I BOUGHT and USED this item. It WAS NOT PROVIDED to me for review by any company.
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This review of the Alpaka Zip Pouch Coin was written in January 2025. I’ll be bringing reviews written before over to Fantasticarry to keep everything in one place.
Now that I’ve been using the Alpaka Zip Pouch Coin for a a couple of weeks, I thought it a good time to share some pros, cons, ins, outs, this and that and the other thing as well about what I think is a “just right” solution for anybody looking for a good minimal-not minimal wallet. I tend to lean in the direction of this being a wallet when I consider the form factor of other pouches.
Who Is Alpaka?
Alpaka is an Australian-based company that creates some of the industry’s most premium, recognizable, durable, and sustainably-produced gear for modern, urban life. From backpacks to totes, slings to wallets, to their own proprietary HUB system of magnetic attachments, Alpaka seems to have something for everybody.
The Alpaka Zip Pouch Coin
The Alpaka Zip Pouch Coin is a stylish, easy to carry, minimalist-ish wallet made of premium carbon-neutral materials with attention to style, function, and sustainability. It holds a spot in an established and very successful product line: Alpaka’s Zip line (no pun intended). So it should be very familiar to those, who have already been carrying anything from the line. It’s so familiar, in fact, that there isn’t a need to change a thing about the materials portion of this review from my review of the Zip Clutch. They use the same great materials!
Materials
The durable, “weatherproof” black X-Pac® VX21 exterior paired with a bold and bright orange Axoflux 210D square ripstop nylon interior (for high visibility) are examples of the conscious choices made by Alpaka’s design team to pair style with utility for the Zip Pouch Coin.
Measurements
At 13.5cm (5.31″) wide by 8.6cm (3.39″) tall by 1.0cm (0.39″) thick, it’ll fit in most bag pockets, coat pockets, and some pants pockets (depending on how you’ve got it packed out). In other words, it’s great for daily carry, travel, or any other use case. It fits most anywhere.
Colorways
Recent iterations of the pouch now include other bold color choices added to the original Black and Dark Green. From Hot Orange (in X-Pac® vx25), to Coyote Brown to True Red, Slate Grey, Bahama Blue (all in X-Pac® vx21), the new colors provide the same style and function as the originals with just a little more spice.
Side note: It does seem a bit odd to me that the Zip Pouch Coin is the only pouch in the line that isn’t featured on the Wallet page where you’ll find the Zip Pouch, Zip Pouch Pro, Zip Clutch, and Zip Cardholder. Perhaps it’s an oversight.
The Main Compartment
The coin compartment, which is covered by a flap fronted with a layer of Hypalon and backed with a nylon panel with a sufficiently strong magnet in the middle, resides on the outside of the pouch and is ample enough to hold a fair amount of change. Shake it around while loaded with coins. It’s not going to open. You’ll also notice that, contrary to my initial concern, there is very little indication that there are actually coins in there. They’re held in place well with very little jingling. The coin compartment can aslo hold a card or two, if that’s the direction you’d like to go with it.
Flip to the reverse of the Zip Pouch Coin and there are two slots that can hold a couple of cards on wider side and a small pen on the narrower side.
The main compartment, lined with a high-visibility orange rip stop nylon, holds a bit more. Alpaka says it can hold up to 12 cards. I like to keep it at, perhaps, five or six cards, ID’s, and cash. Also, the main compartment is housed in RFID blocking material. So, thanks for that, Alpaka.
EDCers and One Baggers will certainly find that they can fit more and a wider variety of items in the main compartment. Although, adding bulkier items could compromise the overall aesthetic of the pouch. I, for one, prefer to keep the Zip Pouch Coin as flat as possible.
The zipper for the main compartment, a YKK aqua guard zipper with a Hypalon pull, will keep your contents dry, particularly if you carry on the outside of a bag using the modular magnetic HUB accessories.
Personally, I just put a small black keyring on the end webbing tab and clip it inside my bags with a carabiner or some other type of clip. I do not have experience with the HUB system. So I cannot comment on it. The key ring is just a quick solution that I’ve used now on both the Zip Pouch Coin and its bigger sibling the Zip Clutch. It works just fine.
Overall, the Alpaka Zip Pouch Coin is a very nice and stylish piece of carry that I’m happy with.
The Caveats
Caveats, you say? Well, yes, there are a couple of things to pay attention to, if you’re considering buying your very own Zip Pouch Coin:
- Those with larger hands and fingers may struggle with the main compartment. It would have been nice if the designers had made it an inch wider to accommodate larger hands or fingers — or maybe added a coin compartment to the larger Zip Clutch.
- The external slots can be difficult or clunky to use — not only if you have larger hands but also medium to smaller. If you put anything smaller than a standard sized card in the wider slot on the back of the Zip Pouch Coin and it slips down in, it can be difficult to get out. It almost seems like the external slots don’t truly need to be there. Carrying cards on the outside of the main compartment seems like a risky proposition. Additionally, it isn’t clear if the external slots are RFID blocking.
The Closing
I like Alpaka’s style, a lot! The style of most everything they put out there is spot on and appeals to a wide variety of people. They use premium materials, have a phenomenal design team, and are all about sustainability. Who can complain about that?
Thanks for reading!
How I Got This Item for Review
I purchased this item myself. Alpaka did not supply it to me for review. The opinions in this review are my own and would not be swayed one way or another if I had been given a review unit by Alpaka.
