Slimming things down with the Allegory Goods Kit Wallet

As I mentioned in my Boconi review I have a wallet that I picked up from a Kickstarter project earlier this year that is truly part of my every day carry.  Rather than just tease you about what that wallet might be, I thought it was time to give it a proper review.  Let’s have a look at the Allegory Goods Slim Kit Wallet.

I found in interesting that – though I discovered this wallet (and the brand) via a Kickstarter project, they’re actually a local-to-me sort of shop, calling Chicago home.  And while their project on Kickstarter had quite a variety of customization options (with stitching and linings) I kept things pretty vanilla.  Well, as vanilla as you could call a wallet that actually had ten different choices for the pockets you could have built in.  There were also some other styles of wallets (for a total of three) you could go for, but rather than try to explain those, I’ll just point you to their product pages for those explanations.

All those options (oh, and let’s not forget leather color, which are whiskey, chocolate, or black) are definitely why the Allegory Goods Slim Kit Wallet carries that “kit” name, at least in my book.  Though these are stock wallets, of a sort, you’re basically building up a kit that the experts over at Allegory are then assembling for you.  For my own wallet,  I of course went with the slim, and then opted for the money clip plus card slot on one side, and the shielded pocket on the other side.  Combined with the large center pocket, this means I can easily carry everything I may need.

Loaded up

Even fully loaded (and with the RFID shielding), you can see that the Allegory Goods Slim Kit Wallet does not have a lot of bulk to it.  This is due, in large part, to the leather that is used.  Rather than using a thinned out cowhide, Allegory instead uses full-grain kangaroo leather, which has some great strength, even at only 1mm thick (makes me wonder about having a watch strap made from it, I have to say).  The thinness keeps the bulk down in your pocket, while allowing to conform to what you’re carrying.  Load out the pockets how you want, and it’s accommodating.

New on the left, original on the right

In my day to day carry, I’ve found the Allegory Goods Slim Kit Wallet to be just about perfect for me.  I might wish that the money clip was a bit thinner, but these hinged sorts make that a bit tricky.  That said, I have had no problem at all carrying this, along with my phone, in the same front pocket, and getting the wallet out is a cinch.  For my more commonly used cards, those are in the outside pockets, and the stuff I need less frequently, that’s popped into the center section.

New on the left, original on the right

The Allegory Goods Slim Kit Wallet is the third front-pocket specific wallet I’ve picked up over the past few years, and it has indeed become my favorite.  I intend to be carrying this one for a good long time, as the wallet itself carries a lifetime warranty.  That is something I got to test the other month as well.  I noticed some of the stitching had pulled out on the lining between the center and outer pocket.  This didn’t compromise the integrity of the leather, but it did make it more difficult to pull the cards out.  I contacted customer service with a photo, and they got a replacement wallet (same as my original order) into their build queue (and no, they did not know I was going to be reviewing the wallet before this took place).

New on the left, original on the right

I had originally figured I’d need to send the wallet in to be repaired, but the full replacement quite works as well (and allows me to get you some of these before-and-after photos that you see here).  AT $60, the Allegory Goods Slim Kit Wallet is of course more expensive than whatever you might find at your local department store.  It’s well worth it, though, as the quality is much higher, and you can get a wallet made that’s specific for how (and what) you carry.  There are a lot of custom wallet options out there, and I have not tested them all, but I can confidently say that I would recommend Allegory Goods if you’re in the market for a new card and cash carrier.  allegorygoods.com