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Helpful and Convenient Travel Gadgets: The Best Money Clips

Business Travel, Luggage & Packing, Money, Currency & Credit — on April 17, 2009 10:12 am

Money ClampWhen traveling, many road warriors advise against carrying a wallet in your back pocket.

A wallet stuffed full becomes huge, inefficient and, most of all, tempting to pickpocketers.

Some travelers solve this problem by using a rubber band or binder clip to hold their cards and bills in one stack, tucked deep into their side pocket.

But these days, money clips have become an even more efficient and attractive solution for travelers hitting the road … 
Money clamp ZurichThe Clamp

From Beza comes the Money Clamp. It’s a spring-loaded clamp with hinged wings that fold back—sort of a fancy binder clip.

It’s designed to hold a few up to 25 bills and a dozen cards. It’s somewhat utilitarian constructed from sheet metal, but it works with a small to medium size stash. From $20 to $90. www.beza.biz

Duck Bill

duck-bill.gifThe Duck Bill is a simple design, made from a single piece of stainless steel. It holds about 10 credit cards and 10 bills at one time. The polished stainless steel is bent to make it easy to slide on and off while maintaining its grip over a wide range of capacity.

It’s a little bulkier than the others with its curved tip. It costs $36 or $46 with your name engraved in script. www.duckbilldesign.com

M-ClipM-Clip

My favorite of the bunch, the M-Clip is a cleverly designed money clip that holds the largest capacity of cards and bills (up to 20 cards and 10 bills). It’s manufactured in the United States, machined by hand to strict standards.

The clip uses a strong stainless steel spring that clamps the stack of cards and bills together firmly; two fingers slide out from the clip to provide ample leverage to open, and then slide back to keep it as small as possible. The M-Clip is available in more than a dozen materials and finishes, ranging in price from $99 to $260. www.m-clip.com

By Phil Baker for PeterGreenberg.com. Check out Phil’s blog at blog.philipgbaker.com. Phil’s book, From Concept to Consumer, is available in stores and online.

  • Drew U.

    I currently have had the Duckbill for a very long time and still has it’s “bite” or spring just like it’s first day of owning it. I have had even pushed it to it’s limits alot as well. I am thinking aboout ditching it for the M-clip because the curved bill on the duckbill makes it larger and can poke.

    When you reviewed the M-clip did you have the Extra-large capacity spring in the clip or just the normal sized clip? Also did it ever lose it’s tension?

  • Clip Info

    Yes, the M-Clip can lose its tension and for how bulky it is (with the sliding arms on top) it really doesn’t hold very much. Try the Z Money Clip or the Money Clamp – They work quite well and do not lose their tension.

  • Casinodude29

    Also, don’t forget that the M-Clip has a LIFETIME warranty.  So if the spring starts to loosen up, just send it back.  I just ordered one…..can’t wait until it arrives….Good Luck !

  • runforestrun

    The Zurich Money Clamp and the ZCLIP Le Mans are my two favorites. I go back and forth. Both have lifetime warranties and both hold the contents tightly. Also, both come with wallets. The M Clip is too thick and doesn’t hold enough. The Duck Bill sticks into your leg or ruins your pants.

  • JStevenson

    The Money Clamp and ZClip are made by the same people – they are famous for self-promotion and denigration of others on public forums and reviews. It’s childish and pathetic. Do the research yourself and don’t believe much of what you read.

  • Zclip

    This is Zclip. We want to clarify that while Zclip and Money Clamp were invented by the same person, they are not the same company nor are they made by the same company. We can’t speak for Money Clamp, but we pride ourselves in selling a top-notch product that we stand behind and believe in. We realize it is not be for everyone and offer a great return policy for those who don’t like it. However, we believe if you give it a week or so to transition to one of our products you will not be disappointed.