Flowfold Essentialist Mini Pouch Review

We know what you might be thinking: another pouch? What do you want us to do with another one of these things? Well, here at Pack Hacker, we feel that you can never have enough organization, especially for longer trips.

If everything has a home, you’ll always know where your gear is, can access it quicker, and can move through your day faster, which saves time and allows you to spend more of your trip doing what you want instead of packing and sorting gear. After all, did you come to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower or to spend 15 minutes looking for your umbrella in your travel backpack?

We put it through its paces to determine whether the Flowfold Essentialist Mini Pouch is worth your time. Let’s dive in!

The Rundown

The primary material used to craft the Flowfold Essentialist Mini Pouch is ECOPAK, which is 100% recycled polyester fiber and film. It’s highly durable for its light mass and offers solid water resistance. This material is one of the highlights of using this pouch, and we don’t have much negative to say about it. There isn’t much padding, but we didn’t expect there to be.

Given the recycled nature of the materials, this pouch has a good sustainability angle. In addition to reusing fabrics, it’s also incredibly durable, so you won’t have to buy a new one any time soon. That’s a double whammy!

At the time of writing, there are 16 colorways available, so you can snag one that matches your style or what vibe you’re looking to give off on your next trip. Who doesn’t need another cute little pouch, after all?

There’s just one zipper on this little dude, and it’s from YKK. It works as you’d expect; YKK is a top brand. There’s a small hole on the end of the zipper track, which, in theory, can let water inside. That hasn’t happened in our testing. However, if you’re going somewhere that rains a lot or have plans to be near water, this might deter you from purchasing. Water could sneak inside in the right circumstances. For most uses, this is no problem.

Near the end of the zipper track, there’s a small loop. It feels like a thin paracord material. You can attach this to a key ring, add a carabiner, or do anything you want. It’s small, so a large strap won’t fit through, but most other attachment methods will work here.

Below that, there’s a small Flowfold logo. It stays out of your way, but it is noticeable. In addition to their logo and mantra, the tag denotes that this pouch was crafted in Maine, USA. It isn’t common to find textiles manufactured on American soil, so it’s neat to see if you’re into that.

There isn’t anything else to cover on the exterior. It’s sleek, smooth, and durable.

On the interior, you’ll find no organization. Be honest, did you expect to? This thing is tiny.

However, no organization doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. There’s enough room here to stow credit cards, coins, headphones, or a combination of the three. It isn’t huge, but if you’re already using a minimalist wallet, you shouldn’t have an issue fitting all your gear inside. Squeezing your earbuds inside when it’s packed with cards, cash, and coins can be problematic but not impossible.

After using it for a day or two, you’ll be more comfortable with what you can fit inside, making creating your ultimate travel checklist much easier. Once you know what fits inside, you can accommodate what doesn’t or what you will leave behind.

Packability

In terms of packability, this pouch ranks high. It comes in at 0.5 ounces (14.2 g), unnoticeable on your person or inside your sling or daypack. Plus, the materials are incredibly lightweight, so you can fold it up or crumple it down when it’s empty to save space.

As far as specs go, it measures 4.5 in x 3.5 in x 0.2 in (11.4 x 8.9 x 0.5 cm) when empty. When you’ve packed it out, you’ll gain a centimeter or two in the depth department, but it’s still tiny.

This size will work inside most pants pockets and shouldn’t be an issue inside your travel jacket pocket; however, if you’re wearing tighter pants, it might be a tough squeeze when you’ve got it fully packed with gear.

Quick Comparison

A quality wallet to compare the Flowfold Essentialist Mini Pouch to is the Chums Surfshorts Wallet. Before we dive into how it feels to use each, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

The Chums Surfshorts Wallet comes in at 0.7 ounces (19.8 g), 0.2 ounces more than the Flowfold. This difference is not noticeable. Its footprint measures 4.5 in x 3 in (11.4 x 7.6 cm), slightly smaller than the Flowfold’s 4.5 in x 3.5 in (11.4 x 8.9 cm). This is somewhat more noticeable; however, it’s not enough to write home about in most scenarios.

The Chums Surfshorts Wallet has two pockets and a key ring, which is more organized than the Flowfold, enabling you to separate your gear. For example, you can separate cards and cash, keep everyday carry gear separate from your financial items, or throw your keys on the key ring.

The materials on the Flowfold feel more durable and water resistant than those on the Chums, which will entice some users. However, for most use cases, the Chums fabric performs fine.

Overall, both these offerings are worthy travel companions. If you’re choosing between the two, it comes down to whether you need more durable, water-resistant materials or are looking for some organization for your next minimalist wallet purchase. Either way, you can’t go wrong!