Grip6 Wallet

 

My search for a minimalist wallet also made me come across Grip6 which is better known for their belt. The company was found by an engineer and it has a very interesting start up. All their products are made locally in Utah, United States and not outsourced to any manufacturers outside the country. They don't take any shortcut and at the same time protect the local industry.

Grip6 wallet is actually my first minimalist wallet I purchased. It was shipped by DHL ecommerce and arrive me about 6 weeks later. Grip6 shipped it out immediately after I confirm my purchase. The shipment was free (for international) as I purchased more than USD75. The package travelled from the United States to Germany where from there it took about 1 month to reach Malaysia. It was a long wait but nevertheless it arrived. 

This is the packaging of the wallet. There is nothing fancy about the box and they keep the design simple. It comes with an instruction card on how to maintain the leather jacket.

So, out of the box is the wallet itself inside the leather jacket. The wallet comes in various colour and the one I opt for is gunmetal with black leather.

The wallet is constructed from 5052-H32 Aluminum and bright-dip anodized. Since it is made from aluminum, it offers RFID protection to the cards stored inside. It is pretty light and weight around 24g. This version I purchase comes with no loop although one can opt for the one with the loop which add some fun on how to play around with the wallet. This stand alone wallet cost USD 49 without the leather jacket.

There is also a nice Grip6 logo stamped on bottom one side of the aluminum plate. It is also proudly made in the United States and this production creates high quality domestic jobs.

The wallet is 4" x 3" x 0.25" in dimension and the size is still smaller than my traditional bifold wallet.

This is a comparison of the wallet with a standard card. Due to its internal mechanism and construction, the wallet is slightly bigger than the standard card. The stand alone wallet can stored up to 6 cards (5 cards if all have embossed letters).

To increase the capacity of the wallet, one can opt for the leather jacket (USD 20). There are only 2 colour option; black and brown. It is made from top grain leather which is stitched with high tensile nylon fiber yarn. The leather jacket weights about 2 oz. This leather jacket definitely will last a lifetime.

By putting on the wallet into the leather jacket, the wallet now feel a bit chunkier. Now the wallet can accommodates a maximum of 14 cards (6 cards inside the wallet and 8 cards by the leather jacket) and 2 bills. 

Personally, I prefer to keep my cards using the inner pocket of the leather jacket as the aluminum plate will provide a solid backing/support for the card and cash in the outer pocket.

This leather jacket configuration will also allow commuter card to be placed there for frequent scanning without the need to retrieve it from the standard wallet casing. 

Even with the leather jacket on, the size is still smaller compared to the traditional bifold wallet.

The cards stored inside the wallet can be retrieved by pressing on the side lever. The spring loaded mechanism will raised the card like a pyramid shape where the cards stored in the middle will be raised to the highest point. The mechanism has been tested more than 500,000 times (and still going) without any failure. 

There are reports where the cards inside will fly off when the lever are pressed pretty hard and sudden. With some practice, one will get use to the handling and eject the cards in an orderly fashion. Otherwise, just put 1 or 2 embossed card and this will create some friction among the cards and prevent the cards from flying off the wallet.

For USD  69, it is definitely one of the most affordable minimalist wallet in the market. It comes with Guaran-Damn-Tee from the manufacturer which protects against any malfunction, accident and all possible wear and tear of their product. I can definitely see this wallet been passed down to my son one day.