Ridge Wallet review

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The Ridge Wallet

I have struggled for many years to manage the size of my rear pocket wallet.  Sitting on a small leather brick is just not that comfortable, nor healthy for your spine.  If you are a back pocket wallet person, you can realize how your body has compensated over time by switching your wallet to your other back pocket.  It feels terrible and helps draw attention to the awkward condition that your spine endures to accommodate sitting on an uneven surface.  Throughout my wallet carrying history, I have tried to solve the problem by trying different wallet styles or managing the number of items that I carry in my wallet.  These solutions have only minimized the problem and not actually eliminated it.  A real solution to the problem is to carry your items in your front pocket and the Ridge Wallet is specifically designed for this purpose and my first experiment with a front pocket wallet.

Background

My favorite TV show of all time has to be Seinfeld.  The show’s genius is that most of the episodes are about the mundane things in life – conversations, situations, relationships, etc. and the humor that can be found in them.  Of course the eccentric characters on the show help provide the comedy.  One of the main characters is George Costanza and one episode centers on his overstuffed wallet.  In fact his wallet is so large that it interferes with his ability to sit straight resulting in back pain.  The wallet is so large because of the many things George stuffs in his wallet that it eventually exceeds maximum density and explodes on the street in a shower of cash and receipts.

As noted above, I too have struggled for many years with the balance between the need to carry certain items with me and the resultant size of my wallet.  I am really not sure why it has taken me so long to make an attempt at transitioning to a front pocket wallet.  Perhaps it is because a man’s wallet lasts for so many years that it becomes difficult to part with.  Like a close friend, your wallet goes with you wherever you go and holds and protects all of your personal valuables from pictures, receipts, contacts, money, etc.  Or perhaps it is just because I don’t like change.

Due to my reluctance to change and more than 25 years of experience with rear pocket wallets, the front pocket wallet will be tough sell.  Let’s see how the Ridge Wallet scores.

Specifications

Per the Ridge Wallet website the specifications for the Ridge Wallet are as follows:

  • Capacity: 1-15 cards
  • RFID Blocking (Wireless Identify theft)
  • Dimensions: 8.5 cm (l) x 5.5 cm (w) x 0.55 cm (t)
  • Weight: 9 oz (aluminum version without money clip)
  • Price: $65 (aluminum), $115 (titanium), $140 (carbon fiber), and $45 (polycarbonate)
  • Warranty: 1 year on the elastic, screws, and money clip

Options

  • Material options: aluminum (black, gunmetal, and gunmetal), titanium (black, and gunmetal), carbon fiber, and polycarbonate (blue, green, pink, and white)
  • Design options: money clip (integrated hinge and internal spring) or cash strap (thin elastic)

The Ridge Wallet 2

The Ridge Wallet 3

The Ridge Wallet ships in a very nice box.  Upon removing the lid, I was initially impressed with the look of The Ridge.  My version is the black aluminum body held together with flush mount metal screws.  To be honest, it really doesn’t look like a wallet at all.  The screws require a very small Torx bit, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that a tool was provided.  Finding a Torx bit tool this size would have been very difficult.  The tool is shipped in 2-pieces to allow for a small package yet provide a tool that is still easy to hold when assembled.  Finally, a credit card sized instruction card is also provided.

Instructions for use of the wallet:

To Insert a Card:  Gently slide the card into the top groove.

  • If you push on the half circle indentation slightly exposing the cards already in the wallet it may be easier to insert the additional card into the top tapered groove.

To access a card:

  • Press on the half-circle indentation so the cards are sticking slightly out of the top

To access one of the middle cards:

  • Press on the half-circle indentation so the cards are sticking slightly out of the top
  • Pull all of the cards from the top so they are about half way out
  • Pinch the bottom of the wallet so the cards separate and fan out
  • Select the card you want

Size

The Ridge Wallet started as a Kickstarter project and received over 5,300 backers and raised almost $400K in two different campaigns.  The company was started by a father/son team looking to bridge the generation gap and create a durable front-pocket wallet that didn’t add bulk.

The goal of not adding bulk aligns with my most critical features for a front pocket wallet.  Front pockets tend to be smaller than rear pockets so size is important for front pockets as well.  If you have ever tried to sit down with something too large in your front pocket you likely experienced pain as that item stabbed you in the hip or thigh.

