Small pleasures

Those of know me will know of my tendency to research things before I buy them. A lot of the items I use most often have been bought online after a lot of comparison and pondering, and it’s fair to say that not all of them have been a success; a lot of near misses but enough successes to keep me happy.

Two items in particular stand out. One I’ve had for a while now, the other a recently new addition, but both hit the mark when it comes to my criteria:

  1. I am reasonably price conscious but not overly so, I’ll happily pay to get exactly what I want.
  2. The items have to be of good quality.

That’s about it really. Nothing startling there.

I’m also a big fan of minimising clutter. It goes with my love of Scandinavian and Japanese design movements. I like clean lines, simple function in harmony with good features.

I use both of these items everyday and I thought I’d mention them here, given that we are approaching a certain holiday season and I think they could make good gifts for someone.

My wallet

I’d been searching for a minimal wallet for a long time. I found the Supr Slim wallet (originally on Kickstarter) but it was a little TOO minimal for me; it only has one pocket.

Not long after that, again on Kickstarter, I found Trove Wallets.

Trove Wallet

In my wallet I have my Glasgow Subway travel card, Bank card, Driving Licence, Credit, Cineworld, Nectar and Tesco Club cards. Notes get folded in thirds and take up the last available space. I’ve had this for a while now and every now and then someone will comment on it; ‘That’s your wallet?’ ‘That’s really neat’.

Yes it is. That’s the appeal. I was sick of lugging the typical multi-pocketed fold wallet that I’d have most of my adult life and, for me, sacrificing a few seldom used cards was well worth it.

My keyring

God how I hate keys, especially when set on a keyring. All those angles and pointy bits, ugh. I’ve tried many different solutions in the past but they all have the same issue. Bulk.

And then I found Orbitkey.

Orbitkey

Aside from my car key, I have keys for front and back doors to the building, my letterbox and my front door. Held together with a simple screw fitting, the clever sprung washers allow the keys to rotate (the screw itself will click into a tiny notch on the mounting plate to keep it still).

Simple, effective, minimal. Brilliant.

Note: I have not been paid to endorse these products, I’m doing so because I love mine and every time I pick them up and use them, they make me happy. Hey, it’s the little things, right?

Ohhh and no doubt that the basic principles that both the above products rely on have been used elsewhere but for these I can attest to the quality of them, they are both well worth the money.