zerOz Minimalist Wallet, Card Holder Review
I have a diverse history with regular wallets and slim/thin wallets and card holders. I think one of the first wallets I had was back in high school, with none other than those velcro bi-fold wallets. I didn’t carry much cash (more because I just didn’t have any) and the only card I carried was my student ID card. I eventually outgrew the velcro wallet and moved up to a leather bi-fold (I avoided tri-folds like the plague!) I did have (slightly) more cash to carry and more IDs (driver’s license, credit cards, rewards cards, etc.) I also started carry receipts, business cards. It got to the point where I was almost carrying as much as George Costanza was (although I never carried any change in there..) It was after college where I started going the minimalist route: card holders, money clips, anything besides a bulky wallet!
I was going back and forth between this metal money clip / card holder and this other slim wallet/leather card holder. Both were pretty thin wallets and had their own pros and cons, but I wanted something even more minimalist! I heard about something called the Card Ninja, which is basically a credit card shaped cloth sleeve that sticks to the back of your smartphone. I think it was able to hold around 5 credit cards and a few bills. The benefit of the Card Ninja was that it was always attached to your phone, so you would never forget your wallet (unless you forgot your phone too, but we’ve become so attached to our phones, people will have anxiety over not being by their phones for an extended period of time..) On the flip side, if you ever lose your phone, your cash, credit card and possibly identity goes with it! I used it for a couple of months (just 2-3 actually) until I got tired of the added bulk on my smartphone. I was showing the Card Ninja off to my siblings recently and wanted to show how it can hold as little as one credit card (which it did when I first bought it) but it actually slipped off right in front of their eyes! I guess keeping my usual 4-5 cards + cash for the few months had stretched out the fabric, so I would have no choice but to always keep that many cards in there.
It couldn’t have come at a better time when I was asked if I wanted to test out the zerOz slim wallet. From the pictures on the website, it looked like the perfect solution for me. It was a super minimalist thin wallet like my previous card holders and money clips, but designed in a sleek way that will allow me to keep just a few cards or 5+. There are many different colors and designs available as well as different sizes depending on how many cards you plan to hold. There’s always a cash strap on its side, I haven’t tested how many bills can fit in there yet, but I probably never want to carry more than 5-10 at a time anyways. The design is different from what I’ve used before, it’s open from the top and bottom, so you basically push your cards out from one end. There’s also this plastic sleeve with a tab that sticks out for you keep your most-used card and access it very quickly. I’m currently holding about 4 cards, which is really all I need to get by on a regular day.
The zerOz wallet is fairly new to the market, they hand-make all of their products and they come shipped in this fancy mini bag with literature about the wallet. I definitely would have been happy to receive this as a Christmas gift (and if I didn’t get it, probably buy it for myself after Christmas). Pricing varies by the size, color and style wallet you choose but usually around $40.
