Dango D01 Dapper Pen Review – Fine Leather Wallet Equipped With A Multipurpose Notebook

This is a detailed review of the Dango D01 Dapper Pen wallet, the latest release of the D01 Dapper series equipped with a few notable accessories.

Should you buy the Dango D01 Dapper Pen wallet?

I would recommend the D01 Dapper Pen wallet to anyone looking for a spacious, tactical wallet that will replace their old, bulky one.

It’s a great option for people who constantly need to take notes during their workday, or simply like to have a pen and a notebook available to them at all times. The wallet has a great, sturdy build, tasteful design, and perfectly combines function with style.

Take a deep dive in our detailed review and see for yourself what this wallet has to offer and decide whether it’s the right one for you.

Buying

The D01 Dapper is one of the most popular and best-selling Dango wallets, and so is its latest D01 Dapper Pen version, a new 2021 release in the D-series wallets.

It will usually be available on both the Dango official web store, as well as on Amazon. Buying through either of them is frictionless, and both Dango and Amazon are safe places to get your wallet from.

They often offer some great options and discounts, so make sure to check them both and see what’s the best deal you can get.

Price and shipping details

The wallet will usually cost you around $110, no matter where you order it from. Currently, both Dango and Amazon offer the same price for the D01 Dapper Pen.

Additionally, both sites offer free shipping for the wallet with estimated delivery in 5-7 business days. You can also choose the fast shipping option and get the wallet is up to 2 business days for an extra $8-$10.

Customer support

In case you have any questions regarding the product or have some issues to report, you can always reach Dango through one of their many communication channels.

Those channels include the Dango contact page, the official customer support e-mail address [email protected], or their social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Their team is very responsive and always happy to help.

Warranty and return policies

Dango offers a lifetime warranty on all their wallets, including all the D01 Dapper versions. The warranty covers any manufacturer’s defect that might occur with the product, excluding any damage done by the neglect of misuse by the owner.

The company also has a 30-days free return policy, meaning you can simply return the product if you are not satisfied with it in this specified time frame. They will, however, charge you for any shipping costs considering the return, which is the standard practice with such occurrences.

There are a couple of things you have to watch out for when applying for a warranty check or a return, such as having any proof of purchase available for display or keeping the product in the same condition it was delivered in.

Dango brand

Even if you are new to the world of minimalist wallets, it is nearly impossible you haven’t heard about Dango. It is one of the best established, most reliable wallets brands. They offer a great assortment of various great tactical wallets with many innovative features and designs.

Their goal is to constantly push the limits and redefine the meaning of a wallet, transforming these everyday items into one of the most efficient accessory pieces.

Innovation is key in their design and manufacturing process, as every new product they put to market holds some unique features or systems implemented in its build.

Basics

The Dango D01 Dapper Pen wallet is made from two non-detachable pieces strapped together to form a thin yet spacious four-pocket wallet.

The main chassis, an aluminum-built frame, is screwed onto a bifold exterior, making the wallet look like a typical folding one that is designed in a true minimalist fashion.

How to use the Dango D01 Dapper Pen wallet?

Although it has much more pockets than what we are usually used to seeing in such wallets, the Dapper Pen model is very simple to use.

On the outside, two outer pockets are not enclosed and have immediate access to them. On the inside, there are two additional ones as well. One is built onto the chassis, and the other is on the inner part of the bifold exterior.

The main chassis pocket is enclosed by a removable plate which is strapped tightly with the help of the silicon band tied around the wallet. The plate and the chassis squeeze the cards inside like a sandwich, keeping them safe and stable. You can keep the plate inside and use the pocket for your cards, or remove it and simply use the band for cash or other contents which require more space.

The pen and the notebook, two special features found on this model, are held inside the pocket. The pen is placed in the cylinder hole on the edge of the exterior, while the notebook uses one of the pockets as a resting place. They are not strapped, nor tied to the frame, and can be removed at any time.

Aesthetics

In a typical Dango fashion, the D01 Dapper Pen is designed as a symbolic blend of the contemporary, minimalist style and the traditional, vintage aesthetics.

