In this comprehensive review of the Ridge Forged Carbon, we will examine in great detail why this is one of the most-popular Ridge wallets on the market, and why it might be just the right wallet for you.
Ridge Forged Carbon Review
The Ridge Forged Carbon is a slim, minimalist, carbon fiber wallet made out of two plates with a single pocket between them. It has a capacity of up to 12 cards and 7 cash bills, and is the size of an average credit card. It has many great features such as RFID protection, customizable build, and the option to choose between a money clip or a band as an attachment. The wallet has a sturdy build, with a real deluxe feel to it, but comes at a premium price as well.
Why should you buy the Ridge Forged Carbon wallet?
I would recommend the Ridge Forged Carbon to anyone looking for a new, slim, good-looking wallet with a premium quality build.
It has modern, eye-soothing aesthetics, offers great value for its price, has lots of options for customization, and you can practically use it for life.
In short, if you are looking for a wallet that looks good, feels good, and has a long lifespan, then the Ridge Forged Carbon is a product you must consider.
Buying
The best, and at the moment probably the only place where you can buy the Ridge Forged Carbon is the official Ridge wallets web store.
With so many low-quality rip-offs coming out lately, it’s always good to purchase products directly from the brand. On top of that, Ridge always offers various discounts and options for easier payment.
Price and value for money
The Ridge Forged Carbon will usually cost you around $190.
It is one of the most expensive Ridge wallets, along with the other carbon fiber models. However, it holds immense value as it is made from one of the strongest, sturdiest, yet lightest materials in the industry. With such qualities, chances are, you will use this wallet for life.
Shipping details
Ordering from Ridge comes with free standard shipping. You will get the product delivered in 2-10 days.
Unfortunately, at least at the moment, Ridge doesn’t offer an express shipping option for the Forged Carbon model.
Customer support
The Ridge brand has a great customer support team that will respond to any questions in up to two days. The best way to contact them is to simply email them at [email protected], or fill out the form on the Ridge contact page.
For all news and updates regarding the brand, you can also follow their social media accounts present on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Warranty policy
Ridge offers a lifetime warranty on all their wallets. They guarantee that their products are free from manufacturing defects and will function as intended at all times.
The warranty covers any defects that might occur with the wallet which are the fault of the user. You can read the details of this policy on Ridge’s warranty page found on their website.
Return and refund
If you no longer want the wallet after you’ve already purchased it, you can return it back in the first 45 days after the purchase and get a full refund for it.
The wallet must be returned in its original condition and without any customizations on it. You can find out more about these policies on Ridge’s return policy page.
The Ridge brand
Ridge is a wallets brand founded in 2013. They quickly became a staple in this market, and are currently one of the highest-selling wallet brands in the world.
When designing a new product, they go with the motto of ‘doing more with less’, aiming to maximize what you do by minimizing what you bring along. This is the main feature of most Ridge models they are pocket-sized multifunctional items not much bigger than a credit card, but tough as nails and able to fit your most used cards easily.
Ridge Forged Carbon Basics
Ridge has made a name for itself because of the iconic wallet design found in the Forged Carbon, as well as in many other models. It’s made from two plates connected to each other with an elastic fabric.
And that’s it. It is one of the simplest wallet designs ever made and it functions as well as any other, if not better.
The fabric is screwed into the plates so it stays stable, and in between them, the main pocket is formed, where you store all your cards. Depending on what you choose, you’ll also have an elastic band or a money clip on the outer wall of the wallet.
How to use the Ridge Forged Carbon?
All your credit, ID, and business cards go in the main pocket formed between the two plates. It’s an expandable one and will widen as much as you fill it.
Your cash bills, on the other hand, go on the money clip, or wallet band, based on which one you choose to mount. You can also opt for both, but this will only make the wallet cluttered and less functional.
Aesthetics
Aesthetically, this is one of the most outstanding Ridge wallets. The brand is known for its high-quality designs, but Forged Carbon is truly an outstanding example of craftsmanship.
