My Journey in Minimalist Wallets

arpace315
Sep 7, 2018
5 min read

Updated: Jan 8, 2019

This is the wallet I am currently carrying and have been for some time now. It is the Minix RFID canvas wallet in grey. I backed this wallet on kickstarter and have been carrying it ever since. I actually also backed their recent project to get a new black one so hopefully it gets in soon. I also have not been able to find them online, it seems the only way to get this wallet was through backing it.

Product Details:

Size: 3 3/4" by 2 7/8"

Weight: 0.5 oz

Compartments: 2 slots for cards and one small pouch for a key or similar sized item.

So now that you know what I am carrying I want to walk you through how I got here.

Before coming to college I carried a typical bi-fold or tri-fold wallet depending on what I had at the time. I also typically wore cargo shorts like most guys at the time and so it fit nicely into one of my cargo pockets. At that point I typically didn't have much in my wallet besides and ID maybe a card or two and a little bit of cash, so when I did wear pants or non-cargo shorts putting it into my back pocket didn't make too much of a difference. Then I came to college and opened a new bank account and for some reason always seemed to have an abundance of cards in my wallet whether they were bank style plastic cards or business cards. By this point I new I needed a new solution so I started looking at more minimalist designs.

*Just for reference these pictures featuring wallets with cards in them each have five cards (the number I currently carry, not necessarily at the time I was using these wallets). I will also include two pictures at the end that will feature all the wallets on this journey together.

Here are the first two I purchased and carried. First was a Joseph Abbound leather wallet that I can no longer find online. It was a slim bi-fold wallet with a money clip and several slots for cards but didn't feel to bulky. I felt that way for a little bit but not super long. It had plenty of slots which meant I found myself carrying around useless extra gift cards or membership cards or business cards. It all added up fast. In addition even when I wasn't using the clip it was extremely uncomfortable and always dug into me. When I did carry cash it was naturally worse because it stuck out further. My last complaint was the if I wasn't careful opening it I could easily find the cards on the inside falling out. That's enough complaining for one wallet, let's move on to the next one. The next attempt was the Swiss Gear Travel Money Clip Card Wallet. Overall I liked this wallet pretty well. It has less slots than the first wallet so I was unable to cram quite as much junk into it which helped to limit the profile. However, It tended to get awkwardly wide at the top with cards in every slot. In addition, I hated the money clip. I like the idea of the magnetic strap, but once I used it it did not feel stable enough. It wasn't terrible but I wasn't satisfied. Plus, I still didn't carry cash all the time so when it wasn't bothering me for being less effective, it was just a useless piece of material and magnet on the back of my wallet. On to the next step.

Both of these are from Nite Ize and have similar names with very similar designs. The first is the single metal piece known as the money clip wallet. I found this in a hardware store at one point and really like it for a couple of reasons. First, it is a cool little multitool (ask me how many times I pulled out my wallet, took everything out, and then used one of the small tools. Yea that would be zero). Despite not really using it as a tool, it was still a nice design that was a handy back up. My second reason was that it had such a small profile. It is only as wide as the cards you put in it plus the very thin backbone. This meant that I could keep everything relatively flat and super thin now that I was down to just five cards. Honestly, I really liked this wallet for a while. After carrying it for several close to a year I started to notice a few problems. Both have to do with how your cards are exposed. First, your cards are pretty exposed. This naturally means you just need to be conscious of having them out in the open. The second problem is that I noticed my cards were wearing down a lot faster due to them hitting each other, the metal, and anything else the wallet came into contact with. To remedy this situation I would typically stick business cards or other small items to cushion the cards and protect the outsides. This naturally went against my desire to just have the bare minimum. Despite these flaws I really liked this wallet, so when I stumbled across its cousin the full wallet design I had to try it. Sure it now had two pieces of metal but for one thing they were very slim and second, the addition of that second piece of metal meant that I could take out all the other small items that were no longer needed. Overall, I don't really have much to say here. I like the design because it kept everything very tight and organized. Of course you do still have your outside cards rubbing on metal a little but it is minimal and it protects them from all the other concerns I had about the previous wallet. One thing to keep in mind is that these are metal wallets. For some people this isn't a big deal depending on how you carry it, but if you carry it in your back pocket just be mindful that they can occasionally be uncomfortable. I honestly would almost certainly be carrying this wallet if I hadn't come across my current one.

Both of these wallets came from Kickstarter. The first is the Basic Wallet from Webbing Works. It is simply one small slot for everything you carry. I have found that three to four cards is the sweet spot. It can technically carry more, but it gets hard to insert and remove, plus by the point you stick ten cards in here it feels like you have betrayed the design. I have barely used this wallet because I received it around the same time as the minix wallet. However, I do use it while camping to carry the three cards I keep with me at that point. In that capacity it has done a phenomenal design. Well we have arrived at present day and I am certainly have to be here.

I completely vouch for the minix wallet and really wish that I could find it online for y'all but the only place so far has been the Kickstarters that have featured it.