Hidden Pocket Pants Project (HPPP): Completed

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I dislike wearing a money belt. I understand and respect their importance in keeping your documents safely nested near your crotch, but they’re uncomfortable. Most trips I end up wearing it for a week or two before the nasty combination of laziness and a belt rash kicks into high gear and I end up scrapping the pouch in favor of nervously traveling around with one hand in my pocket at all times.

But, as a few of you might remember, I ran across a nifty little tutorial on sewing a hidden pocket into your pants. When I saw it, I knew had to try it out… so that’s exactly what I did this past week. With the help of my lovely girlfriend (who did 100% of the sewing), I now have two pairs of pants with a built-in secret pocket. It’s every little boy’s dream.

We used a stretchy, breathable material and sewed it on the inside of the pocket. Check out the gallery below. It’s definitely not the prettiest thing in the world, but who’s going to be looking down my pants anyway, right?

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Ditch the Money Belt and Build a Hidden Pocket

While I do feel they are usually necessary, I dislike wearing a money belt when traveling. I own a Rick Steves-branded pouch, but I often find myself not wearing it because it’s uncomfortable. Even when it is strapped to my waist, I spend too much time with my hands down my pants fixing an annoying situation spawned by the belt. This, of course, draws attention to the very thing I am trying to hide.

I was searching around today for money belt alternatives and ran across this tutorial on building a hidden pocket into an existing pair of pants. The plans seem simple enough: turn your pants inside-out, cut a scrap piece of fabric into the same shape as your existing pocket, and sew! Even I could do this!

You could do this to all 4 pockets of your pants, effectively tripling your storage space. My brain is already churning with ideas on how to keep your valuables from falling out. Andy over at HoboTraveler created a Velcro-based pocket, which seems ideal, though a zipper could work as well.

Now how could I waterproof it?