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Ridge Wallet vs Bellroy Card Sleeve (Is Leather or Metal Better?)
Sep 4, 2024
I've had the chance to test out both the Ridge Wallet and the Bellroy Card Sleeve (which Bellroy gifted me) and its time for me to put them head-to-head in seven different categories! This ranges from value, to aesthetics. So which one do you prefer? - Want the Ridge? You can get it directly from the brand here (Paid Link): http://shrsl.com/4ds6e - Want the Bellroy? Yep, you can get it here (Paid Link): https://amzn.to/3WL6s08 Read the article version: https://gear43.com/ridge-wallet-vs-bellroy-card-sleeve
View Video Transcript
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Today we are putting two wallets head-to-head that are very, very different, but also they do pretty much the exact same thing
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This is the Ridge Wallet and this is the Belroy Card Sleeve
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Both of them, they're meant to carry cards in cash and that's about it
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They both are actually quite similar sizes and really, like I said, they do about the same thing
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And so today I'm going to be putting them head-to-head in seven different categories, ranging from aesthetics to warranty and even to the value
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of each wallet and letting you know exactly which one is better in each category so that you can
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decide for yourself which one is better. However, I'm going to give my recommendation at the end
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as to what wallet is best for each person. And I did want to mention that the Belroy was gifted
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to me by the brand, but this Ridge was actually gifted to me by my wife. However, Ridge has sent
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out other product for free in the past as well. So let's get right into it by talking about what each
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wallet is. And first, let's go ahead and start with the Ridge wallet. This is the white version of the
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wallet, however, there are a ton of different colors. On the interior of the wallet, you have a
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capacity of up to 12 cards, and there's no external capacity for any cards outside of that
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without purchasing an additional accessory. On the back, you do have some cash stores that goes behind
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this cash strap, and outside of that, there really isn't much to it. You basically push the
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cards out by pushing on this notch, and you can get the cards out like this. The easiest access
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is to this card and this card. The interior cards are a little bit more difficult to get to
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but it's not too big of a deal. You can basically push them out and then you pinch
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and then you can kind of fan through your cards like that or of course you can pull them all out like that
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Now as for the Belroy, it has a capacity of eight cards, seven of which generally are going to fit on the interior of this
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and then you have a single quick access pouch there and there's a quick access pouch there for cash
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Now to get the interior cards out, you don't have to reach down and bring them out like that
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There's a little strap that you pull and it brings all the cards out
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this strap does work really well and I've been really impressed by it. And you actually find it in some of the other Belroy products that the brand has also gifted me But we talk about those in a different video As for the construction it is all leather There no metal on this whatsoever and so that is what kind of makes it into a stark contrast of ridge
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which is basically all metal. And so that's that. Let's go ahead and get into each category and tell you which is best for each
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Okay, so let's go ahead and start out with value. Now, both of these do essentially the same thing
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They both carry cards, they both carry cash, and that's about it
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So really in the end, when you look at the most simplistic nature of the wallet, the lowest price one wins, and that's going to be this Belroy right here
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The Belroy is MSRP around $55, and the ridge starts out at about $95
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So at about double the price, you're doing essentially the same thing, making the Belroy the better value
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Now, of course, if you need more than eight card capacity, the ridge is the obvious choice
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And it's probably the better value because you're actually taking the cards that you need with you. However, if you keep under eight cards, this is going to be the better bet for the value
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The next category is styling and aesthetics, and I actually do give that to the ridge
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Now, the leather on the belroy is very nice. I really do like the leather
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When you first get it, it does smell like leather. However, I do like the aesthetics of Ridge
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Now, this is their basic white version. However, they have so many different styles of Ridge wallets out there
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All the different kind of colors, there's even carbon fiber versions, which I've reviewed as well
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I'll put a card up here for it. And there's a bunch of different seasonal versions and even a bunch of sports team versions
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So there's a lot of options out there for people. And considering I really like the finish on these, I gave it to the ridge as the better aesthetics
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Now, if you disagree, leave your comments down below. I'd love to hear why. And then the number three category is build quality
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And I will say I don't really give a tie. However, I will say I'm going to give a tie in this category
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It's really hard to compare a leather wallet to a metal wallet. They have their own build quality in and of themselves, so it's really hard to compare directly
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But when you look at each individual wallet, you can see on the Bellwraway right here
