Review: Bellroy Slim Sleeve Men’s Wallet

I bought a Bellroy Slim Sleeve one month ago to replace my Bellroy Card Sleeve.

I liked the slimness of the Card Sleeve but the pull tab would get stuck at the bottom of the sleeve and force the cards to peek out of the top of the sleeve. So any paper cards in the sleeve would get worn fast. Not great for handing out business cards. Also once the leather stretched, the cards had a tendency to fall out of the sleeve if turned upside down.

I choose Bellroy again because I liked the craftsmanship of the wallet although the Slim Sleeve functionally didn’t quite work for me. Brown leather is apart of my work motif, its on my watch, belt and shoes. Also as a resident of New Zealand, Bellroy could ship to me faster than many of its competition.

I choose the Slim sleeve as its flip top would do a better job of protecting my cards and preventing them from falling out. One month on, that has proven to be true.

There are new features the Slim Sleeve has over the Card Sleeve

• It can store bank notes easily behind the left side card slot. In New Zealand, I seldom need bank notes, but keeping one or two here works just fine.
• The fold out helps better isolate RFID chips so, for example if you store only one RFID chipped card on the left side pocket such as a VISA Paywave enabled card, then you can use that card’s RFID capability without having to get it out of the card slot.

The Slim Sleeve is a bit more bulkier than the Card Sleeve though. But thats because there is more layers of leather (4 instead of 2) and because you can store more in the wallet (like bank notes). Making the wallet “bigger on the inside” is still an exclusive technologies to Timelords (Dr. Who reference). To that end, card bulk is still the main factor of wallet thickness.

Slim Sleeve and Hong Kong Bank Notes

This week I was in Hong Kong. A country where cash is still very much apart of the economy. You can’t take a taxi without it. I stayed in Jordan, south-west of Kowloon not far from the Temple Street Night Markets.

Hong Kong’s bank notes are too big for Bellroy’s Slim Sleeve. Double folded, they do not fit behind the left hand card slot and their frequent use doesn’t make sense to be folded at all. Instead, I went for a half-inserted approach, ordering the notes from biggest to smallest. This allows quick access of the notes and the amounts I need in those awkward moments where the taxi driver is holding up traffic waiting for you to pay him.

The down side of this approach is that the notes poke out of the wallet like a tongue which creates a bit of drag pulling it in and out of your pocket and is not very aesthetically pleasing.

Deal breaker?

Not really. I’m not about to go buy a wallet especially for travelling to Hong Kong or for travel in general. The Slim Sleeve gives me enough flexibility for both home life and work abroad. I appreciate its not easy to find something that suits all travellers needs, especially across different countries, cultures and timezones.