Hawbuck DCF Hybrid Wallets, 5 Grams, Cottage Made In USA

[Wes Cox]

Hawbuck Lean DCF Wallet

I couldn’t find the wallet I wanted, so a year ago I started making them. It turned into a rabbit hole, and after a gazillion little design changes I’m honing in towards perfection, and have become serious about the MYOG-project-now-turned-cottage-business.

I believe I have the best ultralight wallet out there, and will strive to keep it that way.They weigh 5 grams, I sew them in my workshop usually a dozen at a time.

$30 USD Shipped.

Backpacking Light members, take 15% off any order with code “BPL15” until October 1st, 2018

If you buy one of my wallets and find something you’d like changed in the design, I’d greatly appreciate the feedback.

Also, if you need a wallet that does something that my current wallets don’t do,I’d appreciate hearing from you so I can develop products that solve those problems. My goal is to have an entire range–a product family of DCF wallets that are minimal, excellent, frugal and problem solving. Thank you!

Wes Cox

Hawbuck.Camp

[Matthew / BPL]

Just curious, which weight of Hybrid DCF is this? Is it the 2.92oz/yd hybrid?

[Wes Cox]

Yes, you’re right– it’s the 2.92oz/yd material.

[John Mc]

Thanks…..I just ordered a black wallet.  Good timing for me….

[Matthew / BPL]

Mine arrived today. My initial impression is that I like it a lot. I’ll be interested to see how it wears over time. I’m slightly concerned about the raw, unhemmed edges but time will tell.

Wallet was packaged really nicely with a handwritten note in a nice envelope.

Nice work, Wes!

[Wes Cox]

Matthew–Glad to hear! Please do let me know what you think of it over time, if you find anything about the pattern or construction that you think I can improve on, I’m grateful for the feedback. I want these to be the best.

[Matthew / BPL]

Just curious (and not trying to get you to divulge any trade secrets): are you lasercutting the blanks? They seem very clean and precise.

[Wes Cox]

You’ve got it– those thumb slots would be nightmarish otherwise.

[Russ W]

I just recieved mine and the experience is identical to matthew k’s. Great form, fit and function. Time will tell if this is a keeper.

Of note, i have a black Luke’s Ultralight wallet. The cards slip down  into pockets, jamming the cards together where they are hard to identify and remove. This wallet seems to solve those issues with the side entry pockets and cut-outs. A much better fit for my stuff and lighter to boot.

Let’s see how it holds up. Great innovation Wes! I’m pulling for you!

 

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

I carry just 4 pieces in my wallet, drivers licence, credit card, 50 dollar bill and single edge razor blade when I’m out and about trekking through the woods. The rest is back in the car. I do that in the interest of carry less, walk further 

What do you guys carry in your wallet?

 

 

[Matthew / BPL]

Dan, I carry the same wallet backpacking or in daily life. I don’t like to carry much.

Agreed with Russ. The slide out slots are very handy.

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

Look in your wallet and count the items for me….I’m a curious. We talk grams here so often. My licence and credit card weighs 11 grams

[Wes Cox]

Russ, Thank you! I’m glad to hear the fit is good, I hope it works well for you. We’ll see how they endure.

The thumb slots are probably my favorite element, I’m glad to hear you both find those useful.

Dan, I think I have the wallet for you :)

[Russ W]

I’m using as a daily wallet, so multiple credit cards, AAA card, car insurance card, medical insurance card, license and some cash. A wallet like this keeps me from jacking up my rear on one side. For backpacking, I have an HMG and an Elemental Horizons, both of which have a pouch/wallet inside the main bag, so I generally pare down the to what you have Dan, plus my medical insurance card and use a ziplock.

[Katherine .]

Oh, I have *used* my AAA card on the trail!  I carry debit/credit/health insurance/drivers license/AAA.

And should start not leaving my car insurance in there, which prolly means taking it with.

Looks nice. Might go on my wishlist.

[David Wiese]

Received my black wallet a few days ago. Really like it!

Will keep BPL notified of how it holds up over time. Using it as my everyday wallet.

[Anonymous]

Bought one, thanks, Wes. Best of luck!

[Wes Cox]

Thanks Peter! Will ship out in the morning.

@dtothewiese Glad you like it! Hope it works well for you.

[Mordecai _]

Laser cut dcf! So many design possibilities if the edge holds.

