This is the Ridge Wallet. It's a wallet that, honestly, most of you guys probably recognize
It's one of the most popular wallets out there, and there have been plenty of copycats that look just like this
almost exactly down to the same screws and all of that kind of stuff
But a brand that kind of wanted to follow a similar design, but take a very different take on it
I got to give them credit for doing a great job at that, is actually this Aviator Slide Wallet by Evermade
So this is a very kind of similar style wallet to the ridge in that it's a kind of a sandwich design
However, they flip things around, they added features, and it is a quite different wallet from the ridge
rather than a lot of the just straight up copycasts that are out there. So today we're going to be comparing these two wallets up against each other to see which one might be
best for you. So let's get right into that. But before we do, I do really quick want to say that this wallet right here was gifted to me by Evermade
And this one was gifted to me by my wife a long time ago. I have had this wallet a really long time
And after testing quite a bit, I have a pretty good knowledge on what to compare these wallets to
And just in case you're interested in buying one of these wallets, I do have some paid links down in the description and the top comment of this video
If you guys wanted to purchase it, I do get a small commission. And let's go ahead and move on
Alright, so what are these two wallets? Let's start off with the Ridge as it's pretty much what everybody knows and it has a really good basis
So Ridge wallets are a two plate and an elastic strap style wallet
So basically you have two different plates. There's one there, one there. You put the cards in the middle and that's about it
You have a little notch here that you push out and you can get your cards out like that
And then on the back you can choose at the time of purchase whether you want to get a money
clip or a cash strap. I generally go with a cash strap just because I find it a little bit easier and it's a little
bit more kind of compact in your pocket and you can easily just throw in cash right there
It's a very simple idea. It works really, really well. And moving over to the Aviator wallet, this is a very similar kind of sandwich style design
where it has two different plates. There is a coin tray that slides out the bottom
And then you put the cards in the top. And then to pull the cards out, you just pull on that strap and they all come out very
similar to the ridge just out the top instead of the side Now this strap is really cool However I will say you can kind of hear it It jiggles around like that That something kind of worth mentioning I talk a little bit later in this video So the first of the seven categories that I comparing these wallets in is styling and aesthetics
And unfortunately, while I normally am somebody that likes to have a clear winner in each category
I actually do have these as a tie. I do think a Ridge wallet looks really, really nice
It's very simplistic. It's very flat, very minimalistic. There isn't much to it
and it does look really nice, it feels really nice, and these really are great wallets that
honestly really are worth their price, even if people say they're not
So as for the Aviator, I do have the carbon fiber cash clip, as you can kind of see right here
which I think is really cool. That is an added fee, otherwise it's just kind of a standard, I think, acrylic or aluminum
money clip. However, it does look really nice. The edges are kind of like a bare aluminum kind of feel and look to it, and it's just really, really well made
It looks different than the ridge, but it does look really, really nice
So as for styling and aesthetics, while they do look different, I do think both wallets honestly are very similar in styling and aesthetics
Even if they're different style, you kind of have to decide for yourself which one you like better
But for me, they're a tie. Number two category is build quality
And I actually have the aviator winning out in this one. It's just, I don't know why
It feels a little bit more unrefined. While both are very similar quality wallets, honestly, I do think that the Aviator just has a little
bit nicer quality to it. You can completely take the wallet apart and replace the elastic band
if you need to and all of that kind of stuff. However, it just feels a little bit better
a little bit higher quality than the base level ridge that you have right here
Next thing is card capacity. And again, the Aviator by Evermade actually does win out on this
So this is actually an interesting thing. I'm going to put away the ridge here. By the way, the ridge can handle up to 12 cards in the capacity and then of course cash in the back
The Evermade is interesting. So there's this little pull strap right here that you pull and it ejects the cards out the top of which
by the way, I'm using double oak cards. If you want to check out their review, I have it linked up above
However, they basically, so what they do is you can either choose your card capacity when you order it
So you can choose in between 1 to 3 all the way up to 18 to 20 cards So this has a 20 card capacity What changes is basically this little pull strap right here changes in length and so it adjusted based off how many cards you have So the more cards you
