Rfid Blocking?

[rhinez0r]

Hey Folks,

I have a customer asking if I can offer RFID blocking on my wallets. He says that I can use sandwich foil? Has anyone else ever done such a thing? Would you be able to offer some advice?

[shtoink]

I wouldn't recommend aluminum foil due to the change of it failing prematurely. I did see some quick and dirty solutions, but they did not appear to have long term use in mind, also the bulk of them were just plain ugly. I'm thinking you still want to have this wallet look like a normal wallet and not some duct-tape monstrosity. Simply put, aluminum foil has a finite number of bending it'll handle before giving up its structural integrity. Anything you do to try to layer over it or glue it to will just add to the bulk and complexity. Not saying it isn't doable, just that there are better tools to get the job done.

I think that you'd be far more successful with a copper wire mesh, tough there are some other allows that claim to get wider ranges of the EM spectrum. Just going by what I was able to glean from the pages I searched. Copper is very ductile and when made into a fabric, it'll still do the job you want without having to add much change to your assembly process of your wallet. I'd assume that it'd go between the outer most layer and some kind of lining. You could even apply it some rubber cement directly to that outer layer and then glue on a pigskin lining. These are just some idea I'm tossing out, it'll ultimately be your call.

I did a quick search and here is what I found: (No particular order)

http://www.stylepark.com/en/weisse-und-eschrich/copper-wire-mesh

http://www.wovenwire.com/copper-wire-mesh.htm

http://www.lessemf.com/fabric.html

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/03/16/faraday-bags-pouches.html

It seems that the tighter the mesh, the better the results, but there is also a physical limit to the size that the wires can reach and still be useful. You also want to to still be flexible and not interfere with the wallets normal functions.

I hope this points you in the right direction.

[TigerPal]

I have also seen several mail-order catalogs offering stainless steel mesh wallets for this purpose. No idea how effective it would be, how difficult it would be to make to work,or even if such a thing would be available in small quantities.

just tossing out another comment to research.....

[rhinez0r]

Wow! Great information guys, I think I'll try out the Radioscreen mesh: http://www.lessemf.com/fabric.html

I'll let you know how I get on

[jimmy eng]

Laminate two layers of heavy duty kitchen aluminium foil glued together, it's strong enough to resist bending in general use and not testing it to extremes. I'm making card wallets for a guy that uses this technique for his and it makes them removable too. I've also tried gluing the foil into the outer and lining but that could be more prone to breaking.

[Northmount]

You can get aluminum foil tape, just pull off the backing and stick it on. I don't think bending is a problem. Foil just needs to be on both sides of the card. Cover the inside with thin lining leather. Should be able to do much the same as card slots, but deeper with just a small thumb notch. Tell the owner to always slide the card into the pocket chip end first.

Tom