International Mail Envelope or Wallet?

April 4, 2008 – 11:18 pm

I bought this wallet about a week ago directly from the designer’s website.

I saw it first listed as an item in the x-treemgeek.com mail catalog. I actually thought that I would buy the blue and white dot-matrix printer paper version… then after looking all of the designs over a bit more I thought I might end up getting the fake newspaper version (which may have been even a bit cooler after all)… however, in the end I decided on this version, the international mail envelope.

I think what sold me was the photo I have attached here in my blog. I like the way it looks after 6 months of use.

Anyway, it came in the mail today… and now I’m not too sure I like it.

I did my research before hand to get a better idea about the product (search youtube for tyvek wallet, for some cool info)… I like what it is made of, heavy duty tyvek. This stuff is cool. It’s like the fedex envelopes you see every now and then. It feels like a “plastic paper”. But this version is thicker then what fedex uses.

During my research I found out one thing that I wasn’t sure if I would like or not… and as it turns out, is in fact the main thing I don’t care for too much. The entire wallet is made of a single sheet of folded paper.

Yes, you heard read that right.

It is one sheet of tyvek paper folded into a wallet. In a few places there are slits for credit cards, etc. My beef with this is something they actually pitch as a positive point. No stitching… It’s just folded up.

The designer/developer says that his previous wallets (leather, whatever - ie not tyvek) would rip at the stitching before anything else went out.

My previous wallet was 2 years old. It cost me $49.95 and never fell apart at the stiching. My wallet before that was maybe 2 years old and never came apart either. So, I’m not sure what the beef is with quality stitching.

Maybe it’s stitching on tyvek that’s the issue…?¿ Nope.

How do I know this? Because along with what I ordered they sent a cool company branded bag, also made of tyvek. It however, does have stitching. And looks like a quality item.

I feel like maybe its actually more of an issue of cost then design. Maybe I’m wrong.

The truth is, I’m going to have to give it 6 months and see how I like it. Right now it’s a bit odd. It is thin and my credit cards try to slip out. Which worries me a bit. The thickness expands as needed… and if this is the case, what is going to happen to my credit cards when I slide them in and out over time? Are they going to be even more likely to fall out?

We’ll see, for sure, in about 6 months. Right now, I’m happy. I give it a 8/10 at this stage.

I’d like to see some of the areas re-developed a little. It needs more room at the top, for the wallet to “fold in” closing the top of the wallet a little. I noticed this was one of the things that kept my old credit cards in place… it wasn’t cut this way, it just had enough room to shape itself that way over time. It also needs something done with the “receipt pocket”. Right now it’s not that helpful. I’d rather see this used in another way to help hold things differently. How? I’m not sure.

Anyway… if you are a guy &/or want to buy a cool gift for a guy in your life, this is a cool item to pick up. As far as use for the next 2 years like a normal wallet? I’m not sure it will fit the bill. Of course at this price, in 6 months I might try the bifold version (as oposed to the trifold version) and change up the cammo a bit.