Should passport wallets be simple or complex? Too many features and it begins to defeat the purpose of a travel wallet. The Auroch Orbit Passport leather wallet provides everything needed in one place. The Orbit can handle every need, but is it too much?
(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
Getting into orbit should not be that hard, especially when you have the Auroch’s Orbit Passport Wallet. But when it comes to passport wallets, what do you need to carry besides the passport?
The company’s products always come in a wonderful padded bag. If you have seen my previous reviews on their wallets, I have mentioned that this bag can be used for something else. Inside the bag we have the Orbit, a sizable wallet, granted that I do not have a huge hand, it is pretty big. I have selected the brown color, but it also comes in gray, black, and green.
So just to be clear, we are not really going to go into orbit, but this does provide the ability to travel the globe. This wallet has a load of features, so after the feature review, we will talk about what is really needed in a passport wallet.
Externally, there are no features, but as soon as we go to the interior, we have four card slots that are right in our face. I suppose their capacity is one to two cards per slot. It also has one billfold pocket, and a second right behind it, which provides two places to store separate currencies. Moreover, a boarding pass will certainly fit in there, which makes sense. On the back, inside the first billfold pocket, we have two secret card slots. I am not sure what the reason is other than, hey, look, I have two more card slots! Furthermore, it has a key slot. Why? Well, I am going to be traveling away from my lock. The main purpose of this wallet, the passport slot, is on the back. Finally, in the back, it has a SIM card slot, as well as the pin push for SIM cards. It measures 5.7 x 4 x 0.5 and weighs 95 grams or 3.4 ounces.
It has a decent share of features. I loaded this wallet with six cards, four in the front and one in each of the secret areas. What I did not quite like is that one of the cards sticks up a little higher. I also added 10 notes from all the different countries. The wallet is tall enough to handle them as it should. I put a key as well just to kind of finish it out.
This is designed and made in Pakistan of thin cut full-grain vegged hand leather from Southeast Asia. The final edges are wrapped and that is not a bad thing for you can tell they have treated the edges. Therefore, this should last quite a bit of time. In addition, it has got reinforcement in all the places that you would expect. Still, I wish they also had it in the intersection of the two billfold pockets, which will be irrefutably opened a lot, as well as a couple of other places like on the edge. Nevertheless, they have done it in many spots. This wallet costs $90, which is pretty reasonable, considering that the majority of passport wallets cost that much.
As I mentioned, we are going to check the performance of this wallet, we have seen some examples of how wallets should perfume, counting, the Carl Friedrick Weston, the Nomad passport wallet, and the new Pioneer Carry with their passport wallet that has an attractive approach. Including the Orbit, they are all quite large. The point is, do you need a passport wallet that provides more functionality than you truly need? Are you going to carry everything in a single big wallet?
Despite that being said, the Orbit does handle the job just fine with the features that you might need, not necessarily what you are hoping to only use. The slope of the leather has an interesting design, but it does help provide access to cards or cash because it does not come all the way over. It opens up just a bit more for ease of use and access. The passport is fairly easy to get access to because it just slides at the top.
If I were to call out a few aspects of concern, one is that everything seems to be face-up, not out, and there are no safety flaps, directional slot safety, et cetera. In the billfold area, the key pocket is quite loose. I am just wondering if anything would fall out from there, and the same issue is encountered with the SIM card and the push pin. Why would the SIM card face up? It should face to the side, otherwise, as it loosens over time, the SIM could fall out. The same applied to the passport that is sitting precariously at the top. As it might be convenient for its access, when broken in, it will have the possibility of falling out, but it is still very easy to pull in and out. Due to the infrequent use, a flap would be a nice touch where it could be folded into the pocket when not in use, and then over the passport to secure it.
With all of that said, the overall design and attempt to provide many of the needed items and features for travel is nice. But is it really practical? I would say no. I like to travel strategically, thus, I will never keep my credit cards and passport in the same wallet. I usually leave my passport at the hotel and carry a photocopy with me when I am not at the airport or checking into a hotel or something like that. I also do not keep all my credit cards or cash on me. I split it up, leaving some at the hotel in case I am robbed or I lose things. In the end, the one thing most passport wallets miss is a small pen.
The final score of Aurochs Orbit Passport Wallet is four for quality, like all Aurochs products, they are built really well; three for the price, it has a fair price for a passport wallet; features score a four, it is still missing a pen; usability scores a three; and despite the placement of certain items, it is still very easy to use so the perception scores a three. This gives this wallet a great score of 37 out of 50.
Aurochs Orbit is a travel wallet designed specifically for the modern nomads. Carry all your travel essentials in a slim & minimalist way. No more last-minute panics at the boarding pass counter.
