So, I’ve been reading some of the comments regarding our new design (soon to be revealed to everyone, shortly!) and the use of magnets as an enclosure. Since we’ve been using magnets in our wallets (May, 2009), we haven’t heard of any clients who have had problems with demagnetizing cards of any kind.
Of course, we did a bit of research into this before we made the final decision to use a magnetic closure. The truth of the matter is that a magnetic stripe on a card requires a magnetic field of about 1000 Gauss in order to be demagnetized. As a sense of scale: if you had two magnets that had a field potential of 1000 Gauss, the two magnets would slam together hard enough to seriously pinch your skin. That is a STRONG field. The magnets we use in our wallets would be akin to a ‘good’ fridge magnet of approximately 200-300 Gauss.
Although, how cool would it be if we picked up a Gauss Meter to accurately test the exact strengths of our magnets as proof? :) I’m actually thinking about it.
5 Comments
hi guys, i actually had a minor issue.
i cant say for sure, but i think that my cypress might have demagnatized my hotel key at the hyatt. i had it in my wallet in one of the slots, and at the end of the day, it wouldnt open the door. after i got a new copy, i put it in the area for the money, at a right angle, far from the magnet, and didnt have another problem.
I wanted to help with the question of magnets messing up cards. I am the proud owner of a Cypress. I have had mine for over a year now. I’m in military so I am constantly opening and closing my wallet and pulling out my Mil ID. I have to use my ID to get on and off post, login to my computer, and present it to get into certain areas where I work. I’d say on any given day I open and close my wallet about 20 times. My Mil ID has a chip in it and obviously my credit cards have magnetic strips. I have not had any problems with either my Mil ID or my credit cards in almost constant daily use. I hope that helps somebody decide to buy the best wallets out on the market.
I’m all for magnets. They’re safe according to studies as it’s been pointed out, and it just feels great and very satisfying when the wallet snaps closed
Yep, I second Mike. They did an experiment and basically there was 0 chance of the magnetic strip being affected.
The Mythbusters did an excellant episode on this sbject. Turns out the darn magnetic stripes nearly can’t be blanked by any magnetic, let alone anything in a wallet. My “Cypress” has a magnet and its my second favorite feature of the wallet!