Ekster Cardholder vs Ridge Wallet: Battle of the Two Best Wallets!

Hey everyone and welcome back to the channel. Today we are going to be talking about one of my

favorite pieces of gear and that is going to be minimalist wallets. We're going to be comparing

head-to-head the Ridge wallet which I have been using for over a year as well as the Xter card

holder. This is the forged carbon fiber version. Xter was kind enough to send this one out to me

to check out and I've actually owned this one and was gifted the Ridge wallet for a long time

So I'm excited to put them head to head and let you guys know which one I am using right now as

my daily driver. So let's get right into it. Before we get too far in, let's talk a little

bit about each wallet and kind of what its specialty is. So the Ridge wallet I actually

did a full review of somewhat recently. It essentially is that two plate design. So

basically there's a plate on the front and a plate on the back and inside is where your cards are

There's this little notch right here where you push your finger in and then that pushes the cards

out so you have access to the cards and they kind of display out like that. You have easy access to

the front and easy access to the back cards. It is a little bit more difficult to get to the center

cards but it is an extremely simple and extremely easy design. And then of course there is a cash

strap on the back here where you can keep cash. I can keep quite a few different bills in there

no problem and they do make money clip versions of this but they are difficult to basically switch

over from either the cash trap to the money clip. Anyway, so that is the Ridge wallet. Meanwhile

we have the Xter. The Xter is actually a little bit different design from what is normal on the

industry today, whereas most kind of go with that two plate design. Xter went the extra mile

Xter went the extra mile and they actually have an internal mechanism where you push the button

here and it actually kicks out the cards. Basically kind of fans them out right here and makes it so

it easily accessible for the front card and the back card And then also you can you can generally get a pretty easy access to the middle cards as well and then on the back here you have a plate where you can fit extra cards

not quite as easily accessible as the ones that are up here you can fit up to six cards here you

can fit quite a few on this back plate as well I generally can have about 12 cards on me any point

in time with this one and then of course you have a cash strap there is no money clip for the card

holders from Exter. However, I honestly, I use the cash straps no matter what wallet I get anyway

so that's not really a big deal for me. But if you do want a money clip, this may not be the right

one for you. Anyways, so let's get into it. I've kind of broken this down into different categories

Let's talk about each category and which one I like better for each. All right, so first things

first, it comes down to price point. Both of these wallets are not cheap. They are close to $100. The

Exter's based MSRP starts out about $89. And the Ridge wallet starts out around $95, which makes

the X-R a little bit cheaper. I will say I have a carbon fiber version right here, which is a much

more expensive version, and this is the standard aluminum one for the Ridge, but if you do base MSRPs

it has the same functionality for the card holder, whether you get their aluminum version, which is

their base version, or the carbon fiber, it's just different materials, so I wouldn't worry too much

about that. So realistically speaking, the X-R is cheaper. It does get expensive, just like the Ridge

The Ridge's space price being at that $95, it gets much more expensive as well. Both of these even

have like a gold version of the wallet. So there's a pretty wide range out there. Exter is a little

bit cheaper at the base MSRP so it wins out in this category. So wallets go through a lot of

different stuff throughout the day especially if you have like a metal key organizer like with what

I have. So you got to make sure that your wallet can hold up to abuse better. With the two different

wallets here I actually have found that the Ridge wallet holds up a little bit better. So the Ridge

wallet being made of aluminum and the paint seems to hold up a little bit better I used this for over 12 months and it has minimal wear as you can see up on the screen right now Meanwhile the Xter I started seeing wear pretty much right away I will say there little scratches kind of you

can kind of see a little bit kind of a little bit of wear on the edges. I don't know about their aluminum version if it's going to have as much wear but this one does wear a little bit more than

the Ridge which is a bit of a bummer. So the next category is which one holds cards better and that

honestly hands down goes to the Xter. The Xter just does an amazing job at holding cards

It's able to hold just as much, if not more, than the Ridge, but being able to easily access those six cards right there being fanned out is just so nice

I find myself being able to use this just so much quicker. You can easily get into that back card no problem, and then you're able to just insert them right back in there

It is really nice having this extra plate back here for extra cards. I do use that all the time

It's a great place to keep gift cards or membership cards that you don't normally use, and then you keep your most used cards up in here

I find the usability ease of access to the cards just is so much better in the extra side of stuff

Whereas the ridge I will say while it is extremely reliable It is just a little bit more difficult

It's not too hard to get to the outside card as you can see right here Like it only takes a couple seconds to get into those

But what really comes down to an issue is when you need to get into those middle cards

You actually have to fully take the cards out and to be able to get into the middle cards there

So the next category comes down to styling and which one I like better both of these honestly

I really do like both styles um it's really really up to the eye of the beholder on this one honestly i really like

carbon fiber and so that comes to the extra as well i like the styling of it i will also say

it's just a little bit more complicated of a style um and just a little bit more interest to it

uh and i do really like that however the ridge wallet is extremely high quality and honestly

most people know what a ridge wallet is which is kind of cool so if you are showing friends and family and that kind of stuff most people understand what you talking about when you say a Ridge wallet Meanwhile Exeter just doesn quite have as big of a brand name I would say as the Ridge does So which one do I personally recommend And this is probably what

you guys are waiting for. Which one do I use on a daily basis? And kind of based off how I've been

having the tone and that kind of stuff, I actually do use the Exeter considerably more. This is kind

of my go-to wallet. I just, you really can't beat having that push button and be able to just

you know quickly be able to get to your cards. I really like that functionality. The Ridge also is

just a fantastic wallet. I don't know if it's just because I've used it for so long but I tend to

reach for the extra over the Ridge every day. I really think it's just really about usability and

just be able to get to cards. Having that extra storage in the back where you don't actually have

to use those cards every day whereas like with these you have to get all the cards out to be

able to get anything other than the outside two cards. Whereas this one you can kind of store the

ones you don't normally use back here and then you only have to deal with the ones that you do

use the most inside the normal compartment. Some things I am a little bit worried about with this

wallet is its reliability. It does have moving parts down here at the base which is concerning

because anytime you have moving parts you might run into a little bit of reliability issues. It

might break, might cause some issues but I have not had that yet and I have not had that be an

issue yet, but if you are worried about reliability, the Ridge might be your better option. So that's

my thoughts. I like the Xter. The Ridge is a fantastic wallet as well. My kind of go-to is

that Xter wallet, and I really do like it. So which one do you have? Which one do you want

Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. Don't forget to subscribe. It really helps me out

and also don't forget to like this video as it makes it so that other people see this video on

their feed and can help out with that feedback as well. I hope you guys have a great one, and have a

great day. Bye