I’m sure I’m not alone in actually hating the way the traditional wallet stands out and bulges in your pocket.
I’m going to show you how to upgrade your EDC and downsize from a classic bulky wallet to a minimal wallet.
You might be wondering why you should do this, and what are the benefits of having a minimal wallet. These wallets are going to:
- Help you save space in your pocket and avoid my greatest bug bear, that bulge that a classic wallet creates
- I bet in your wallet now, you’ve got loads of store cards that you’ve not used for years, that may have even expired, why are they in there? A minimal wallet is going to allow you to organise your cards and cash better, meaning that you will only carry what you need.
- There is going to be a reduced risk of losing your wallet and most importantly having it stolen, thanks to the natural smaller profile of the minimal wallet, since it’s going to be easier to keep track of and harder for others to notice it.
- Think of these as a fashion statement sort of item, the majority of people pull out their boring bulky wallets but because you’ve enhanced your style, you’re pulling out a more modern and sophisticated wallet that’s different from the rest.
- In the most extreme of cases, bulky wallets often mean heavy wallets, which are going to result in potential posture and back issues as they can cause you to sit or even walk unevenly.
So why not upgrade to one of these.
In terms of minimalism, these Puncube wallets are probably as minimalist as you could go.
The Slim Wallet, with its profile just slightly bigger then a credit card but obviously thicker, this wallet is made out of a premium black leather that is shiny with card holder words embossed on one side and a matt finish with the puncube logo visible on the other side with stitching finished on all sides.
It feels nice in the hand and when it’s full there is still a noticeable difference in weight compared to a heavier standard wallet.
On the back, easy access slots for your two most used cards. So you might put your driving licence and a credit card, or whatever combination of the essential cards you’d prefer.
On the other side, space for up to, another 5–7 cards, although if you’re downsizing to one of these then you might not want use up the full capacity and instead choose a few less used cards for this slot. Even at full capacity the cards are easily accessible.
On this side there’s also a storage pocket that could be useful mainly for coins, a few cash notes and even maybe an AirTag, that you could pop in the pocket which slightly expands as its contents increase and if you do lose your wallet and I’m assuming if you’ve got an AirTag then you’ve probably got an iPhone, then you’ll be able to track the location of the missing wallet.
Obviously, if you’ve got other tracking tags like tile tags then you’ll be able to do the same thing.
We live in the age of contactless transactions, where all we need to do is pass our payment cards over payment machines for our money to be simply paid.
Some people are rightly concerned that someone could use a device to read their cards without their knowledge, and potentially steal their personal information or money.
This wallet features RFID blocking technology that is going to prevent the cards in this wallet from being scanned by unauthorised devices, by blocking those radio waves that power and communicate with the RFID chips in your cards thus protecting your cards from this kind of attack and hopefully giving you piece of mind about the safety of your own data and finances.
If you just compare the profile of this wallet at full capacity compared to my old wallet, which actually has the same amount of cards and cash in it currently and add the benefits that also come with that RFID blocking then why not upgrade to something as slick and sophisticated like this.
Now let’s look at the other Puncube wallet. This is their minimal wallet 3.0, which comes in three sets, the standard wallet 3.0, the EDC set, which is this one and the family set, all of which I’ll talk about in a moment.
If you wanted to go for an even more minimal EDC compared to this wallet then this wallet could be the one for you.
One of the differences between the two, is that this one only holds cards on the one side. So the matt side of both is exactly the same, space for your cards, and a storage pocket for your coins or even your AirTag.
This wallet comes in two parts and what you do with those two parts is entirely up to you.
You’ll notice on the reverse side of the card section there is a blank space that conveniently is the same size as this other plastic section. This is the part that differentiates itself from the other wallet, because this section serves as a multi functional item which houses a multi functional tool.
Inside this easily accessible housing, you’ll find a 20 in 1 multi tool, useful as a screwdriver, box opener, pill splitter, wrench, bottle opener, lotto ticket scratcher, wire stripper amongst other things. So basically useful for a lot of things.
The housing has a top and bottom compartment, and together with the multi tool, it can fit two keys. The multi tool in one section and two keys in the other.
The only drawback is that the keys that fit inside cannot have one of those plastic identifier covers over the top, otherwise they won’t fit. If you were to decide not to have to multi tool within this, then there is now space for three keys.
There’s a Puncube branded silicon band that goes around the key holder will enable you to store any loose cash notes that you may have.
If you turn the plastic section around, and remove these two protective strips then this section, if attached to the back of your phone becomes a phone stand, allowing your phone to stand in either portrait or landscape orientation when the housing compartment or compartments (if in landscape mode) are open.
I’ve got it attached on an iPhone 15 Pro here and it seems sturdy enough with a phone that weighs 187g, but just remember, if you are attaching it to your phone permanently then you’re not going to be able to wireless charge your phone unless it’s attached to a case and you’re happy to remove the phone from the case each time you wirelessly charge it, obviously not an issue if you charge it via a wire.
And If you do attach this to the back of your phone and you’re wondering whether it’s going to leave that horrible sticky stuff on your phone, then you won’t have to worry because this is made with a residue free adhesive.
This wallet comes in three sets; the first set, the wallet 3.0 standard set, comes with everything here except the multi tool. The Everyday Carry set, which I’ve got here, comes with the multi tool and the family set, comes with everything and 5 additional adhesive pads, which if you’re constantly changing what this section of the wallet is attached to will become useful when the adhesiveness of the pads natural begins to fade, and 4 additional silicon bands, just in case one breaks, because you’re carrying too much cash.
While I like the multi tool option, I think that most people who choose this wallet in particular would be perfectly fine with the standard wallet 3.0 with both sections bonded together.
Just like the slim wallet, this also has the RFID blocking technology built in.
Both of these wallets are functional items that will make a difference if you’re used to carrying essentially a brick in your pocket.
Does seeing these minimal wallets, entice you into possibly transferring your essentials from your classic bulky, heavy wallet to wallets like these, how would you use your minimal wallet effectively. Do you think something like this is going to add that sophisticated look and feel to your everyday carry essentials?
If so, why not make the switch?
Out of the two of these minimal wallets, I’m definitely going to be making the switch to this one, which I’ve already been doing for the last couple of days.
I decided against the other model because I’ve got too many keys on my bunch to consolidate down to two or three and my similar looking keys have differently coloured tops on them so I know which one opens which door and so wouldn’t fit in the key holder and I prefer having the quick and easy access to my two most used cards available on this side.
If you want to see the video version of this article, check out the YouTube link below: