Many wallet makers start out as hobbyists in their garages, cutting leather, sanding metal or even slinging around duct tape. The origins of the Bryker Hyde brand are no different.
The company began in 2015 when a military vet in San Diego set out to produce an affordable, high quality leather wallet in his garage. Fast forward 5 years and Bryker Hyde has grown into a successful, Dallas-based company with a line of popular wallets.
Bryker Hyde Wallets: An Overview
So what sets Bryker Hyde apart?
Function and Style: Many wallets dazzle with their looks or intriguing design, but prove awkward to use. Others work great, but make paying for anything a bit of an embarrassment. Bryker Hyde strikes a delicate balance. These aren’t the most revolutionary wallets on the market, but they aren’t dull either.
Quality Leather: The company prides itself on sourcing the finest full grain and top grain leather they can get at their price point. They believe in their leather so much that it comes with a lifetime guarantee.
Price: Bryker Hyde says on its website: “We won’t charge you more than we’re willing to pay.” It’s this commitment to value for money helps the brand stand out from the crowd.
RFID Protection: Every Bryker Hyde product features an insignia of a Spartan war helmet branded into a corner. It’s not there because the owner is a military vet though. It represents the brand’s unwavering commitment to security and protection against RFID infiltration. The company claims to have designed and created their own three-layer system to block both high and low RFID signals (125khz and 10MHz to 3000MHz).
Military Discount: The founder is committed to honoring and helping out others like him who have served in the military. By sending in proof of active or veteran status, you can get 20% off.
The Bryker Hyde Collection
Bryker Hyde has three styles of wallets in their collection: minimalist wallets, executive wallets and a multi-functional bifold wallet. It’s an impressive range that offers something for everyone looking for a quality leather wallet.
The Minimalist | Doing More with Less
The Minimalist (ID outside)
| Length | Height | Width |
| 2.87” | 4.37” | 0.25” |
Colors (w/ Leather Style): Slate Gray (Distressed), Black (Smooth), Texas Brown (Distressed), Brown (Distressed), Charcoal Black (Distressed), Tan (Distressed), Cowboy Blue (Textured)
Two Versions: 1.0 and 2.0 The naming here makes it sound like the 2.0 is a significant upgrade, but the truth is that the only real difference between them is the position of an ID card holder, outside (1.0) or inside (2.0).
ID Slot: This defining feature comes with a thumb hole for easy access and gives this minimalist wallet an edge over others which don’t have dedicated storage for an ID. However, it is a bit of a drawback to have to choose whether you want to display an ID outside or inside by design. It would be nice to have the flexibility to adapt and choose.
Card Capacity: It’s quite impressive for such a small wallet. Both versions max out at 13 cards right out of the box, but differ a little in how they store them.
The Minimalist 1.0 holds up to 5 cards on the outside in 2 stacked pockets and 1 hidden pocket that sits underneath. The Minimalist 2.0 features 2 stacked pockets on both sides of the wallet’s exterior, allowing you fit a whopping 8 cards for external access.
Inside, the Minimalist 1.0 holds a total of 6 cards with 2 stacked pockets and a hidden pocket on either side, while the Minimalist 2.0 sacrifices a stacked card pocket to make room for the ID card area.
For such a small wallet, it’s quite an impressive number of cards, and as advertised, it does really cut down on the bulk you’d experience when placing that many cards in a traditional wallet.
Money Clip: Bills are held inside the wallet through the use of a detachable metal money clip, which slides into the center of the wallet. It’s a sturdy piece of metal that locks into place with a spring mechanism that looks well made. That said, it comes with a lifetime warranty if it breaks.
Executive Bifold | Old School, Carry-All
| Length | Height | Width |
| 4.5” | 3.5” | 0.6” |
Colors (w/ Leather Style): Brown (Distressed), Black (Napa Grade A), Texas Brown (Distressed), Black (Pebble), Black (Sheepskin), Slate Gray (Distressed), Charcoal Black (Distressed)
Two Versions: Top Flip and Side Flip The defining feature of this line of wallets is a two sided ID slot, which lets you hold two or more ID cards in an easily displayed and accessible area. You can choose to have the ID card slot flip upwards or out to the side.