Gotta ask… the logo? Lightning fingers and slashed dollar sign in the palm… I feel like I’m missing something obvious…

[Wes Cox]

Ohh, nothing too obvious with the logo. I wanted to do something sort of like a hobo-glyph. I drew this in my sketchbook and was like “Bam! I’ll use it.” Tried not to second guess it. I wanted something that expressed that the impetus for this project is creative kicks, not cash, So, the strike-out $ and electric/busy working fingers. Seemed to work. I’m a product designer in my day job and some of my work gets killed by committee, sometimes in arbitrary ways. With Hawbuck, I get to go from idea to product in a pure, simple—and more fun—way.

[David Thomas]

Looks like a nice, clean design.  The thumb slots are great – save a tiny bit of weight, let’s you see what’s where, and is an aid to wiggling it out.

To answer your questions:

Around town: about 15 bills, DL, 2 CCs, library card, and ATM card.  I don’t have a AAA card because here in Alaska, the next person along will help you long before the tow truck would arrive.  I don’t carry car or health insurance cards with me – I keep images of them on my phone and the last few times I needed them, it worked fine to email the image to the medical office.

When traveling, I add a airport lounge membership card and a passport card.

When hiking, at most I have DL, CC, ATM, plus a $20 or two.  My most weight-saving use of a 1-gram $20 bill is to convert it to lemonade and candy bars at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon.  If on a thru-hike, I’d have a few more bills with me for hostels or other non-CC venues.  And while hiking, I’d prefer just a single, folded-bill / CC sized pouch, open on one end.  The thumb slot would be handy there, too.  The leather version of that my daughter uses around town has a black mesh material on one side so you can visualize one card through it.  While I’ve bought two such wallets for myself and others around town, frankly, for trail use, I’ve just cut some Tyvek and instead of stitching seams, used 2″ package sealing tape.  On Tyvek or DCF, one could create a similar effect to that mesh material (and save a bit of weight) with a hole punch.

I do struggle to find a leather around-town wallet to my liking: as slim as possible, not lots of compartments: 1 or 2 for a total of 5-7 CCs and a single banknote compartment for 10-20 bills.  That’s it.  Nothing more.

[David Thomas]

Ideas for other products:  Other countries have different, often larger currency than the US and Canada (and smaller, too – bills increase in size as they increase in value).  So a deeper wallet can be helpful for international travel.

While backpacking internationally, I’ve got my passport with me.  And I try to keep it somewhat clean and dry.  So a passport-sized wallet, with an additional currency-sized, and a CC-sized compartment would be handy.  Perhaps even with a flap over the passport compartment.  If the CCs were in a sleeve inside the passport compartment, they’d be more protected from slipping out (by that flap), while your thumb slot feature would let them removed pretty easily.

[Ben H.]

He is one step ahead of you Dave:

https://www.hawbuck.camp/wallets/lean-wallet-grey–jz6hp

The Hawbuck Lean Global Wallet, with enough room for nearly any banknote. Will fit 5-7 cards on each side. Made of Dyneema Composite Fabric Hybrid– Cuben Fiber with woven polyester face. Material made in Arizona. Thread made in Germany. Wallet made in Chicago.

Fits wide bills including larger denomination Euro bills.

If you do not carry cash frequently, you may still prefer the regular Hawbuck Lean wallet, since the regular Lean wallet gets a nice structure from the cards it contains. In the Lean Global wallet, the banknote pocket extends beyond the credit card pockets.

Size: 3.375 x 7.75″ (85 x 190mm)

Weight: 6 Grams

[JCH]

I had to order one. This looks like everything I loved about the Allet Nylon Sport Wallet only…less :)

[Wes Cox]

Dave, we are definitely on the same wavelength. It’s almost spooky, what you described—is like–this? Or maybe you’re following me on instagram and teeing me up to talk about this project? ;)

I’m currently developing this travel wallet. I’m making this out of the 5 oz material rather than the 2.92 oz. I’ll be including a Fisher Stowaway pen, which stows in the spine of the wallet. Combined weight of the current pattern with pen is 20 grams. I’ve purposely made the wallet tall enough to hold a Field Notes memo book at the request of a hiker in the PNW who uses one on all his hikes. I had another request to accommodate two passports, those two applications demand the same sort of pocket. I received material for a small initial run last week, I’ll be making them in both black and white. They’ll come with cord loops as seen in the second to last photo. That cord will be white on the white wallet, black on the black. In both cases, polyester sheathed Dyneema cord. Using a small S-biner, combined with the Dyneema cord and the 5 oz material, this will be difficult to lose or be stolen when clipped into your pack. If anyone knows an accomplished pickpocket, I’d love to run slash tests.

If any of you want one of these, I’ve created a mailing list on my site where I’ll alert subscribers to the earliest batch. But, I’ll also post here with a deal in a subsequent batch.

 

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