It’s hard to argue that the wallet is one of the most used and commonly carried essential item. As such, a huge number of wallets with widely varying sizes, styles, materials and designs effectively saturate the men’s accessory market. For many, finding the right EDC wallet still takes plenty of trial and error, despite all the available options to choose from. In an increasingly cashless world, the money clip has become an overlooked yet effective carry option for a minimalist’s cards and cash. In this review, we find out if the Superior Titanium mini-Viper Money Clip has any bite.
The Specs:
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Materials: 100% solid American Ti
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Dimensions: 1.25” W x 2” L
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Weight: 0.3 oz
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Capacity: 30 bills, or 4 cards + 15 bills
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Construction: Made in the USA & Canada
Design, Fit, Finish
The aptly named mini-Viper balances strong, rigid lines with serpentine curvature in its simple, utilitarian design. Sticking to a one-piece design using solid titanium results in a durable, minimalist solution for carrying cards and cash. Aside from the almost aggressive, “down to business” aesthetic the partially skeletonized blasted titanium affords, it also puts its desirable strength-to-weight ratio to work. The clip virtually disappears in pocket at only 0.3 oz, but has the strength to clamp bills securely, as well as the flexibility to spring open and clamp back tight when retrieving or storing cards and cash. The mini-Viper scales down from its bigger brother to just the right size: at 1.25” x 2” it provides good coverage on cash/cards, indexes nicely with fingers, and leaves little “excess” if it isn’t at maxed out capacity.
Operation and Performance
The best way I’ve found to use the clip is by folding cash once around your stack of cards and sliding that right into the lip of the mini-Viper. It helps to use one thumb to press down the bills so they’re as compact as possible, especially when dealing with more bills. Otherwise, the mini-Viper takes a bit more effort to open up and slide over everything. The lip protrudes well enough to make sliding cards/cash out easy, but it’s also enough that I’d recommend also carrying the clip lip-side-out to avoid discomfort in pocket.
Of course, using the moneyclip this way forgoes any real “organization” of your cards, but so do many minimalist wallets as it is. If you never carry cash, the clip leaves your card information partially exposed. If you carry only bills and no cards, you lose the “backbone” that a stack of cards provides, so sliding the clip on can be a little more difficult. Likewise, shoving a loaded clip into your pocket in a rush from the register sometimes results in loose bills folding and crumpling. As for its actual retention, the mini-Viper can easily handle both scenarios: despite all the flexing I’ve put it through, it can still capably clamp a single bill as a testament to titanium’s resilience.
With a money clip, the payment process becomes speedy and efficient as you don’t need to unfold flaps, undo buttons, unzip pouches, and so on. Overall, I appreciate how the mini-Viper sheds the bulk to leave you with just the necessities: your cards and your cash, held in one place.
Score, Pros, Cons
Reviewer Score: 4/5
Pros:
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Lightweight, durable, waterproof
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Easy to operate, never unwieldy
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Attractive design and material throughout with good fit and finish
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Carries nice and slimly
Cons:
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Best suited for carrying cards with cash, not ideal for either-or
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Lacks any real organization or privacy/security
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Loose cash can crumple
Conclusion
Think about your cards and your cash right now — how you carry them, how many cards you need, how often you make cash transactions, and how they feel in your pocket. Those questions should help answer the harder question here: should you invest in a moneyclip? If you’re leaning towards yes, then look no further than the mini-Viper.