Design and colors
Forged carbon fiber is made by squishing multiple carbon pieces together and creating a messy block out of them. The design of the Ridge Forged Carbon looks exactly like you would imagine the result of this process would look like.
It has a sort of randomly oriented surface, without a distinct pattern. It almost looks like a lot of pieces of fabric stitched together to form a piece of cloth.
Functionally, the wallet has an open design and reminds of a sandwich in the way it holds the cards in between the plates.
Clothing style fit
This wallet is pretty universal and you can wear it with any type of outfit.
Personally, I would eagerly combine it with black cargo pants, as it seems these two are a perfect match. However, you can also wear it with more formal business outfits, jeans, and sporty clothes too.
Build quality
Aside from its aesthetics, the Forged Carbon wallet has one of the best build qualities out of all the minimalist wallets on the market.
Materials
This wallet is definitely one of the best carbon fiber wallets. In the manufacturing of this model, Ridge has used forged carbon fiber, a material made from tiny chopped carbon fiber pieces.
In contrast to the standard, woven carbon fiber, the forged one is slightly stronger and has a very different look and feel.
Other than that, the two materials offer similar qualities, and it’s mostly a matter of design preferences when deciding between the two.
Features
Ridge has always looked for ways to equip its wallets with lots of useful features while maintaining their minimalist size. The Forged Carbon is no exception to this.
Weight and size
Carbon fiber is a fairly light material, especially when you consider it’s up to 10 times stronger than metal. The Forged Carbon wallet weighs just around 1.6 oz / 45 gr.
The wallet also has roughly the size of a typical credit card, with precise dimensions of:
- height: 2.1 in / 5.4 cm
- width: 3.4 in / 8.6 cm
- depth: 0.2 in / 0.6 cm
RFID Blocking
The forged carbon offers just as strong RFID protection to all the cards inside the wallet as the metal ones do.
Any credit card you keep in the main pocket between the plates will be safe from RFID scanning and wireless theft at all times.
Wallet band or money clip
When you order the wallet, you’ll be offered a choice between a wallet band or a money clip as an outside piece strapped to the product. This piece will be used to store any cash bills you might be carrying with you so they don’t clutter the main pocket.
The wallet band is the safer option, as it locks any bills you stuff in it, keeping them very safe.
The money clip, on the other hand, while slightly looser, is a bit easier to use as you just slide the bills in effortlessly. It seems like most users prefer this one especially because it’s the more convenient option.
Still, if you don’t trust the clip to hold your bills well enough, you can simply get the band instead, or just get the two and switch between them when you feel like it.
Customizable build
One of the main perks of the Ridge wallets is their customizable design. The wallet can be completely disassembled with the help of the screwdriver provided in the box with the wallet.
This feature allows you to change any of the plates if they get broken, or replace the elastic if it gets too stretched or torn apart. You can also easily switch between the clip and the money band as well.
All in all, buying a Ridge wallet means you’ll have tons of ways to personalize the item and never get bored of it, and it will never become unusable.
Replaceable elastic
The main feature of the customizing design is the option to replace the elastic fabric that holds the plates together. This is the only part that can actually lose its quality over time if it gets too stretched up.
Fortunately, for just $7 apiece you can always order a spare one from the Ridge web store and replace it yourself. In order to do this, you just unscrew each of the screws on the plates, remove the old piece, and place the new one in its place.
How many cards can the Ridge Forged Carbon hold?
Officially, the Ridge Forged Carbon can hold up to 12 cards in its pocket.
And while it can actually hold that much, you should be noted that stuffing anything more than 10 cards will make the wallet too tight and unusable.
If you don’t need so many cards with you daily, then I wouldn’t suggest testing the limits of the wallet all the time, as it can quickly damage the elastic inside.
How many cash bills can the Ridge Forged Carbon hold?
The wallet can hold up to around 7 cash bills in either the money clip or wallet band strapped to it.
As we mentioned before, you can always mount both of them on the outer walls and get double the space for bills. However, this will make the wallet too cluttered and hardly usable if you’ve got all that cash everywhere.