Design

The main chassis uses a light-grey, metallic finish to deliver the futuristic looks of the inner part of the wallet. The exterior, on the other hand, is solely made from leather, nicely rounded up with stitched edges and a tastefully polished surface.

The two distinct styles perfectly complement each other and blend in together to form the exquisite design of the D01 Dapper Pen wallet.

This type of contrasting combination is further found in the accessories of this wallet as well. The pen is made with the same aluminum finish as the chassis, while the notebook uses a light, coffee brown color for its covers that go along with the leather design of the bifold exterior.

Clothing style fit

It becomes obvious that this wallet requires a tasteful sense of style from its owner to be perfectly pulled off. It’s an accessory purposefully designed for people who love to truly express themselves with the outfits they wear.

However, the mixture of modern and vintage style helps a lot in this case and helps the wallet blend in your attire no matter the circumstances. Its best friends are leather jackets, pants in rugged style, combat-style outfits, and similar clothing often found in brown-black designs.

It’s a tactical wallet after all, so it only makes sense to be mostly directed towards types of people expected to be fond of tactical gear items.

However, the wallet also comes in a DTEX design, which goes along great with simple jeans-and-shirt attire, business casual outfits, and any kind of denim-based clothes.

Build quality

The quality of the wallet is exceptional. The chassis is made from strong, almost unbreakable aluminum, and is guaranteed to serve you for life, proved with the lifetime warranty Dango offers for this product.

Materials

The chassis and the pen are both made from 6061 aerospace-grade, anodized aluminum. They come with a light-grey, metallic finish, with great durability.

The exterior comes in two optional styles – fine leather, and DTEX variant. Both are made with the finest textures and some great finishing touches. Furthermore, the exterior is edged with stitches, unlike most similar wallets that glue their parts together, offering greater durability. The whole piece is screwed into the chassis with stainless steel screws, which can be removed and replaced if needed.

And finally, the wallet band that is strapped around the chassis is made from silicone materials, is very flexible, and offers safety and stability to any contents you decide to put inside of it.

Features

All the aesthetic points aside, Dango has put equally great attention to the functionality here as well, packing the D01 Dapper Pen model with lots of useful features.

Weight, size, dimensions

The exact dimensions of the wallet are:

• width: 4.375 in / 11.1 cm
• height: 2.75 in / 7 cm
• depth: 0.5 in / 1.3 cm

The wallet is quite a minimalistic one, not much bigger than an average credit card. It also weighs just around 4 oz / 113 gr, which is a surprisingly small weight for a wallet with four pockets in total.

It’s a thin, light, and reliable item that will not be nearly as big of a burden as your old, traditional, bulky wallet.

RFID blocking

Naturally, with the excellent aluminum build comes equally excellent protection from wireless theft of your card information.

D01 Dapper Pen’s pockets are RFID protected and will keep your cards safe no matter what.

Now, officially, Dango has advertised all four pockets to be RFID safe, but I would still be a bit more careful with the outer pockets, just in case. These pockets are not fully covered, have a small notch on the opening so you can easily access the cards, and are not covered by any aluminum surface at all. I still think they are safe enough to be used as storage, but I wouldn’t rely too much on them and would keep my most important cards in the inner pockets instead.

Pen and notebook

The pen and the notebook are, naturally, the two most distinguishing features found in this version of the D01 Dapper wallet.

The pen is made from anodized aerospace-grade aluminum, same as the chassis, and is a very durable and unbreakable one as well. It’s filled with the top-grade Schmidt 4889M pressured ink, a special type of ink Dango uses for all such models. It also has a slotted end, offering you a hole to attach various key chains, lanyards,s, and similar items on it if need be.

The notebook, on the other hand, has dimensions slightly smaller than the wallet itself and is designed to fit into either pocket of the bifold exterior. It is made with stitch binding to be fully flexible. It has 48 pages in total, each covered with dotted lines for more practical notetaking. The notebook has a light-brown hardcover and will be a great addition to anyone who often has to take various notes while on the field or throughout their workday.

Wallet band

Along with the pen and notebook, you will also find the useful silicone wallet band, tied to the main chassis.

It’s a typical band, strapped around the wallet, designed with two functions in mind.

Firstly, it holds the inner plate of the wallet strapped to the chassis, so it forms a protected pocket on the inside.

