The Kohlesack wallet provides some standard wallet functionality, albeit in an odd way. The question is if you’d buy it?
Today’s review is on the Kohlesack wallet. It is designed in Germany and is packaged in a retail type box presentation. On the back of the box, it indicates it is an RFID blocker. It also indicates it is 100 Feinstes Rinderleder which I think means finest cowhide. WIthin the wallet itself there is information printed and folded into the money clip, as well as “dummy cards” with quotes printed on them and put in the card slot pocket.
(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
There are no exterior features on the Kohlesack wallet. On the interior left hand side, there is a money clip which has the name Kohlesack engraved on it. The money clip is removable, is connected by a sewn pattern which keeps the money clip in place and has nice tension to it.
On both the left and right hand side, there is another slot in the rear. However, you would not be able to fit cards inside because it is too tight. The company indicates the left side area can be used for coins, if you lay them flat. On the right hand side, you could probably put more coins, receipts, or even a key. The cards fit in the front slot. There is also a quick-access thumb push to get the cards out.
I was able to get five cards, four coins and three slips of cash inside. it works fine for US currency as well as yen and euros. Minimalist carry is three cards, reasonable is five. The company recommends five to six cards. I would say that amount is definitely the maximum unless you plan to stretch the pocket. There is not a lot of room to put cards in the secondary slots. The currency needs to be folded either twice or into thirds to fit. It is a very small wallet from a dimension perspective.
The website says the wallet is made of real leather and the box indicates the finest cowhide. It smells like chrome tanned, but it is very soft, so it is decent quality from that perspective. Like I mentioned at the very beginning, it does have RFID, but only on the interior cards. The wallet is designed to be very tight in dimensions, which makes it very difficult to get cards into the secondary slots in the back. The wallet is offered in six colors, which is nice.
From a usability perspective, the money clip is offset. I am not sure why it isn’t placed in the middle of the side of the wallet. It seems very unintuitive, because when you want to put cash inside, you would have to put it right in the middle, at which point you would have to conscientiously move it over so it’s aligned with the wallet and not with the money clip. Once everything is put in the wallet, it seems to function very well. However, the cash seems to flop around when I was toying with it a bit. If you don’t have coins stacked on each other in the little slot in the back, I really believe they stay in place. It seems like the coins were a second thought in the design.
The measurements are 3.8 x 2.6 x 0.3”, and weighs 30 grams. It is mass manufactured and the design is interesting but not terribly unique.
As for the final score: For quality, a 3; price, a 2; features, a 3; usability, a 2; and perception, a 3. That gives us a final score of 2.7 out of 5.
The coal sack design enables contactless payment and at the same time offers you an ingenious RFID protection - coal thing.
