My first Kickstarter project backing has finally reached me; here’s a MostRad Minimalist Wallet Review and thoughts of the product.

Minimalist wallets are in trend right now; you can tell when manufacturers create iPhone cases with cardholders for they know that people want to carry one less item in their pockets, and because no one wants to leave their smartphone behind, people are willing to just bring a debit or credit card that’s stored with their smartphone.

Why I Chose The MostRad Minimalist Wallet

At the time when I was thinking about to jump on the bandwagon of minimalist wallets, I saw many options but the MostRad Kickstarter project stood out the most to me. I chose the MostRad because I felt that it sat on the fence of bi-fold wallets and a cardholder while a tiny cardholder was not enough.

I liked the idea of an elastic band to hold paper bills, the quick access pocket at the back to get to a frequently used card and the fact that it had inner pockets so that more than just a few cards can be stored. All these features attracted me so I went ahead and purchased it, also keeping in mind that $42 shipped is very reasonable for a wallet.

First Impressions

I was very excited When MostRad first reached my home as I have been waiting since the projected ended on September 6th. After waiting for the project to finish and the wallet to be shipped out, I had to wait another 19 days for it to finally reach me on the 18th of November; I blame the long custom clearance duration and crappy postal service in my country.

The wallet came in a box together with a sticker and a bottle opener that was given to Kickstarter Backers when it hit the $100k stretch goal. As you can tell, I got myself the Redrum version, paying an extra $5 to add a little color to my usual black, white and grey themed style. I’m happy with my choice as the Red elastic band isn’t a very vibrant red although the Red on the MostRad is a bit reflective.

It’s very thin when it’s empty which is a good sign since my old wallet was almost twice as tall. It’s also a bit wider than a credit card making it nice to grip. It’s made out of a premium synthetic leather as stated on the project page. Some have complained about the smell that is there if you put the wallet very close to your nose, otherwise, it’s unnoticeable. Within the lining of the wallet there’s also a RFID blocking material. I didn’t notice this at first but after one day of usage, I could hear a paper material within the front of the wallet which leads me to wonder if this wallet can withstand some moist in the occasion it gets wet.

Usability

The first thing I tried to do was fit the paper notes behind the elastic band to see if it fit. Sadly for me, it didn’t and many backers have complained that even the US dollar bills couldn’t fit the band as it was advertised. I was pretty bummed but a quick workaround for me was to fold the paper bills into 3 folds and slotting it behind the band. This worked with 1-5 bills but any more than that it’ll make the whole wallet a bit too thick and ugly.

Most of my cards fit into the wallet. I’m able to fit 10 cards, 2 of which are laminated without making the wallet too thick. Since I don’t use my debit card very often, I put small notes into the quick access card slot which wasn’t too bad an idea. However, taking notes in and out from there wasn’t very smooth as the wallet hasn’t broken in yet.

Minor Issues

Speaking of breaking in, the entire wallet seems to require lots of breaking in. The elastic band is quite tight which is good if my notes actually fit snug. Card didn’t have much trouble entering their slots but I’m sure after some use it’ll get much easier. This is the same for the quick access card slot at the back. Although there was a hole for your thumb to slide the card up, it was a challenge due to friction of the material.

The band not accepting my bills meant that I had to fold the bills in three, and because I tried to loosen the band by putting a ton of cards in it, the band now is a little lose and might cause my notes to fall out if I’m not careful.

The 3 vertical card slots are also of same height since the wallet is only slightly taller than a credit card. This makes it hard for me to access the card at the back, I guess you’ll just have to put something that you rarely use there.

Final Thoughts

Although there are flaws, I think I wouldn’t change the MostRad. It’s a good small size with a minimal design which would mean some compromises to its usability. It’s definitely smaller than my old wallet making it more bearable for me to have it in my back pocket.

You can buy a MostRad wallet from their online store. The limited edition Kickstarter Green and Redrum versions of the minimalist wallet are marked as Sold Out and I’m not sure if they’ll ever produce those again because I think those colors were only meant for Kickstarter backers to choose. You can however get the Original or Executive versions for $30 and $35 respectively. The only difference found on the Executive model is that it doesn’t have the MostRad logo on the front.