have, the longer the strap is going to be. The less cards you have, the shorter the strap is
going to be. And so this is fully adjustable to be able to handle anywhere from 1 to 20 cards
which is just nuts. Honestly, I haven't seen any other minimalist wallets. That can go all the way
up to 20. Generally speaking, 12 is kind of your max. The aviator right here, even
wins out that category for me. Now, durability. Which one wins out on this one? It comes down to the ridge
So the ridge I used pretty exclusively for about a year. This was one of the first minimalist
wallets I've ever had. And I have to say it has held up extremely well. I don't really have
hardly any damage. You can kind of see like the aluminum plate right here is starting to kind
of wear. There are tiny little nicks in the paint and that kind of stuff. But overall
it has held up extremely well. Now I've used the aviator. quite a bit less just because I've been really getting into reviewing wallets
And so I'm testing out a bunch of different ones. I'm moving them in and out of my pocket and that kind of stuff
And I am noticing a few kind of nicks on this side here. That is one of the downsides of having a straight kind of aluminum body with a thin paint over top of it
is you start to kind of notice wear and tear a little bit more as I kind of saw in my extra
aluminum wallet that they had gifted me a while back. And it just I do find that the wear and tear is a little bit more obvious
Now, I will say as for actually usability side of stuff, I'm not really concerned in it. There aren't any moving parts. I don't see this like breaking down and like falling apart anytime soon
They're very similar screws and that kind of stuff for both wallets. So as for usability for long term, both these wallets are going to be quite similar
But as for the aesthetic side of it, I think the ridge wins out for me. Now overall usability. I've found that like this money clip right here, it struggles a little bit sometimes to get cash into that little clip
And this right here, like this strap likes to kind of hang down there. I'm not paying attention. It's just kind of annoying. Then you have to kind of figure out how to get back into its groove and stuff
It is extremely usable, but when it comes to somebody that's used so many different wallets like myself
the ridge really does a better job overall for just kind of your daily usage
While it is a little bit more difficult to get like interior cards, the outer two cards are extremely easy to get to just by
basically, you just take your thumb notch like that and go like that. You have access to the card Alternatively you can just pinch that and it kind of displays them out like that It is a very easy wallet to use and I gotten better at it over time by just researching a little bit more
And I think just kind of the aviator got maybe a little bit too complicated for itself of having
this pull strap. It just almost kind of complicates things more than it needs to
That said, if you are somebody that needs a coin tray like this, I know a lot of people in
the European countries and that kind of stuff do use a lot of coins. That is a really nice feature to have
can get that for the ridge. However, I would say this is a better setup. But for me, I do have
the ridge winning out. So the final category we're comparing these two wallets in is the warranty
and return policy. And these two wallets actually tie. They both have a lifetime warranty on that
end of stuff. And where they don't tie comes down to the return policy. So the Aviator has a
14-day return policy and the Ridge wallet has a 99-day return policy. Now I'm pretty sure both
wallets do require them to be in like new conditions, so there is always that risk if you are
testing them out and wanting to return them. However, at 99 days, the Ridge obviously wins
out in this category as well. Alright, so who are these wallets for and which one would I buy
The easy winner for me honestly is the Ridge wallet. I've also been testing out their carbon
fiber wallet as they had gifted that to me somewhat recently, and they are just so simple
that it just generally makes sense to go with them. However, not everybody wants such a simplistic wallet
Some people want better access to the interior cards and that kind of stuff. And that is really where the aviator does shine
And so if you're somebody that's not a fan of Ridge, this is a fantastic alternative
I'm not a huge fan of those companies that just straight up copy things like Ridge Wallets
So if you're wanting somebody that actually has original idea, but does it similar to a Ridge Wallet, this is a fantastic
option. I really do like these Aviator wallets. They are extremely well made. They are great quality
They work really well. They just have a couple little drawbacks that the Ridge Wallet just doesn't
have just due to its complete simplicity. And so there you have it. The Ridge Wallet technically
wins out. However, the Aviator is a pretty close second, honestly. And again, if you guys do want
to purchase one of these wallets, I do have links down in the description and the top comment for that
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