ALPAKA ARK Bifold Coin Wallet Review

The ALPAKA ARK Bifold Coin Wallet’s party piece is its built-in coin pouch—a pretty compelling feature for a billfold wallet. So, for those still living in places where coins still play a major part in day-to-day life, this might be the best wallet for their next one. Plus, it’s made with ALPAKA’s Axogrid material, a multilayered fabric that’s very water resistant and tough.

As reassuringly robust as Axogrid fabric might be, it’s also why the ARK Bifold Coin Wallet falls short of our expectations. It’s simply too stiff and—combined with the wallet’s overall thick design—too clunky to use in most day-to-day circumstances.

That said, we still gave this wallet a fair shake. For the details, jump in and read on.

The Rundown

The primary material on the ARK Bifold Coin Wallet is ALPAKA’s 210-denier Axogrid fabric. Axogrid is a four-layer laminate, similar to ALPAKA’s Axoflux fabric and, more notably, X-Pac, a fabric we’ve long known for its incredible toughness and waterproofness. The key difference, at least visually, is that Axogrid has a distinct ripstop-like grid pattern on its outer layer, implying that ALPAKA’s trying to make this wallet as malleable as possible while still giving it that distinct look and feel their Axo fabrics offer. That said, they also used a 210-denier Axoflux Square Ripstop Nylon for the liner.

All of this is to say that the ARK Bifold Coin Wallet feels thick and stiff and hasn’t broken in much after two weeks of use. It’s basically the same stiff feel we’ve griped about when we tested the ARK Bifold Passport Wallet. Mind you, it’s not that we can’t appreciate a wallet with solid, waterproof build quality. However, wallets like these could use some stretchiness simply because you will be squeezing a lot of small, valuable items inside—but we’ll say more after we’ve checked out the rest of this wallet.

Also worth noting is that there are loose threads around the stitched areas of the wallet, including quite a few around the edges. To be fair, none of these have pulled out more than they already have, so they haven’t deteriorated to the point of disintegrating the wallet. However, we wish ALPAKA could’ve tightened the quality in this regard.

A built-in magnetic closure holds this bifold closed. This is another design choice we’re skeptical of for two reasons: the wallet’s aforementioned stiffness and potential thickness. For those reasons, the magnet simply can’t cope, often leaving the wallet popped open or even fully unfolded in some cases.

The wallet’s layout is pretty conventional, with a few key twists, as its name implies. Off to the back is the pocket for your cash, while the front has card slots on one side and a coin pouch on the other. The dual card slots are arranged in a cascading fashion, facing inwards. The front slot is meant for the cards you frequently access, but it’s often difficult to get cards out of it. Consequently, the rear slot became our go-to since it has a pull tab for quickly popping cards out of the slot. Both pockets can fit two or three cards, for a total capacity of four to six, depending on how much you’re comfortable squeezing.

On the opposite side is the coin pouch. It has a gusseted design for maximum volume, and we could actually fit a fair number of coins. Some coins may stick to the built-in magnet nearby or get tucked away into the gussets. For the most part, though, it is a fuss-free inner area to put coins, and we fit up to twenty pieces of various denominations.

Gauging how many coins is too much is kind of a challenge because it’s a matter of whether or not you can close the pouch’s flap. If you can, the magnetic closure holds strong no matter how much you shake the wallet. However, it’s possible to pack the pouch so much that you can’t engage the magnet at all. In other words, some trial and error is required if you’re looking to get the most out of this coin pouch.

The space for your bills is generally big enough for all the banknotes you need to fit. We’ve tested all kinds, from Japanese Yen to Euros, Pound Sterling, and even Philippine Pesos, and they all fit without issues. The problem starts when you need to take cash out, and we often have to take all the bills out to get what we need. This is because getting a proper look at all your cash is hard with them inside since the wallet’s construction is just that stiff and restrictive.

There is a sizable gap at the bottom of the cash area, but it’s nowhere near big enough for bills to fall through. It’s an intentional part of the design that allows the material to flex and crease as needed, prolonging the wallet’s lifespan. We’ve seen this in other wallets before, so we’re not entirely surprised by this design choice. It makes sense given how stiff the entire wallet is; we’d imagine it’s even more important for the ARK Bifold Coin Wallet to have these mitigating measures.

Packability

Many of this wallet’s design elements contribute significantly to its overall thickness. The coin pouch’s flap, for example, is pretty chunky. But by far the most noticeable contributor is the wallet’s very arching apex. We understand that ALPAKA did it this way to reduce tension around that area, therefore allowing the wallet to open and close more smoothly while preserving the materials’ integrity. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a very thick wallet.

That’s apparent as soon as you put this wallet in your pocket or day sling. Whether you have the coin pouch full or even when the wallet is entirely empty, there’s just no escaping the fact that it’s a chunky unit. The good news is that we can still fit it in our pockets in most cases, but it’s bulging very noticeably.

Quick Comparison

If the ARK Bifold Coin Wallet’s thickness is turning you away from it, then a better—but still similar—candidate might be ALPAKA’s own ARK Classic Wallet. It’s a more card-focused wallet, with the capacity and slots to hold up to 10 of them at a time. It’s also wider and lacks features that add to its thickness, making it slimmer and easier to pocket.

Yes, you still get the same stiff materials, but accessibility is much easier because you have so much more space and flexibility. Bonus points: This is a much more suitable wallet design for the magnetic closure to work with, and it absolutely does.