REVIEW– I don’t know exactly when it started, but recently I’ve been geeking out over my every day carry, or as the kids say these days– EDC. The first thing on the list that needed replaced? My wallet. Now if you’re like me, (if you’re reading this review, I bet you are) you like to do you research especially when it comes to something as intimate(?) as a wallet. A wallet is something that will be carried all day every day so finding that perfect fit is critical. My wife knows that gifting me a wallet is out of the question. It’s something I want to research and hold, test, and dare I say, smell. With my whole EDC, I was looking to go a bit more minimalist and that meant I needed a slim wallet.

My old Fossil wallet (bottom) shown next to Sermon Brands (top)

When my trusty Fossil wallet of about 4 years started to rip under it’s cargo, I began the search for something new. Let me start by saying that I really did like my Fossil. It was a bi-fold wallet with a magnetic money clip in the middle. Over time, as with most wallets, it began to grow in size. I was starting to push nearly 1 inch thick.

I’ll spare you the stereotypical George Costanza wallet meme, but just know it wasn’t that bad. But the number of credit cards I was carrying (for business and extra cash back) was increasing and so was the height of my wallet. I will say that the magnet clip in the fossil was super convenient, but that convenience came at the cost of even more added height, not to mention that having a magnet inside your wallet is not a great idea. I fried a number of hotel keys and parking garage tickets before I realized that the magnet was the problem. It took me longer than I’d like to admit to figure that out. Sometimes I can be such a noob.

So I really wanted to love the Bellroy wallet(s). In full disclosure, I never actually bought a Bellroy; they do make some beautiful looking wallets, I’ll give them that; but they come at a hefty price tag. Now I’m not the type of person to turn something down just because it’s expensive. This is a gear website, after all. If it’s the best tool for the job, the price rarely deters me, but sometimes my inner thrifty does set in, and I do start to question if the purchase of a product is the best use of those hard-earned dollars. So after hours of research and reading reviews on the Amazon, I purchased a wallet from Sermon Brands. With over 4000 reviews and a 4.5 star rating, it’s gotta be good, right? Well, it’s been a part of my EDC for the last 2 weeks; here’s what I think:

Sermon Brands (1.0) RFID Blocking Minimalist Travel Wallet with Money Clip

At around $30 the Sermon Brands wallet isn’t the cheapest option out there by any means, but it’s certainly no Bellroy at $80 to $100 or more. (Sorry Bellroy, it’s not you, it’s me.) The wallet features a slim design that sits about 0.5 inches thick when empty. It has a unique quick access card slot on the outside and a clear ID card slot on the inside right flap. There is a thumb slot so you can quickly slide out your ID when needed. Rather than having leather under the ID, there is an almost vinyl-like cloth which allows the ID to slide out much easier than wallets with an internal leather backing.

ID Card Slot with thumb slot and cloth backing

There is a metal money clip which is removable if you’re not into that sort of thing. There’s room for two more credit cards on the left side. I would have liked to have seen room for one more card on this side as the leather on the left side feels rather thick, though, I’m sure that was a conscious design decision to balance out the wallet.

2 inner left pockets for cards

On the right side behind the ID slot. there’s a smart pull strap for 3-4 more infrequently accessed cards on the back side. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this one, but I have to say, I kinda dig it. It’s nothing short of magical, and the pull strap does stay nicely tucked out of the way when the cards are pushed back up in. One potential issue I do see with this slot is stretching. For me, the slot does fit facing upwards when in my back pocket, but if you were to load this up with say 4 credit cards, then back it down to 2, I can see potential to lose cards out of it once the leather stretches out, so it’s probably best to plan to only keep a fixed number of cards in this slot.

Smart pull strap fully retracted

The leather on the wallet feels nice to me. Granted, I’m no leather expert. I could throw around words like “patina” to make myself sound well-versed, but the truth is, I really don’t know leather so take my opinion as just that, an opinion. I bought mine in the Texas Brown color, but there’s a number of different color options available.

Color choices as seen from Sermon Brands website

The wallet is warranted by a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty which is nice for some piece of mind. But even if it does start to tear down the road, you could, in theory, buy 2 more and still be cheaper than a single Bellroy. (Okay, really, Bellroy, I’m not trying to throw you under the bus here… but $90 for a few pieces of beautiful leather?)

For 30 bucks I wasn’t expecting much in terms of packaging. But I was pleasantly surprised when the wallet showed up in a minimally-branded box and burlap case. Nice touch, Sermon Brands.

I highly recommend checking out this wallet from Sermon Brands. I found it difficult to give it any negative marks. Could it use an extra card slot? Maybe. But I’m really just nitpicking at that point. Sermon Brands does have other styles available as well. For example, if you’d rather have a dedicated sleeve for your cash instead of the money clip, check out the Sermon Brands 2.0 which is nearly identical apart from that detail.

Final Thoughts on Keeping a Minimalist Wallet

One lesson learned from my testing is that keeping a minimalist wallet takes effort. Downsizing is a must. Even though my new Sermon Brands wallet is significantly thinner than my fossil, I also cut back on the number of cards I carry with me regularly. My advice is to keep a secondary wallet in your car for gift cards, credit cards, boating licenses, etc– things that you don’t regularly use.