The Perfect Leather Carry Combination

 Savage Gentleman Minimalist Wallet and Expedition Notebook Wallet

Finding the perfect wallet has always proven difficult for me. The difficulty has been the need to balance the size, weight, durability, and utility of carrying your daily essentials. To top it all off, it had to look good AND be reasonably priced.

Inevitably, I would find a wallet that was able to carry everything and the kitchen sink, but at the cost of being bulky and causing issues while seated. (Think George Costanza...) The flip side was something so minimalist, that it bordered on uselessness. I always ended up going through a $40 wallet every year and a half due to the cheap, thin leathers, tiny stitching, and shoddy craftsmanship. 

After starting Savage Gentleman, we came up with the system of using two pieces for daily carry.  The first, is the actual wallet; the Minimalist Wallet is made from premium vegetable-tanned water buffalo and will last a century (or two). It is designed to hold a plethora of cards, (mine currently holds 9) and a couple bills folded into thirds.  

Notice the beautiful patina that develops over time. This is one of our early prototypes that has only gotten better with age and use.

The Savage Gentleman Minimalist Wallet goes in my back-right pocket and because it is a vegetable tanned leather, has developed a beautiful patina after just a few week of use. Cheaper leather goods are tanned using caustic chemicals and will not develop the much sought after finished look that vegetable tanned leathers will.

The nearly bulletproof (3-4oz.) buffalo hide will last a lifetime if taken care of and should age almost as well as you do! I typically throw some leather conditioner on my products about once every couple of months and that seems to keep them well nourished and supple. Think of leather as a skin (because it is); supple skin is stronger than dried-out skin so keep it hydrated!

The second piece to the perfect combination is the Expedition Notebook Wallet. This is one of the first products we came up with at Savage Gentleman, and like most of our products, it's handcrafted by us right here in Salt Lake City:

 Here's a video of how we make our "Gilded" Expedition Notebook Wallet

I use the notebook cover to carry more cash, checks, important documents like my motorcycle registration, and of course, a notebook. This goes in my back-left pocket and has been more valuable than I could've ever imagined. 

In a world dominated by technology, using a notebook to actually write things down is surprisingly refreshing. For important note-taking, it is more efficient to write something down on paper than to finger-jam something on your smartphone or tablet. There is something about putting pen to paper that registers far more deeply in our memories than simply typing on a screen. The best advantage to using a notebook is that your important note is readily available and doesn't get lost as easily as it can in the endless array of apps and data contained within our electronic devices.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Galaxy S9+ and would be a fool to deny the advantages it gives me in both my personal and professional life. Savage Gentleman however, is about hearkening back to the days of old and taking the very best features of those times, applying them, and hopefully making ourselves better in the process. In this sense, very real benefits can be gained from keeping a notebook in your back pocket. I love being able to write what I need to do for the next day down before I go to bed. This gives me a moment to mentally reflect on the day, make a game plan for tomorrow, and execute it when I wake up. 

Everyone has their own particular rituals and methods for EDC (Every Day Carry). After using this combination for the past few months, I can confidently say that it has been the most efficient and effective means for staying organized I have found. As our lives become increasingly more reliant on technology and our to-do lists continue pile up, it is refreshing to take a moment and do something the old-fashioned way. 

- Matt Winslow