FlipBelt Review: The Future of Travel Money Belts

What is a FlipBelt?

The FlipBelt is essentially a low profile fanny pack made for running. Although it’s primarily meant to be used as a running belt, the FlipBelt makes for a stylish and comfortable travel belt for holding your cash and valuables. What started out as an idea turned into a useful product that makes you ask yourself “Why didn’t I think of that?”

The FlipBelt is made of a stretchy material and is like a hollow tube with 4 slits acting as pockets. There are 4 pockets in the FlipBelt, two in the front and two at the back. The pockets are not defined or separated, like one large circular pouch.

Unlike my Travelon Money Belt, the FlipBelt can hold not only cash, but your phone, keys, cards and more.

I am 5’8″, 125 lbs and got the Carbon FlipBelt in size XS.

Pros:

• Comfortable
• Better looking than a fanny pack
• Doesn’t bounce much when running
• Lightweight
• Low profile
• Stretchy large capacity
• Can hold an iPhone 6 Plus
• Can hold a passport
• Breathable

Since many workout clothes don’t have pockets, the FlipBelt is meant to help with holding your keys, phone and other items you take when running or at the gym. The design of the belt makes it blend in in a gym setting. Also, I’m a guy and I think the belt doesn’t look weird on males, just as long as you don’t get the neon pink one.

What I really like about the FlipBelt is that it’s lightweight and low profile to the point where you’ll forget it’s on while running or traveling. I usually wear my FlipBelt under my shirt over the waistband of my pants, making it discrete and a great way to hold valuables such as emergency cash or your phone.

While running with the FlipBelt on, I noticed that it doesn’t bounce much, although it may take some getting used to for the first time. I like to put my phone in the back part of the belt because I noticed that the belt seemed to bounce less that way. The FlipBelt logo is reflective although it would be nice if it were reflective on all sides if you were to use the belt while running at night.

According to the FlipBelt website, the belt can hold the iPhone 6 Plus. I haven’t tried it out, but I’d assume they’ve tried it and it looks completely possible to fit since the belt is stretchy. I’ve tried putting a passport in the FlipBelt and I can confirm that a US passport can fit in the belt, although it is a tight fit.

 

Cons:

• Items can fall out and slide around if you don’t ‘flip’ the belt
• Not waterproof

One area that I think could be improved on FlipBelt is the slit opening pockets.

According to the FlipBelt site:

For small items such as coins, sleek cards, chapstick, etc., we recommend placing them in a pouch, wallet or case since items can shift during activities. Always be mindful when sliding items in and out of the openings. Also, (hence the name) you can flip your belt to lock items in place.

I’m not really a fan of having to flip the belt since it can be a pain to flip it open and closed constantly when you want to discretely reach for some cash.

It would be nice if the FlipBelt’s pockets had zippers and if one of the pockets wasn’t interconnected with the rest of the pockets, allowing for the user to not worry about small items sliding out. As I mentioned earlier, the storage areas are not separated, like one large circular pouch. If I put my iPhone 4s in my FlipBelt without a case on, it could slide from the side of my hip to my back area.

Something like a tiny pouch for coins would be a useful addition. When traveling, I would feel much more comfortable with putting large amounts of cash if the pockets were zippered.

The FlipBelt isn’t waterproof, meaning your things can get a bit wet if you’re running in the rain, or if you’re really sweaty. I’m ok with it not being waterproof though, since I’d rather it be more breathable than waterproof. By adding just one waterproof pocket, the whole issue of balancing waterproofness and breathability would be completely solved.

After a 4 mile run on a hotel treadmill, I noticed that my phone and hotel room card got a bit moist, but not to the point to where either could be damaged.

The Verdict:

For travelers constantly on the move, the FlipBelt is a stylish potential money belt replacement. Its low profile appearance makes it useful for those who want a discrete pouch for holding their valuables. Clearly the designers put a lot of thought into the design of the belt. Although not yet perfect in terms of pockets, the FlipBelt is definitely an upgrade over the basic touristy fanny packs.

The belt costs $28.99, which is a reasonable amount.

Where to get the FlipBelt:

• You can find the FlipBelt here on the official website.
• Also here on Amazon.com.

Some links found in this review are affiliate links, meaning that we get a commission if you decide to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. We would never endorse a product or service we didn’t actually use and believe in.

The FlipBelt was provided for this review. As always, this review contains only my honest views and opinions.