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all of this ditching is really nice I used this wallet quite a bit and I haven run into any quality issues Now this ridge I used pretty much exclusively for about a year You can see there are little dense and dings and stuff but for a wallet that was used
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exclusively for a year, it's in pretty good condition. And I haven't had any issues with the screws backing out
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The elastic strap hasn't loosened up whatsoever, and so really the build quality
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has really been fantastic. Now, the fourth category I put these two head-to-head on is card capacity, which the ridge
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is an obvious winner. The max capacity of the Belroy is eight cards, the max capacity of a ridge
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wallet, regardless of which one you get is 12 cards. So it's an easy category to win out on
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I will say if you do try to put extra cards in this wallet, you can put more than eight
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However, I ran into doing that because I actually needed more cards and more cash into this
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It actually stretched the wallet out quite a bit, so it doesn't hold the cards quite as well
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anymore. So I don't recommend putting any more than eight cards in this wallet because you'll run
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it's the same issue as me. Now number five is durability. This is a little bit different than
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build quality. And I actually gave it to the belroy because leather tends to age really well
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and looks nicer over time. However, the ridge wall does get its dense and dings and it does
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show wear and tear aesthetically speaking. Now neither are probably going to break down break or any
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of that kind of stuff, but the ridge is going to age and not look as nice as it ages and gets
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older, whereas the belroy is going to probably look a lot nicer. And that's just kind of the nice
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quality about leather. Downside is the ridge probably is a little bit more usable. Which leads me
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actually to my next section, which is usability. I have probably 20-something wallets in my collection
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and I regularly reach my Ridge wallet, and so I actually had this one winning out. Honestly
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really just wallets overall. I think Ridge wallets are extremely usable. Now pushing the cards out
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and getting to the interior cards can be a bit of a pain. However, most people really only
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use one to two cards regularly, and the rest are insurance cards, extra bank account
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and that kind of stuff. And so just being able to get to that single card there is a super simple and easy way of doing it
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Putting the cards back in are super easy And considering the wallet itself is no bigger than a credit card you don really feel it in your pockets whatsoever So I had the Ridge Wallet winning out in this category Now warranty and returns This is the last and seventh category I had the Ridge Wallet winning out Now Bell Roy sells a bunch of different types of
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products, not just wallets. They have bags. They have a bunch of other stuff. And their warranty
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and return in exchange and stuff is a little bit more similar to kind of like a clothing company
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And so they only have a three year warranty on this and a 30-day return policy. Whereas the
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Ridge wallet has a lifetime warranty and a 99-day return policy, almost three times the
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return policy of Belroy, meaning the Ridge wallet actually did win out on this category pretty well
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The hard thing is, again, they go back to Bellroy doesn't just sell wallet, so they have to
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kind of have a warranty and return policy that covers all of their different products
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So it kind of makes it so that this wallet is not quite as comparable as other kind of
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wallet-specific brands. Now, I do realize Ridge sells a bunch of other products, but their wallet is their main product
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And so that's the comparison of all the different categories. So which one do I recommend
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Now, if you are somebody that likes leather, there is no better option. This leather wallet is so
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incredibly nice. It's nice and compact. It's a full leather construction. It's easy to get to this
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quick access cards. It's easy to get to your cash. Easy to get to the backup cards in the inside
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This is an amazing option for anybody that wants a leather wallet. However, if leather isn't something
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that's necessary for you, the Ridge wallet is there. I really think the Ridge Wallet is probably
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one of the best wallets ever made. And it makes sense because it's actually the one that started
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off this minimalist wallet revolution. So I would probably say probably about 20% of people
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will probably go with this Belroy, whereas the rest of the people probably are better suited
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with the Ridge Wallet, especially since you can customize it to exactly what you want. And with that
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said, by the way, I do have links down in the description for each of these products. If you wanted to purchase these for themselves, they are paid links. And they help me out by getting me a commission
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if you guys do make a purchase through them, and it's what makes videos like this possible
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Also make sure to like this video as it helps me on the algorithm and subscribe if you
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like videos about wallets and other awesome gear, as I have a ton of other videos coming up here soon
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and I'll see you guys next time