This is an excellent feature that really makes this wallet stand out. If you’re going to go big, might as well be able to carry two IDs, am I right? So, boom. Now your ID and access card/metro card/secret agent card are fiendishly easy to get to.
Card Capacity: This is an unabashedly big, traditional wallet. It’s the wallet you get if you want to outdo the massive wallet that your Dad had. Look at this, Dad. It’s bigger. More stylish. Your boy did you proud.
Counting up all the card slots, you got 8 visible card slots and 3 hidden card slots, for a whopping total of 11. Yes, 11 places to put your cards. Although, to be fair, it’s more like 10 because the ID holder tucks into one of the slots. But still, that’s a lot of cards. With this wallet you’ll be able to carry around just about every membership card you have. Costco. AAA. That Muay Thai gym that you haven’t been to in 7 years. Load ”˜em up.
All that storage comes with a few drawbacks in terms of visibility, of course. Some cards end up hidden, and two of the visible storage slots inside don’t allow you to tuck cards in all the way, which causes them to block some of the cards above.
Cash Carrying: The Executive Wallet comes with tons of space for holding cash. I was able to get 11 bills into it no problem. International currencies work well too, although you might have some trouble with larger 100 Euro bills.
The nicest feature of the wallet’s cash carry function is its two billfold pockets. This is great if you’re working from an expense account and need to hold onto lots of receipts (oh, you little executive, you), or if you need to keep two currencies separate.
Quick Draw Bifold | Multi-functional Challenger
| Length | Height | Width |
| 4.25” | 2.09” | 0.4” |
Colors (w/ Leather Style): Brown (Distressed), Texas Brown (Distressed), Slate Gray (Distressed), Charcoal Black (Distressed)
Perpendicular Card Storage: The card holders on this wallet are set up perpendicular to each other in a unique way that results in exhilarating flexibility. What appears on the outside to be a traditional horizontal wallet proves to be a vertical wallet when you pop it open. Think if MC Escher sat down to design a wallet and couldn’t help but throw in a few space bending features.
The outside of the wallet has 2 stacked card holders for easy access with a hidden pocket set perpendicularly underneath big enough for spare cards or folded cash for easy access.
Open the wallet up, turn it vertically, and you’ve got an ID slot set over a hidden card slot above a traditional series of 4 card slots.
This all adds up to a solid 7 dedicated card slots with the option to use the hidden pocket on the outside for extra storage. Right out of the box, you can hold about 9 cards comfortably without any real cramming. If you wanted to start stretching, you could get 12 cards into this easily.
Full Size Cash Pocket: Cards are framed vertically when opening the wallet, but to get at the cash pocket, you’ll need to turn things horizontal again. It sounds complicated, but it’s actually strangely intuitive. Still, all this turning could mean that cards fall out when going for your cash, especially when the leather begins to stretch over time.
Beyond the pitfalls in orienting the cash pocket, it proves to be a straightforward and secure area to store currency. You are a bit limited on space though. I maxed out at about 6 bills. But you could supplement this by placing folded bills into the hidden pocket on the outside of the wallet.
The Bottom Line
Bryker Hyde is a leather wallet brand. Period. And in a marketplace full of many such brands, it distinguishes itself by bringing good value with a nice balance of functionality and style. This commitment to quality carries through the full range of products from the classic carry-all style Executive Bifold to the modern Minimalist series to the quirky Quick Draw Bifold. There’s something there that everyone can find interesting.
But keep in mind, a Bryker Hyde wallet won’t dazzle the way that some gadgety minimalist wallets or famous fashion branded money holders will. And maybe that’s the point. Bryker Hyde’s customers want a well-crafted wallet that suits their needs and comes at a fair price.
Our Favorite?
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of slimming down your wallet. So it’s perhaps no surprise that we like the slim, minimalist version that Bryker Hyde offers:
- Slim and distinguished-looking
- Full grain leather
- 2 exterior pockets and an ID window
What more can we say, its minimalist after all...
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Last update on 2024-04-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
