Trayvax Contour

January 06, 2019

HDT had a huge impact on me when I was younger and still at times whispers in my ear when I'm looking for that solution that seems untenable at best and precarious more often than not. His writing when I first encountered it was sophisticated yet obviously simple. I longed to rebel and move to a cabin on a pond to stand against the encroachment of law to the wilds of man. Long lasting echos of simplification still encroach on my life some twenty-two years past when I enlisted for the most conforming process possible for a seventeen year old boy.

The appeal of not carrying as much is ever present but still at times a struggle. Everything seems to come with some sort of membership card now a days. Ive got personal accounts, business accounts, employer use accounts, drivers licenses, concealed carry permits, gym membership cards all vying for a place in my wallet. Not to mention the obvious things no self respecting rogue can be without like a handy set of picks. All these amount to sitting on a phone book.

Not only is this horrible for your posture and back alignment but it breaks up the streamlined look I prefer. If anything stands out it can be used against you either for memory of others or getting you selected into a secondary screening. Contrary to what all the every day carry (EDC) aficionados like to sell you these things are bad if you actually do any sort of work in the field they wish they were in. I'm coincidentally still laughing at the idea of the spook poser being hemmed up at a port of entry or secondary because Captain cool guy forgot that his Velcro opsec made him a target. Let alone when they found the stash of picks behind the zipper of his pants. Pardon me for the literary digression for personal humor.

Back on track, I have a few wallet like items I have to carry daily so its important that I streamline as much as possible where I can. Seeing the leather metal design of the Trayvex got my attention. Sending me one with ROGUE on it seals the deal because I'm a self branding idiot in a field where anonymity is the goal. Needles to say I loved the quality workmanship, made in America, and the identification of the team member who made my wallet was top notch. The lines are smooth and shimmering when the metal hits the light. I'm a sucker for curves.

The leather isn't so worn it looks ragged but instead I would say aged to look like its been with you for a bit. The stitching is clean well done so as not to have lose threads or appear threadbare. Overall I enjoy the look of metal meeting leather with well done customizations. Even the attachment point which I wont ever use isn't too pretentious but I would chop it off if I could to keep the form factor as small as possible.

For day to day carry I pared by carry down to a few ID cards that I have to have daily and one credit card with the best points Ive found. Additionally I carry one hundred dollars in twenties at all times because you just never know where you're going to find yourself by the end of the day. More importantly you don't always want to leave a breadcrumb trail of electronic receipts placing you here and there. Using the included tool I tightened down the closure very easily. In the few months Ive been carrying it the screw hasn't come loose or moved. I had concerns about the attachment point poking or prodding in my pocket but so far a few months in I have no issues. The wallet works as advertised and hasn't been a pain to retrieve my ID needed for access from daily.

Here's my one main gripe about the design and its a personal issue at that. The design is simple and sophisticated as I said earlier. Having a bottle opener heavily degrades the sophistication intent. No classy rogue ever whipped out their wallet to open a beer. Instead we innovate and ingratiate to find a way to where we want things. I just don't care for the feature and with that I can conclude my issues with the design. If I could change anything it would be remove the attachment point and the bottle opener to elevate and you've got yourself a solid simplified wallet.

At a price point of $139.99 available here maybe they will make us a rogue edition down the road.