ALPAKA Zip Card Pouch Review

If half-zip wallets offer any advantage over billfold wallets, it’s their sealed design. Having their entire openings covered by a zipper means it’s unlikely that anything inside will go AWOL. That’s not to say that billfold wallets are insecure, but they’re not ideal for storing small items other than banknotes and cards. Stuff like coins, keys, and a smart tracker? Yeah, those will just slip out of either of the open ends of a billfold wallet. As such, we’re more than happy to see more and more brands have a crack at a half-zip wallet.

In this review, we’re looking at ALPAKA’s half-zip wallet: the Zip Card Pouch. Not to be confused with their Zip Pouch—which has a straight-zip design for its opening—the Zip Card Pouch applies the same ALPAKA-esque styling we’re used to, with robust all-black fabric on the outside and a bright orange liner on the inside. So, if that sounds appealing to you, read on for the finer details.

The Rundown

The main material outside the Zip Card Pouch is ALPAKA’s Axoflux 210-denier recycled ripstop nylon. This fabric notably comes with a waterproof finish, adding a bit of weather resistance to this wallet. We typically see ripstop nylon used for gear that needs some level of compressibility and/or lightness, such as packing cubes, day slings, and shoe pouches. You’ll even see it as a liner fabric in a lot of backpacks. With that in mind, it’s also a good pick for a wallet, balancing lightness with tough enough durability for the wear and tear of going in and out of a pocket. At the very least, Axoflux makes more sense than the X-Pac we’ve seen with the Zip Pouch and ARK Bifold Passport Wallet. While X-Pac is undeniably tough and waterproof, it feels a bit too stiff and overkill for a wallet, though its distinct pattern is pretty eye-catching.

The liner fabric inside is also 210-denier Axoflux ripstop nylon but with the usual ALPAKA flair of having a hi-vis color (in this case, orange). We dig this about ALPAKA’s gear because it makes searching for gear inside really easy, especially when you have lots of tiny, dark-colored items. It goes without saying it’s just as solid as the fabric on the outside. We’ve no issues regarding quality for either fabric, such as tears or loose threads.

At the time of writing, ALPAKA offers the Zip Card Pouch in three colorways. There’s the “standard” black colorway we’re fond of picking over anything else since we really like its sleek looks. However, if you’re feeling more adventurous, Grey also looks slick accented with the black zipper track. Those truly wanting something different will appreciate the Green colorway. It’s more of an olive color, and that makes it really tempting if you ask us.

Last but not least, there is a lone self-locking YKK zipper. As you may already know, if you’re familiar with YKK, this zipper operates reliably, and it doesn’t catch on anything we’ve put inside the wallet. Its self-locking feature means you can fold down the metal pull to lock the zipper in place anywhere along the track. You can still move it if you apply enough force (don’t), but that’s okay since it’s mostly for preventing the zipper from gradually shifting whenever it’s jostled. The one thing we’re not quite satisfied with is how toothy the zipper track is. While it’s not a deal breaker, we couldn’t avoid brushing up against it whenever we had to take something out. It’s not painful, but it’s not a comfortable feeling, either.

Around the back is a curious-looking loop. You can use it for pretty much anything you can imagine, but it’s primarily for compatibility with ALPAKA’s HUB Accessories. More specifically, it allows you to attach a HUB Keychain, so you can attach the entire wallet to a HUB Modpanel or one of ALPAKA’s many backpacks, like the Elements Backpack Pro. Keep in mind that these are all separate purchases, and you can just use a simple carabiner if you’re so inclined and already have one.

At the front is a simple slip pocket where you can quickly stash cards and cash. Let’s face it: it’s always nice to have a place to pop the card you just took out when you’re fumbling in public. Many people don’t want to be the person to hold up a queue, and we wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.

The internal layout is pretty simple. There is a card-sized slip pocket on both sides and an open space in between—and that’s it. There are no stretchy mesh pockets, pen slots, or any asymmetrical layering going on here. Let’s be fair, though, this is the Zip Card Pouch, so having card-centric organization shouldn’t come as a surprise.

ALPAKA drives home the point by having bar tack stitching at the edges of the pockets, near-perfectly matching the width of typical credit cards and IDs. Now, this does help hold cards in and prevent them from slipping out. However, this also limits the number of cards we can squeeze into them. We can get four to six cards in each, depending on the thickness of the cards. Other cards, cash, multitools, coins, etc., will have to reside in the open space in the middle.

It’s interesting to note that ALPAKA has a rather optimistic estimate of how many cards you can fit in the Zip Card Pouch. They say, “2 Internal pockets that hold 12-20+ cards” (we’re not sure if the plus implies a couple more or an infinite amount). Based on our testing, you can get six on each pocket, but the rest will have to sit elsewhere. You’ll have to sift through a bunch of cards since they bunch up in a few places (the two internal pockets, open space, and exterior slot), but the good news is that accessibility is, on the whole, relatively easy thanks to the half-zip design.

Packability

As a half-zip wallet, the Zip Card Pouch isn’t that compact compared to the ones from other brands. That said, it’s still very pocketable, even more than the already compact Zip Card Pouch. We have no issues inserting it in most pants pockets, and taking it out is also a cinch.

The Zip Card Pouch arguably deserves bonus points if you’re already invested in ALPAKA’s HUB accessory ecosystem since that makes packability even quicker. It’s just a matter of clipping it to your bag via magnets, but we’ll leave that to you since that’s an optional purchase.

Quick Comparison

Interesting points of comparison have to include the Fjallraven Card Wallet and Bellroy Card Pocket. First, you’ll notice the more casual styling of the two versus the Zip Card Pouch. Once you’re past that subjective tidbit, you’ll notice that the Zip Card Pouch is the largest among them. Again, this isn’t an issue for packability since it’s still a very pocketable size, but that starts to change with functionality.

The Fjallraven Card Wallet fully opens like a booklet, with zippered pockets and tiered card slots inside, which is no doubt more versatile than what the Zip Card Pouch offers. However, cramming this much organization inside makes it necessary to open the wallet fully. In turn, this also means any gear you store in the middle risks falling out once you open the wallet.

The Bellroy Card Pocket is closer to the Zip Card Pouch in terms of layout, with the only difference being that one of the card slots has been swapped with a raised coin pouch. Its overall size is significantly more compact, while card capacity remains equal.