Secondly, it acts as an additional open pocket, where you can strap some cash or other items less likely to fall out of it on the outside. Such bands are often found in similar tactical wallets and are regarded as one of the most typical, useful features that will serve various purposes.

Bottle opener

Of course, it wouldn’t be a tactical wallet if it doesn’t hold one of the most tactical features ever known to men – a bottle opener.

On the edge of the chassis, you will have such an opener, always ready to be used for a quick cold one. A small, but a great feature, that will be appreciated by those who love to always be prepared for the occasional drink.

How many cards can the Dango D01 Dapper Pen wallet hold?

With four pockets in total, the Dango D01 Dapper Pen can hold up to 16 cards, four in each pocket, all the while not making the wallet look an inch bulkier than when it’s empty.

How much cash can the Dango D01 Dapper Pen wallet hold?

The silicon band can easily hold 5 or 6 cash bills within it on the outside.

But this is just the bare minimum you can store. Each pocket can additionally hold a few more bills, as well as a couple of them on the inner side of the silicone band. It is truly one of the most spacious wallets designed by Dango, or any other competitor on the market really.

Water resistance

As with most tactical wallets, the D01 Dapper Pen is largely an open one, with multiple holes and openings all around its build. It will not protect much of your cards if it’s submerged in water but should be fine with any lesser splashes.

As for the exterior, it’s important to note that only the DTEX material offers some protection, as it’s a water-resistant material. The leather exterior will not be as efficient as the DTEX, and I wouldn’t rely too much on it to protect its contents from any water damage.

Accessories

One of the greatest things about the Dango brand is their enormous assortment of wallets and accessories designed for them. Here are some of the few most notable ones compatible with the D01 Dapper Pen model.

Pocket clip XL

For an additional $35, you can buy yourself the newest version of the Dango Pocket Clip – XL. It’s made from stainless steel, it is easily attachable to the wallet’s exterior, and holds various features such as:

• an extra pocket
• a belt or strap clip, giving you the option to strap the wallet to your belt
• a cash clip that holds up to 12 bills
• and a bottle opener, if somehow the already existent one wasn’t sufficient enough for you

Carbon fiber backplate

The standard D01 Dapper backplate has a very elegant finish. Personally, I wouldn’t change it at all. But if you are not that fond of the light-grey, minimalist effect it adds to the wallet, then Dango has some great alternatives for you too.

For roughly $30 more, you can get the solid carbon fiber, RFID secured backplate from the Dango web store. It is a light, durable and sleek plate, that can be easily mounted on the chassis just by screwing a few screws in. It’s a great option for lovers of carbon fiber and matte black accessories.

MT03 multi-tool

The folks at Dango happen to be experts at designing multitools and packing them with various features and utilities. For an additional $35, you can get the carbon stainless steel MT03 Dango multi-tool, and upgrade your wallet with a dozen new features.

The tool requires no screws for attachment – you simply mount it to the wallet exterior, and use it as such. Some of its features include:

• money clip
• tooth comb
• hex tool
• metric ruler
• fork/spoon
• bottle opener
• phone stand
• screwdriver
• protractor
• chisel

MT02 multi-tool

If you like the idea of a multi-tool on your wallet, but want something less expensive, then I suggest you take a look into the MT02 instead. This one costs around $25, uses the same concept of no screws – just attach and use, and has more than 14 functions, including:

• ring hole
• rope tensioner
• sharpened edge for cutting
• can opener
• bottle opener
• grip handle
• phone stand
• ruler
• nail pryer

Known issues and problems

Even though the wallet’s price isn’t even remotely close to Dango’s highest-priced items, the D01 Dapper Pen wallet is still a bit expensive and can be considered a premium, high-priced wallet.

As such, it’s expected to perform at the highest level. And while it does, there are still some notable issues reported about the quality of the product’s materials and its functionality.

Most often, users have struggled with accessing the cards inside the wallet, especially when it’s filled with more than 10 of them. Putting so many cards inside makes the wallet much tougher to use, and the cards much harder to pick out and put back in. On occasions, it might not even fold entirely and stay somewhat open when placed down on a desk.

