Red Oxx Rigger Wallet - A Review

December 26, 2016 review red oxx rigger wallet

I happened across Red Oxx while reading through the Flyertalk forums. The thread was about about their Mini Air Boss and was filled with rave reviews about the build quality and the Red Oxx unconditional warranty. I checked out their site and noticed they had a wallet. I had been looking for a wallet for a while and almost settled on a Bellroy but was hesitant because it is pricey and the thin fashionable leather did not seem durable.

There are not many formal reviews of the Red Oxx wallet or even the many Red Oxx products. I suspect this is because Red Oxx does not advertise an affiliate program and I suppose this lack of payment for clicks precludes many bloggers from shilling their products. However the many forum posts I perused spoke highly of their products and warranty which is why I decided to try them out. The Red Oxx Rigger wallet looked simple and durable and was not too expensive at $25 so I purchased a red one along with a Safari Chica bag.

Purchasing

A few days after my order, I received an email from Red Oxx stating that the Red Rigger wallet was out of stock with an unknown availability date and that I could pick a different color. Most interestingly the email mentioned that Red Oxx does not make the Rigger wallet. The representative mentioned that it is the only product they outsource and it is made by a company in California. I decided to go with a black wallet instead figuring it was probably more formal than a red wallet and it had red stitching which was enough for me.

I received a shipping notice the same day I replied to the Red Oxx representative and the wallet and Chica bag showed up a few days later. They were nicely packaged in a box bearing the Red Oxx logo and a cleanly formatted packing slip that detailed the order and shipping costs.

The Wallet

The wallet itself is well made and is built out of a very durable Cordura nylon fabric. All the edges are wrapped in another soft fabric which is then double stitched. There is only one main pocket but it is deep and surprisingly long when folded out. Besides money, I’ve also stashed my ID and ATM card in the big pocket. The front consists of three sections. On the left there is a zippered change pocket, the middle contains a credit card pocket with another, hidden, compartment behind it for additional cards. The right side has a pocket with a transparent plastic front meant store your ID. The whole wallet is held closed by a very grippy velcro closure. The back of the wallet is a continuous strip of the same nylon fabric and has a strip across the lower third with, all stitched in red, the words “RED OXX” on the front, four parachutes on the back, and the word “RIGGER” on the inside flap.

The wallet is slim even after it is folded. I can feel it in my back pocket when I sit but it does not feel blocky or uncomfortable. The tall height allow the edges go beyond the cards inside which allows it taper off which gives the wallet a nice curve at the top and bottom. That helps when you’re sitting on it. The Cordura nylon feels tough with a tight weave and is decently water resistant. The zipper on the zippered pocket is not Red Oxx’s usual #10 zipper but rather their #5 zipper for comfort.

Drawbacks

I consider the The Red Oxx Rigger wallet to be a nice wallet but it has some drawbacks.

The zipper pocket needs to be a bit bigger so users can store credit or business cards in it. It’s usability as a coin pocket is limited. Putting more than a few coins in the wallet is not practical because it causes the wallet to bulge out which, unless you are ham handed, makes it difficult to carry and handle.

The plastic on the see-through window is rather soft and easily marked. I initially put a credit card in that slot but had to remove it since the raised credit card numbers were getting embossed into the plastic. I now have a flat card in that pocket but have noticed the Red Oxx label on the inside of the wallet is starting to mark the soft plastic.

The branding on the wallet is ostentatious. The RED OXX on the front, RIGGER on the inner flap, and the Red Oxx label sewn onto the middle pocket makes it seem like a gaudy kid’s wallet rather than a sleek something a professional should carry. Speaking of branding - Red Oxx lines the inside of their bags in red for visibility and it is considered one of their trademarks. It is interesting to see the red lining is not present in any way on the Rigger wallet.

Improvements

While the Rigger wallet is decent, there is room for improvement.

Opening and closing the velcro is annoying if you have to do it often. It is very grippy and usually takes two pulls to open. It would be nice if there was a credit card pocket on the back of the wallet where we could stash our most commonly used card and perhaps some ID. A smaller inset pocket could even hold a $20 bill for quick access.

There should be an option for a bi-fold or larger tri-fold wallet that can hold a passport. This would make the wallet useful for travel and even allow for a bigger zipper pocket suitable for cards. Red Oxx could even add a pen.

Video Review

I have a short video review on Youtube. It is embedded below.