In a world where payment is done mostly by cards and even phones, wallets with a lot of storage area are starting to become obsolete.
Crispy Wallet has tapped right into this developing trend and came with a wallet as thin as paper. They combined the ancient eastern art of origami with a western need to carry personal items, banknotes and laminated cards and developed the Crispy Wallet. They have only one model and are sold between €12 and €24 depending on the artwork.
The Good
Our tear test, four guys
Probably the coolest and most obvious aspect of the wallet is the material. Tyvek® is a very strong flashspun of HDPE fibers. The material is difficult to tear and liquid water can’t pass through. When you buy the wallet they give you a piece of Tyvek to prove it's durability. So the very first thing I did together with a friend was to put it to the test! As shown in the picture we were able to get a small tear. I have to admit that there was some biting involved after I didn’t even get a small scratch on there after 10 minutes.
The print is very nice, I choose for ‘Meerwelt’ which is German for Sea World, because I love the beach and the horizon of the sea is hypnotizing for me. The variation of artwork that Crispy Wallet offers is very broad because of the many artist they collaborate with.
The wallet’s card slots are very intelligent, as they also patented the principle of keeping a card from falling out of the wallet without making the wallet any thicker. After putting it to the test, I too, can say that it indeed keeps your cards from falling out. A bonus that comes with the two opposite cardholder that you can place your cards with chips on either side and still use them without taking them out. For instance, I have in the right slot my public transport chipcard and on the left side my Car2Go membership chip card. I can use both of them by just flipping my wallet open like an FBI agent flashing his badge.
My wallet holding 6 cards
After one year (see how the yellow card got damaged?)
When I just received the wallet I doubted that it would survive me. I store my wallet everywhere, have little to no respect for it and forget about it many times. An other time I dropped it on the floor of a busy train where it was tramped on for several stops until someone found it and contacted me. I even went so far to prove to someone that the wallet is indeed waterproof that I just turned on the water tap, put the wallet in the stream of water and showed him that all the content is still dry. It survived all of those incidents, and even better, it shaped the wallet. I kept it in my back pocket on which I sit most of the time which really flattened the wallet and made these awesome marks of usage that complimented the whole look and feel of the wallet. As seen below two pictures with the same content but left was directly from the package and right is after two months usage.
The first day
After 2 months
After 12 months
The bad
After really thinking hard about what is actually bad about this product I could only come up with one thing based on something that happened recently when visiting my parents. Everytime I come home a certain ritual starts, I’m sure you know it. That standard: “Hi, I’m home!!” as you kick off your shoes, throw your coat over the first object you see, drop your bag on the floor for everyone to trip over, empty your pockets on the dining table and crash on the couch. So when my mother wanted to clean up the table she placed my wallet, which was just a folded piece of paper for her, on a pile of other documents. This caused a whole search operation for my wallet when I had to leave the next morning.
And the sustainable
Tyvek is made from HDPE which can be recycled by DuPont and they will recycle it if you are willing to pay for the shipment costs. Any other place, nearby, that recycles plastic is also possible. Furthermore, the reason why this wallet is considered sustainable is because it is made from one sheet of Tyvek which makes the wallet tear resistant and more durable than most of the wallets out there.
Packaging (front)
Packaging (back)
Conclusion
Design ★★★★★
The fact that it’s folded from one piece of Tyvek is simply amazing Origami skills.
Sustainability ★★★★☆
Tyvek is still a plastic but the durability got me.
Price ★★★★☆
I consider €20 a good price for a quality wallet that will stay with you for a long time.
This is a MyStyle article. MyStyle is a group of young people that test sustainable products. From clothes and gadgets to food and cosmetics.We are independent and brutally honest, not a marketing scheme or advertisement. Check out all our reviews and more on the MyStyle Facebookpage and Twitter.
