LV, and (possibly) a trip to Toronto to get a replacement pouch would have been. A Merangue Silicone ID Badge Holder and Klip-N-Pull Retractable Keycard Badge Holder.

Unscrewed the belt clip off the back of the “Klip-N-Pull Retractable Keycard Badge Holder”.

Now on to making a pouch for it. Tubular webbing wouldn’t work this time, as it was too wide to fit. Just took some 2" webbing and folded and sewed it to form a pocket and belt loop.

The one notable thing I did was to put tabs along the sides that I could put some bunjee cord through. I didn’t like how the card hung down. Wanting to avoid it catching on things, I added this feature so I could put it out of the way when needed.

After using it for a while, I noticed that the cards had a tendency to pop out from behind the clear plastic cover.

You can see here that the card itself isn’t much bigger than the slot it sits behind.

Made a pouch from some 20 mil marine vinyl, which so far, has done a great job of keeping the cards contained within the silicone pouch.

The Presto card doesn’t show at all, but it really doesn’t need to. Only the library card needs to have the bar code scanned.

(And a quick update on this. About three weeks after completing this, I was about to get on the bus, felt around, felt around some more, looked - the stainless steel wire, which I figured would be way more durable than the cord of the previous retractable lanyard, had broken. Library card and Presto pass – gone. I should have checked the reviews, because everyone seems to have the same experience – give it a few weeks and the wire breaks. Worthless piece of shit. Do not trust this. Your keys, cards, etc. are too valuable.

And Staples hasn’t posted my bad review of it more than a month after submitting it. Maybe they have a limit on how many bad reviews they’ll post. Lame.)

Tap’mups Mk. 1

I’ve been using a Presto pass for a while now, and for the most part it’s a good thing. The fact that I can use it on any transit system in the GTHA area is undeniably handy.

What I haven’t been so keen on is that with GO Transit, I need to tap on when I enter the bus and tap off when I exit. When getting off, I’m usually up and moving down the aisle as the bus is still moving. I don’t want to have my wallet in my hand as I do. Also that aisle is narrow and trying to swing a bag forward to get at a wallet or dig it out of my pocket with everyone else behind me having to wait while I do, didn’t suit me. I wanted to be able to quickly tap off, without having to access a bag or wallet.

I wanted some way of getting at both of them without much fuss. Figured the Swipe’mups was the best approach.

I thought of just cutting a rectangular slot in the top of the card. The problem with that is that the Presto pass, when I put cash on it, needs to be handed to the attendant. Given that the Swipe’mups is firmly attached to the belt, often on the left side, having to undo my belt to get it off would be a total nuisance. I needed to have it firmly attached to me, and still be removable if need be.

I looked all over for a credit card / business card sized holder for months. And one that wouldn’t be a huge pain to get the card out of if need be. Finally found one at Europe Bound in Toronto.

Since I use my library card a lot, I figured I may as well use the side opposite to the Presto pass for it. While I don’t currently need a work related swipe pass, if at some point I do, I’m hoping I can put it between the other two cards. Might cause interference, but we’ll see.

Reinforced the hole with a grommet. Thought of all kinds of fancy knots to attach and in the end just mashed something unfancy together with Spectra line.

I can slip it in my pocket if I need to do any high speed ninja manoeuvres.