Bravo to the designers with respect to the overall design.  The height and width of the wallet is exactly the size of a credit card.  At first glance my impression was that the thickness seemed excessive; however, after closer study of the design concluded that this too was as thin as practical while still maintaining a durable product.  With regard to the weight, my initial impression of the wallet was that it was heavy.  Through use, I later determined that the weight wasn’t as bothersome as I initially would have thought.  There are lighter options available in polycarbonate and carbon fiber, but I think the aluminum strikes the right balance between durability and cost.

Use

The Ridge Wallet 4

The design uses elastic bands that can securely hold from 1 to 15 cards according to the specifications and confirmed in my testing.  Obviously, the weight and thickness of the product varies with the number of cards that you use.  For me, the maximum size that I could tolerate in my pockets was around 8 cards, but if you intend to carry this wallet in a bag or purse, or if you wear baggier pants than I do, then 15 cards would not be an issue.

The Ridge Wallet 5

The edges of the aluminum side plates are curved on the inside making it very easy to slide the first card into the wallet.  The instructions say “If you push on the half circle indentation slightly exposing the cards already in the wallet it may be easier to insert the additional card into the top tapered groove.”  I found that if cards are already in the wallet, you can easily slide in a new card as long as you are inserting it on the outside edge.  The curved edge is sufficient to guide the card into the wallet.

The Ridge Wallet 8

One genius of the design is the fact that it can expand to hold 15 cards yet still securely hold a single card.  I did not find that the function of the wallet was compromised in any way with few or many cards.

The Ridge Wallet 9

 

The Ridge Wallet 10

To remove a card, the provided instructions are accurate and the cards do fan out enough to identify the specific card needed.  I did find that it took a little bit of practice to find out how to hold the wallet when pressing the half-circle, but once you develop a technique, it becomes quick and easy.  As noted before, the process is the same regardless of the number of cards in your wallet.  The pictures show the wallet holding 7 cards and 15 cards.

Often when I stand around I have my hands in my front pocket.  Perhaps for this reason, or possibly due to the novelty of a front pocket wallet, I found myself playing with it all the time.  While standing around waiting for someone or while in casual conversation, I would find myself with the Ridge Wallet in my hand repeatedly pressing the half-circle to eject the cards and then pressing them back in.  I didn’t like this fact for security reasons, but I did find that I quickly became very proficient at accessing my cards when needed.

The Ridge Wallet 7

The Ridge design that I tested had the cash strap and not the integrated money clip.  I suspect that I would prefer the cash strap version as the money clip would increase the thickness of the wallet.  I found that to not interfere with the easy of loading and extracting cards the cash needed to be folded twice.  Double folding stacks of bills makes them difficult to manage and I found that receiving cash after a purchase was awkward to stow under the wallet strap quickly.  I would typically just shove it in my pocket and then reload the cash when cleared of the line or in the car.  This was not a big deal for me as I only carry a small amount of emergency cash, but if you prefer to deal in cash then the money clip version may be better for you.

A benefit of The Ridge wallet is that it keeps the cards within it well protected.  I didn’t really realize it, but my credit cards were significantly bent from being sat on in my rear pocket leather wallet.  The firm aluminum plates of The Ridge virtually guarantee that the cards remain straight.  The company also claims that the card also has RFID protection.  While I cannot confirm the RFID protection, I can confirm that my work badge that contains a proximity scanner worked within my leather wallet, but needed to be ejected from the Ridge wallet to scan.

When converting to the front pocket Ridge wallet I had to decide what to do with the loyalty cards that I previously carried in my rear pocket leather wallet.  I previously carried several small loyalty cards in my wallet because I keep a minimal keychain.  These do not work well in the Ridge as loaded items need to be credit card size, but I found that transferring them to my phone was a better solution anyway.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I found that I liked the Ridge much more than I thought I ever would.  If you find yourself wanting a front pocket wallet and you deal mostly with plastic, then I find it hard to imagine a better solution.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by The Wallet Shoppe. For more information visit their site.

 

Product Information

Price:
Manufacturer:The Ridge Wallet
Retailer:The Wallet Shoppe
Pros:
  • Flexible design (Works equally well with 1 or 15 cards)
  • Easy to load and remove cards
  • Sturdy and robust design
  • Ergonomic (just looks cool)
Cons:
  • A bit heavy (aluminum solution).
  • Difficult to load and unload cash (elastic strap version)

35 thoughts on “Ridge Wallet review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. Ive been using this wallet. Major flaw in this wallet. While in your front pocket walking around. all your cards slide out. I really wanted to like this, but they need to fix. Im still using this, but looking to replace it.

    1. that never happened to me. been using it for a month, and always in my front pocket. probably tight jeans squeezing the sides of the wallet to different directions?