Another serious issue has to do with the pen. In a few instances, the pen came delivered broken apart and unusable. And while this is an issue covered by the return and warranty policy, it is still a notable one since it has happened on a few occasions. Additionally, the pocket designed to hold the pen at the edge of the exterior often becomes too loose after a few months of usage and doesn’t hold the pen efficiently.

And while these were the two most often reported issues, a lot of the minor ones were related to the pen as well. It seems as Dango hasn’t found a way to adapt this wallet to be able to hold a piece such as a pen yet. If you are still interested in having these accessories on your wallet, then I would suggest you look at some of the more premium, but more reliable models of the Dango assortment, such as the A-series Pen and Notebook wallets.

Dango D01 Dapper Pen vs Dango M1 Maverick Bifold

These are the two best-selling Dango series, the D01 and the M1.

The M1 Maverick Bifold is a true tactical wallet that will cost you around $149. And if you look at their rough functions, it’s hard to see how Dango justifies this price. Both wallets are made from the same materials, have the same capacity, similar weight, and are roughly the same size.

But the beauty of the M1 comes in its features. To be precise, the dozens of features that come with the MT04 multi-tool are included with the wallet. The tool has a lot of tactical features all around its frame and makes this wallet the best friend of adventurers and survivalists.

Additionally, the M1 Maverick is much more customizable, thanks to its modular design and the rail system implemented in its build. This allows you to put whatever kind of adapter you want on it, whether it be the bifold, single-pocket one, or just use the wallet as a simple cardholder without any adapters at all.

Overall, it’s a much more fulfilled wallet, with tons of extra features, but will cost you an extra $40 than the D01 Dapper Pen.

Who should not buy the Dango D01 Dapper Pen?

Although it is a great and multifunctional wallet, it’s obvious that many people would not find the D01 Dapper Pen model efficient enough.

The pen addition will only be useful to people that are in the line of work where you always have to take notes, sketches, tasks, plans, etc… And many people just won’t find any use for it.

You may be better off with the D01 Dapper Bifold wallet, which is basically the same wallet, only without the pen and notebook inside.

I would also not recommend this wallet to people who often dress unsuitable for leather accessories. Colorful shirts, summer dresses, and a casual trainers outfit are not something that will play along nicely with the D01 Dapper Pen.

The wallet can carry some cash, but not a ton of it. If that sounds like something you may need, see my guide on the best wallets for lots of cash.

Also, given the wallet’s price, it won’t be suitable for the budgets of many, in which case I suggest checking out my guides on the best wallets under $100 or the best wallets under $50.

And finally, this is not the type of wallet for you if you only carry around a couple of cards with you daily. The biggest advantage of the Dapper Pen is its storage, and if you only carry four or five cards in it, then it may not be worth buying it altogether. There are many other Dango wallets designed specifically for such types of people, and I believe you will find some much better options amongst them.

Who should buy the Dango D01 Dapper Pen?

This is just the perfect wallet for anyone working in the administrative field, as an engineer, or any similar type of field. The option to always have a pen ready for jotting down some quick notes and storing them inside the wallet might prove quite useful.

I once had such a job and let me tell you, I know what a pain it is to carry a whole notebook with you throughout the whole day. This is a product that will simply make your life much easier, while still keeping it classy.

The wallet is modern, classy, elegant, yet vintage, and it’s perfect for old-heads who love a multifunctional item that complements such tones.

Finally, I would recommend this wallet to anyone looking to jump from their old, bulky one, but choose an alternative that can still hold more than a dozen cards. I know how hard it can be to throw away most of your wallet’s contents and cut them down to the bare minimum. The D01 Dapper Pen will easily help you with that transition.

Dango D01 Dapper Pen Specifications

Type	minimalist
Max n. of cards	16
RFID blocking?	yes
TSA compliant?	yes
Materials used	grade 2 titanium, stainless steel, fine leather/DTEX, silicone
Width	4.375 in / 11.1 cm
Height	2.75 in / 7 cm
Depth	0.5 in / 1.3 cm
Weight	4 oz / 113 g
Features	RFID blocking, bifold exterior, pen and notebook, wallet band, bottle opener
Water resistance	some
Warranty	lifetime
Return period	30 days

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