Customer satisfaction
The Ridge Forge Carbon is one of the highest-rated premium wallets. It has a widely positive acceptance rate with only a few minor issues that mostly come from personal preference.
Reviews and rating
The wallet has gathered an impressive 4.8/5 stars rating on the Ridge website, with around 540 reviews giving it 4 or 5 stars. It is not only the best-rated Ridge wallet but is among the highest-selling ones as well. Of course, reviews on privately owned listings can’t be considered as transparent as reviews on independent stores, but still, the wallet being the best-rated Ridge wallet still accounts for something.
Known issues and problems
The only manufacturing issue I could find with this wallet was the elastic part that holds the plates together. This is the only part that can actually wear off over time and become too loose to hold the cards tight enough. This will especially become a problem if you overstuff your wallet and fill it to its maximum capacity.
Luckily, Ridge has thought of this issue and has come up with an easy and fairly cheap solution where you can simply replace the elastic with a new one in a matter of minutes, with the tools provided in the package upon delivery.
The wallet has a pretty strong and cube-shaped design which makes it feel like a brick in your pocket. It’s not exactly heavy but can still become a burden because of its edgy shape.
Secondly, the price can be an issue to a lot of users, even for those with a slightly bigger budget. Paying around $190 for a wallet is not something a lot can afford. Although the Forged Carbon proves its value with the great material quality and design, opting for a cheaper alternative might be the better choice for most people.
Ridge Forged Carbon vs Ridge Titanium
One of the best alternatives to the Ridge Forged Carbon wallet is its cheaper Titanium counterpart. Priced at around $140, the Ridge Titanium offers all of the same features as the Forged Carbon, with one big difference.
This wallet uses grade 5 titanium as the main material for its plates. This material is much heavier, around twice the weight of the carbon fiber, but is also much stronger and more durable.
Aesthetically, the Titanium wallets come in more color options as well, but with a much simpler matte finish design. They are considered to be the second-tier Ridge wallets, behind the carbon fiber models, but are the more popular choice among the buyers.
Who should not buy the Ridge Forged Carbon?
This isn’t exactly the ideal wallet for people who like to keep things organized and put everything in its own space. One of the ongoing struggles with the Ridge wallet is that everything is stored in the one pocket it has. This can often make the wallet too cluttered, or the cards all mixed up and hard to find.
Next on the list are people with a tight budget. The Forged Carbon is one of the most expensive wallets ever and might cost a small fortune to a lot of people. If you don’t feel like spending close to $200 on your next wallet, I suggest checking out my guides on the best wallets under $100 and the best wallets under $50.
And finally, people who love items with lots of tactical features won’t be much interested in this wallet. Although it’s pretty functional, the Ridge Forged Carbon wallet doesn’t have any distinct features adventurers or crafty people would like. See my guide on the best tactical wallets if that’s what you’re after.
Who should buy the Ridge Forged Carbon?
This should be the go-to choice for people looking for a premium wallet and who don’t care about price all that much. It has a functional design, smooth aesthetics, great quality, and will be with you for ages.
I would recommend this wallet to people who often wear modern black outfits. With the black carbon color, it is the best fit for this style.
And finally, any Ridge wallet is great for people who like to customize their items. The same goes for the Forged Carbon, as it’s specifically designed for all those DIY lovers and handy people that look for ways to personalize anything they own.
Ridge Forged Carbon Specifications
| Type | minimalist |
| Max n. of cards | 12 |
| RFID blocking? | yes |
| TSA compliant? | yes |
| Materials used | forged carbon fiber, stainless steel, elastic fabric |
| Height | 2.1 in / 5.4 cm |
| Width | 3.4 in / 8.6 cm |
| Depth | 0.2 in / 0.6 cm |
| Weight | 2 oz / 56 g |
| Features | RFID, cash band/money clip, elastic strap, customizing build |
| Water resistance | no |
| Warranty | lifetime |
| Return period | 45 days |
