Tribe Wallet 3.0 review

I have been using a front pocket wallet for over a decade, but still haven’t decided that the one I’m using is my ultimate. I remember a year or two back reading about the Tribe Wallet on Kickstarter, but hadn’t backed it. Not sure why. When Julie offered the team the Tribe Wallet 3.0, a new KickStarter project currently seeking funding, I jumped at the chance. When Julie wrote back “What color?” I said “Surprise me.” I was sent a silver metallic pattern prototype, called “Sterling”, which I like very much. I packed it up with my cards and have been using it for the last few days.

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The Tribe Wallet is made from two identical pieces of a patterned credit card-sized material, with a few notches cut out. You can choose from different materials: carbon fiber, stainless steel, titanium, kevlar and texalium. There are eight different standard packages, plus you can mix and match the front and back covers, metal bar finishes, and elastic strap colors.

Holding the two together is an elastic band with a brushed titanium piece on each side. This bar is strategically placed to block RFID signals and protect your cards from being “skimmed” while in the wallet. The elastic is very tight, so that fitting in cards is difficult past 3-4, but that means the cards do not slip out while in your pocket. To get them in and out, you push the entire stack of cards up through the notch on one long side.

Then, when they are sticking out about half an inch, you pinch the two bottom halves together. This makes the cards fan out at the top, so that you can see which is which and pull out the correct one.

Once used, reinsert it, and square up the stack again. It sounds more convoluted than it is.
Bills can be folded and stashed under one of the sides of elastic, as well. At first I thought this would be difficult, but it’s easy to slip them under if they are folded in quarters. Even with the dozen cards I have inserted, I can quickly fit 5-8 bills under the strap with no problem. So, now the contents of my right front pocket look like this:

Pretty Spartan, huh? But I like it.

In addition to being a sleek card holder/wallet, the Tribe can also prop up your phone. Simply push the cards out of the notch as though you’re going to pull one out, set the wallet on a table or desk, and place your phone perpendicular to it and let it rest against the sides of the notch. It’s not adjustable or very sturdy, but if you need a third hand for demoing something during a FaceTime call, it can make a huge difference!

The interior surfaces of the outer layers are very smooth, and sliding the stack up to fan out and find a specific card is very easy. There is the danger of pinching too hard, and playing an impromptu game of “52 Card Pickup”, but that will only happen once – trust me!
The edges of the cards are all smooth and well-cut, so it’s not going to wear a place in your pocket or tear up your cards. But, with the sleekness and ease of use, it may wear out a place in your day-to-day pocket management!

This project will be funded on Thursday, Mar 3 2016 11:50 AM EST. They have raised almost double the $5661 goal as I type this.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Tribe. Please visit their site for more info and Kickstarter to pre-order one.