(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
This review is on the Ridge carbon fiber. It is the carbon fiber model, that comes with a cash strap. However, I didn’t get the money clip but it is also available. This has the typical packaging that we get from Ridge, which is awesome, because it’s very sturdy, it’s very Apple-esque in its rigidity. When we look at the product itself, we see it is a nice carbon fiber wallet. The box comes with their promo card as well as a screwdriver, a torque wrench, that can be utilized in case the screws are coming undone, or you need to add additional accessories such as replacing this strap with a money clip. This follows the standard of pretty much all of the other Ridge wallets.
Here are the features of the Ridge carbon fiber band wallet. With all band wallets, especially the Ridge, they have the same design. They’ve got their thumb push down here. This particular wallet, like all the other Ridge designs, have the entry point for the cards in the top. With this particular version it has a cash strap on the back, where cash goes underneath. It also comes with an optional money clip that you can buy with the wallet, or you can buy as a secondary accessory,
For the card and cash insert test I was able to put 10 cards in here. The company indicates it can go up to 12, but that’s before you could start overstretching the band, so I think 10 or less is perfect for this. You don’t ever want to overstretch this elastic. I put in 7 slips of cash which fit just fine under this. All European and other international currencies would do just fine with this as well, when folded over twice. You can also put external cards in the strap. If you don’t want to put cash there, you can actually put a quick access card here. And the reason why that’s important is because with Ridge wallets, when you push them out, it has a tendency to present you with the immediate cards in the back, and the immediate cards in the front. The cards in the middle take a little more effort to retrieve. It’s not that it’s a problem, because if you happen to pull cards out of the middle and don’t know what to do, and you have to put them back in, that’s one of the beauties of the Ridge wallet, it has a plastic piece on the inside which has a lip.
And it just makes sliding cards in and out of it really effortless. This is one of the reasons why this is my favorite band wallet so far, is that the engineering on it is fantastic. And if you pull cards out, one thing to notice is that if you want to get things back in, of course we have the band in the back, but as you open it, the band actually has some give to it. And the reason why, is it has channels on both sides of the plate, between the outside and inside plastic piece which allows the elastic to expand. So without much effort, you’re able to get it open, get your cards, put them in, and they just slide right in without any problem. And that makes this a wonderful usability experience.
As mentioned, the cash strap is interchangeable with a money clip which you can separately from their website. The wallet measures 3.39 x 2.13 x 0.24”. The perception as a band wallet is one of my favorites, due to the thought that’s gone into it for usability, longevity, and simplicity. But this one is incredibly overpriced, even for a carbon fiber version, when compared to capable competitive offerings, some of which I’ve reviewed on this program.
It is designed in the United States and made in China. Of course, that contributes somewhat to the higher price. But when you can get competitors that may not be as engineered as nicely, but can function just as well for a quarter of that price, I think there’s some consideration that this might be a little overpriced.
Here is the final score. For quality, a 5. Price, a 2. (could be close to being a 1, but we’re going to give it a 2). Features a 4, usability a 3, and perception a 4. That gives us a final score of 3.7 out of 5.
The Ridge was built with a focus on design and functionality—a wallet that’s minimalist without being limiting.
