Chicken Tramper Ultralight Wallet Review
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On the trail or on the town, this CTUG wallet is a colorful accessory for any environment!
In April of 2022 I had to leave the PCT after only 450 miles because I ran out of money. Two emails in my inbox kept me from being too dejected. One was from a summer camp offering me a job as a backpacking instructor. The other email was from Chicken Tramper Ultralight Gear (CTUG), offering to sponsor me with some gear in exchange for a blog post.
You can imagine my excitement! I was being offered money to hike, and a foot in the door of being a “paid” backpacking blogger! Officially I can call myself a Professional Backpacker.
I need to apologize to CTUG, to whom I had promised a post before October last year. I didn’t take the equipment and run, I just wasn’t doing much backpacking and didn’t have the chance to use the gear. Also, my blogging has been sparse this year because I have been struggling to overcome some of the more complicated hurdles of starting a blogging business.
CTUG Ultralight Wallet Review
Pros:
Cons:
- Very secure, durable, and water resistant
- Great for those that like organization in their packs
- Reusable & sustainable
- Way less annoying to use than a plastic baggie
- Can hold other stuff like chapstick or a key
- Lots of choices: color combos, sizes and seams
- Not the lightest option on the market
- Not for the most Gung-Ho UL hikers
Detailed Stats
Price: $16-$25 depending on whether or not you which size, seam, and color combination you want
Materials: abrasion resistant and waterproof VX21 Xpac material, 1/2″ Grosgrain Ribbon, #3 water resistant Uretek zipper
Weight: CTUG says 0.3oz for seam-sealed and 0.5oz for stitched.
Dimmensions: Slim. approx 3” x 4.25″ (mini), 3.75″ x 5.25″ (standard), 4.5″ x 6″ (large) (with variation of 1/4″ possible). My standard sized wallet measured at approx 3.35″ x 5″.
Water-Resistance: Mild to Very. CTUG bonded the sides of the seam-sealed wallets together, so no water will seep through via the seams. The material of the wallet is waterproof VX21 Xpac. The wallet is water-resistant and not waterproof due to the small spaces between the teeth of the zippers.
Stitched vs Seam-Sealed: The seam sealed wallet is much more water resistant than the stitched version.
Style: Zipper. You’re on a backpacking trip: you do not need a bi-fold (or god forbid, a TRI-fold) wallet. This zipper will keep all your money, cards and permits in one place. Even if you were to drop it down a mountain, your important things won’t fly all over the place.
Colors: 66 combinations. You can choose one color for the front and one for the back. Choices include: black, blue, coyote, green, grey, mulberry, navy, purple, red, teal, white, and yellow. (Their website says 144, but that is not accurate)
Other: You can use the tabs on both sides of the wallet to attach it to your pack for extra security, or you can cut them off to save grams.
Buy Online @ Chicken Tramper Ultralight Gear, Garage Grown Gear, Triple Crown Outfitters
My Experience with the CTUG Ultralight Wallet
The CTUG Ultralight Wallet very quickly replaced my LiteAF wallet as a favorite accessory. Although the wallet hasn’t yet seen a thru-hike, it has been with me through a plethora of states, cities, and shorter hikes (including portions of the AT and VLT), and through many months of field work, living happily and comfortably in my pocket and backpack.
I’ve been using the wallet for over a year, and the colors are a little dirty but still vibrant. The edges are wearing just a little, with pulls in the fabric near the seems and the logo. The seam sealed zipper works great, with no changes in functionality.
The wallet easily fits all of my cards and a considerable number of folded bills, as well as coins, my house key and chapstick. Trail permits take a little bit more finagling, but do fit when folded up.
After over a year of heavy usage, water soaks lightly into the wallet after 20 seconds when fully submerged. Additionally, the zipper isn’t air tight when it is closed since the zipper doesn’t quite reach the end of its track. That being said, I haven’t had any issues in the rain when the wallet has gotten damp, but I wouldn’t want to go swimming with it! Note, the website says the wallet is “Water Resistant” not waterproof, and I would agree.
Ultralight Attributes
With the extra weight of the zipper string and the side tabs removed, I haven’t had any problems with usage. I forgot to check for a change in weight, so sorry to my Ultralight pals, you’ll just have to assume that every gram counts. I measured my wallet at 0.366oz with the straps etc removed, but since there is so much variety in weight due to it being handmade, there is no real way to tell how much weight it lost without that original measurement.
The wallet is very simple and streamlined, with only as much material as a card and money holder needs to do the job, and you can always choose to get the mini-size for even an lighter weight option.
“All of our gear is made by hikers, for hikers and tested to withhold thousands of miles. Made in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, our gear standards are out of this world.” (from CTUG’s website)
CTUG is a cool, up-and-coming ultralight gear company that sells all sorts of UL accessories for backpackers and thru-hikers. They have water bottle sleeves of different sizes and other shoulder-strap gear like pouches, wallets, fanny packs, day packs, and more! They even make some gear to order, with your choice of color combinations.
I first came across one of their water bottle holders at Triple Crown Outfitters in Kennedy Meadows on the PCT, and it was photos of me on the PCT that I tagged on Instagram with their old gear that had them reaching out to me about their affiliate program.
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Kirsten is an enthusiastic, bilingual naturalist with 11+ years of experience as a non-formal environmental educator, 6+ years as an outdoor recreation guide, 6+ years as a content writer, and 13+ years as an eco-friendly horticulturist and landscaper. She has designed and maintained 2 websites dedicated to public-facing environmental and outdoor education information for community consumption. Successfully taught 5 online, multi-week zoom workshop series to 5-10 regular participants on an international scale.
