The Obtainium is a Kickstarter funded, card wallet. It has a robust build quality based around two pieces of aircraft grade aluminum in a clam-shell (bi-fold) configuration. The company has developed an interesting mechanism to hold cards they call the “Cash Bridge”. This is made from a hard plastic component that spans each of the inner card card slots and uses o-rings for elastic tension to keep everything in place. The outer surface has a satin finish that has been hard anodized, coming in black, grey, olive drab or gold. The concept behind the wallet revolves around carrying just what you need, in a neat, small, attractive package.
The dimensions of the wallet equal 0.59″ in thickness 3.39″ in length and 2.75″ in width. It weighs in at 3oz without any cards. When filled to capacity, holding about 8 -10 cards (depending on thickness) it weighs about 4.3 oz.
Adding cards to the wallet can be done in the open or closed position. It’s also pretty easy to slide folded cash in too. The over-all outer shape is nicely contoured and slides in and out of your pants easily. Hipsters who wear overly tight jeans may appreciate this feature although it may not have a place to keep your mustache wax. It also doesn’t come in a model with sparrows on it, but aluminum engraves well. While on the topic of engraving, it’s good to know that Obtainium offers this service as well as a red version of the plastic bridge insert for further customization.
The fact that the outer body is made from a ridged material offers some advantages and disadvantages. One thing I personally noticed is that, although the wallet is much smaller than my current leather wallet, I tend to feel it more in my pocket. I think that this comes down to a couple of things. Firstly, it doesn’t give at all because it’s metal and hard. For the same reason you won’t be able to stuff it like you can a soft wallet, but this would go against the concept of a minimal carry anyway. My last issue with the hard case (and perhaps a nit-picking one) is that there isn’t any type of bumper in-between the inner edges of each side. This allows the two halves to contact each other which makes a bit of a clapping sound when the wallet closes. While the Obtainium is obviously very well made, the sound it makes when it closes doesn’t reflect the kind of thing you’d have when you close the door on a luxury car or as billed, a luxury wallet. Another addition to help with the feeling of the mechanism would be an adjustable pivot. Being able to alter the tension would be a great personalization option.
The hard shelled wallet’s disadvantages are also its advantages. Your Obtainium will look the same, shape wise for its lifetime. This will likely be a winning feature for people who are particular about the state of their gear. There will eventually be color wear since anodizing only covers the surface, especially if your wallet shares space with other items, but the clean lines will be retained. The hard case will add protection to the contents that a soft wallet can’t. It also blocks the nasty business of RFID skimming which is a growing issue.
The Cash Bridge system makes it very easy to add or remove cards yet still has good retention, even with one card. Adding cards is helped along with thoughtfully chamfered edges so that there aren’t any snagging contact points. As you add more cards or cash there will be added force on the stack, so having items shake loose shouldn’t be an issue. It wasn’t during my testing. As you stack things up, the edges of the front cards come in contact with the o-rings on the bridge so Obtainium recommends that you add and remove from the back side of the cards, preventing wear. This of course isn’t an option if you need your front card. Just for good measure there is an extra set of O-rings supplied. These should also be able to be found easily online or at a good hardware store should you want to stock up.
Over-all the Obtainium is an intriguing product. For people who prefer a lean, well organized carry it may just be the alternative for you. While there are points for and against your typical leather or fabric wallet, this is a welcome option. Especially true in an ever-growing paper-cashless world. All carry preferences aside, the Obtainium is a great looking piece of kit that is very well packaged and manufactured. If you are interested in an elegant way to cut back and carry light, it’s definitely worth taking a hard look at.
If you are interested in buying the Obtainium wallet you can get them direct from www.obtainium.co Obtainium has generously offered Edge Observer readers 25% off their products with the checkout code E-O-25
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