The Nomatic Basics Wallet was one of the most successfully Kickstarted slim wallet 2 years ago. It raised more than 17 times its original funding target of $10,000. It is not difficult to see why the wallet attracted so much attention. It is simple, minimalistic and easy to use. More importantly, despite being a simple elastic band wallet, it allowed quick access to 4 of your most often used cards.
The Basics Wallet is not just minimal in its looks but its design as well. It is basically a sleeve wallet that is made from an elastic fabric material. The main advantage of using an elastic material is that the wallet can expand to hold much more than a normal leather wallet for example. However, the biggest problem faced by sleeve wallets is that only the outermost card is easily accessible. To access your other cards will require you to remove all the cards from the slot and pick the one that you want.
The Basics Wallet solves this problem by adding a pull tab mechanism to the wallet. This is a simple and elegant solution. By extracting the cards from the pocket, you now have easy access to the front and back cards. That makes two easy access cards so what about the remaining two? This is where the ingenuity of the wallet’s design really shone. A second card compartment is added to the wallet but with the opening facing the opposite direction.
When the pull tab is pulled, it pushes out the cards stored in the front pocket. At the same time it leaves the front and back cards that are stored in the second compartment exposed as well. So now you have a total of 4 cards that are easily accessible with just a simple pull of the tab. Between the two compartments, you can store anywhere from 1 to 15 cards securely. The elastic property of the wallet ensures that nothing drops out even if you shake the wallet vigorously.
As with most minimalist wallets, the Basics Wallet is not really designed for carrying cash. However, there is a small pocket that is attached to the second card slot that can be used to store folded notes plus items like coins and a small key. The elastic band holds the stored securely but it also makes it a bit of a hassle to remove items stored inside especially cash.
If you need to carry many cards and need quick access to a few of them like your favorite credit card and an access card for example, the Basics Wallet is a great option.