  3. If you are tempted to buy the CLIP version, be warned if you are outside the US. Its only designed to hold US dollars, UK notes for example do not fit, the clip is also not strong enough and Notes move around/become detached easily. Not an easy replacement process either.

  4. From trifold, I went to bifold, then to a money clip/leather card holder combo, now to The Ridge wallet. I don’t know how many cards Mike has in his wallet but I have 11 in mine. I was showing it to someone today and tried to shake the paper money loose and couldn’t (I have the elastic band, not the money clip version). It was more compact in length and width than my friends and he has fewer cards in his money clip/leather wallet and fewer bills. I’ve had mine for 2 months now and I’ve never had an issue with cards falling out. It takes a concerted effort to get them out with 2 hands, they’re not going to come out on their own, in your pocket. The only thing with regards to the elastic band version is that you have to fold your money in half, then in half again, in order to fit within the H x L of the wallet (you could fold the bills into 3 but it’s still 2 folds). Honestly, I don’t carry a lot of bills, so it’s not a big deal, just a little slower pulling money out and putting it back in.

  5. Purchased this wallet and it was sent out right away.. although nice and simple, once you place all your stuff in it, it turns into a brick. I have been trying for months to return it and the company ignores my emails and won’t send an RMA.
    Make sure you really like it before buying it.

    1. Where can we gain access to viewing and handling this product before we buy it so we can truly determine whether we ‘really like it’?

    2. Thank you for telling everyone about the company unwilling to cooperate. That just cost them my business, and saved me the hassle.

  6. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! I bought it for $73 and its terrible. a basic $15 money clip does the same thing. If you keep more then 2 cards in it (I have 5 ) its a total hassle. the cards fall out when you try to take one out. Their website says “to pull the cards out push them up and squeeze the bottom edge to fan the cards out” what a bunch of BS. This product sucks big time. I regret buying it. If I stopped one person from making the mistake of buying this I will feel better about being duped.

    1. you saved me some money and aggravation. thanks. hopefully karma gives you a helping hand in the future as payment, lol.

    2. Good advice. Who carries 15 credit cards ? Purchased a Alpine Swiss leather money clip for $10 on Amazon. Great front pocket “minimalist” wallet.

  7. Problem is that is blocks RFID so to have to dig around trying to find it opposed to my old one where I could just touch

  8. I find that the fanning out of the cards doesn’t really work EXCEPT if the cards have raised numbers. They are the only cards that fan all the others just sit there.

  9. I see a bunch of comments here about cards or money falling out. I got this wallet from the original kickstarter and I have not had any problems. I have the carbon fiber version with the money clip. I have never had either a card or money in the clip fall out. I’ve been carrying it as my primary wallet for three years. I have to say I rarely put more than a few bills in the wallet, I’m mostly cash-less these days.

    I have had to replace several screws that fell out, probably in my pocket but I never found them, they are so tiny (they sent me a whole replacement bag when I complained). Even with a few screws missing, I never felt that the wallet was loose. It came with a replacement elastic strap, I think, but I’ve never needed to switch (not even sure where it is at the moment).

    This is by far the best wallet that I’ve ever had.

      1. I haven’t noticed any scratching at all. Generally the only other things I carry in that pocket with the wallet are change and a lip balm. I carry my keys on the other side or in my jacket, so the scratch potential isn’t that high.

        I did lose yet another screw and a few others were loose, but I still have several from the replacement batch they sent me way back when, so I just put a new one in and tightened the loose ones.

        1. Try putting some threadlocker on the screws before replacing them. After it sets it will probably fix the problem.

          1. The replacement screws they sent already had blue locking gel on them. I assume the original screws did also. Possibly the problem is that some of the original screws just weren’t machined 100% correct. Soon after I wrote that comment I found the “right” set of screws and I haven’t lost another one since.

  10. I don’t have a problem of cash falling out, and I seem to get my credit cards out just fine. My problem is that business cards do not fit. I am an attorney, and I need to carry business cards everywhere. So, I guess my option is to buy a card holder to put in my pocket as well as this wallet… In the attempt to minimize what is in my pocket, adding some other carrying case to carry business cards is not idea. It is a good wallet, just not quite for me.

  11. I bought the black titanium.. It’s already have a scratch on it.. 105$ I’m kind of desappointed.. I never received a email back from them.. But I like the wallet.. Just about this “titanium” poor quality.. Still 105$..

    1. Thanks for the info on the scratching. I emailed the company a while ago and still have not heard from them in regards to this matter. I was thinking about a titanium or carbon fiber. I have seen photos from people on the main website that show scratching on them. Don’t want to pay 65$-105$ for something that will get scratched.

