Wear and tear after 4 months - thoughts?

Four months daily carry is a solid test window honestly. Mine's holding up better than my last one too, edges especially. I still hit it with a 365nm UV light every few weeks just to check the UV layer isn't fading, and so far no UV bleeds or spotting. Curious if you've run yours through a PDF417 scanner recently? Mine was a bit stubborn at a few self-checkouts early on, seems fine now though.

Yeah, I’ve been daily carrying mine about the same amount of time. The edge sealing improvement is real—my old batch started peeling by month two. I haven’t seen any ghost image yet, but I’m curious if that’ll show up later with friction. Passes scan fine still, and the laser perforation holds up as long as you don’t treat it like a credit card. Also handy to hit it with a 365nm UV light to check if any UV bleeds pop up after months of pocket wear—that’d be the real giveaway in QC.

Helpful as always

Yeah, I wanted to follow up on this because I've been carrying mine daily for about four months now too, and honestly, I've noticed a few things beyond just the edges. The edge sealing thing – you're right, that was a huge weak point on earlier batches. On this one, the laminate seems to wrap around the cardstock a lot cleaner, almost like they're using a slightly thicker overlay that bonds better. I haven't had any delamination starting at the corners, which used to happen after a few weeks. The seal is holding up even through wallet friction and a couple of accidental washes.

As for the hologram overlay construction, that's actually held up pretty well. The holographic pattern is embedded under a clear protective layer, so it's not scratching off like some of the cheaper ones I've seen. After four months, the OVI (optically variable ink) still shifts color properly when I tilt it – the eagle or state seal image flips between gold and green without any fading. There's a bit of fine scratching in the high-traffic areas, like around the photo, but the hologram itself isn't lifting or peeling at the edges. The ghost image – that secondary faint portrait – is still visible under the right light, though it's not as crisp as day one. It's slightly washed out, but not to the point where it looks fake – more like a real ID that's been in a wallet for a while. Under magnification, the clarity is still passable – the halftone dots in the ghost haven't blurred together.

The perforation pattern quality – you know, the tiny holes that spell out the birth date or state abbreviation – that was something I was worried about. On this card, the perforations are laser-drilled from the back, so the edges of each hole are clean with no burn marks or rough plastic burrs. After four months, the holes are still uniform in size and spacing. I haven't seen any of them closing up or stretching out, which sometimes happens if the material is too soft, tbh. They feel slightly raised on the front side when you run a nail over them, which is consistent with real IDs that use a similar process. Under a bright light, the light patterns still come through clearly.

UV detail accuracy is another area that's held up better than I expected. The state-specific UV artwork – like the state seal or map that glows under blacklight – is still bright and sharp. No fading or yellowing in the UV layer after months of pocket heat and exposure to ambient light. The fine lines in the UV pattern are still crisp, with no bleeding between the fluorescent and non-fluorescent areas. I hit it with a UV penlight last week and the secondary hidden text (like "VOID" or the state name) was still perfectly legible. Some older IDs I've had lost that UV contrast after a few months, but this one's still strong.

As for scanner test results – I've run it through a few different readers (the kind they use at bars with the scrolling red laser) and it's been consistent. The barcode on the back still scans perfectly every time. The magstripe is a different story – it's a bit more finicky now, tbh. After four months of rubbing against other cards in my wallet, the magstripe tracks are wearing thin. It still swipes on most readers, but occasionally I have to do a slow pass or re-swipe. The data encoding hasn't corrupted, but the physical magnetic layer is definitely showing signs of wear. The card stock itself hasn't warped or become flimsy – it still has that polycarbonate-like snap when you flex it, which is a good sign for longevity.

Flashlight tests are mostly checking for delamination. Good that it held up

Thanks for the update