    2. I have a 2 month old carbon fiber and it chipped.
      Don’t hold your breath on getting any kind of help from them. I was told mine was due to physical damage and not covered under their lifetime warranty. The way they word it they can use that “physical damage” phrase to deny any claim.

  12. I bought the green polycarbonate several years ago. The cheapest, but it is scratchfree and the color makes it easier to find. It has been my best wallet ever.
    Now that debitcards are coming with the RFID functionality the RFID blocking gets useful.

  13. I just got the wallet. Love it. I don’t see how anything could fall out of it, keeps it all nice and tight. The story about the loose screws is interesting, I will make sure to keep a track of the screwdriver they sent. The RFID blocking is quite effective as it basically neutralizes my office entry card…even while the card is in the money strap. Getting cards out takes some practice…but I don’t mind having to think twice to take a card out to spend money. I have not experienced ALL of the cards falling out while trying to take a card out either.

  14. François-Xavier Choinière

    I’ve the Polycarbonate green wallet since July. I changed the Polycarbonate plates 1 time in September and now in January, the plates are still getting cracked.
    But now, the elastic just broke. I don’t think it’s solid enough. I just carry it in my pocket.

    1. I would bet it’s not really Polycarbonate because Polycarbonate is bullet proof. My Carbon fiber wallet chipped after only 2 months and is not covered under their lifetime warranty. This company is a sham, if you look closely at their wallets and ones on amazon and ebay they are the same. The only difference I can see is ridge uses torx head screws and the others are hex head screws.

  15. I purchased the ridge wallet thinking it would replace my current wallet for life. I was wrong. The finish is nice, but can’t show it off because the elastic is in the way. The elastic makes the whole wallet really look kind of terrible. Your cards WILL fall out on their own while in your pocket. If you keep it in your back pocket, you’ll eventually destroy your cards and have to replace them. The irony of it is, the cards fall out on their own, but if you actually try to take them out, it’s difficult. I wish I never bought it. Cost me over $140, and the company won’t give me my money back. I ended up throwing it out, since I would never give this product as a gift to anyone. For all of you who were duped into purchasing this terrible product, you have my sympathies.

  16. Waste of money! Scratches really easy and the money clip broke in less than 2 months! They know it is a faulty product and that they constantly have to replace the same parts, that’s why they include it in their “lifetime warranty”. Costs you more than the original item to get the replacement parts shipped internationally and they do not cover those charges and they offer no solution at all. Not worth the money spent! Buy a regular money clip on amazon for a much better price and quality!

  17. Separate issue….
    I got the phone case and loved the design and minimalist approach but every time I drop my phone from waist or higher my screen cracks. After about three months my screen is pretty destroyed. It holds cards well but provides little to no protection. I am going to try see what the warranty entails, I am also waiting for a reply from the company. They did not put my review on the website, they only show positive reviews.

    Good luck

  18. Not sure where the negative reviews are from but maybe from the knock-off competition. The Ridge is the original wallet of this type and yes you can find many cheaper copies on Amazon.

    There is no way cards or money can fall out, everything is completely secure. Of course it can get scratched by metal objects. It is impossible to make something out of metal, any kind of metal, that is completely scratch-proof. What are these people thinking lol!

    This wallet is the original and absolutely top quality. Mine is in perfect shape. Then again, I don’t carry it in a pocket with keys and then complain about scratches lol!

  19. I’d wondered how this thing handles cash, and I guess the answer is “it doesn’t,” or at least only as an afterthought. I still prefer cash transactions, so I guess I’ll stick with my 20 year old leather wallet.

  20. I’ve used my Ridge wallet since 2016. I have the money clip version, to be noted, not the new money clip so I can’t speak to that clip specifically. While it does force a streamlining of cards, I regularly carry 8 credit card sized cards (debit, driver’s licence, etc.), in addition to a credit card sized pocket comb / bottle opener. I have absolutely no regrets. The cards are easily accessed. I will say that when brand new they were a little hard to get in/out. As the elastic stretches it works much better. In three years I have not yet had to replace anything. The only thing I’ve had to do is tighten the screws a couple times. The complaints about the money clips are valid; the money is easily removed from the clip, but I find that a plus because if I’m paying for something with cash I don’t have to take the wallet out of my pocket.

  21. You will lose your wallet if you carried it in your back pocket for 25 years and then suddenly switch to the front. I tried this, and after constantly forgetting my wallet switched back.

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