Have you read our guide on how to select the right keychain? If you haven’t, I’ll urge to do so before continuing. If you did, maybe the decision is close at hand but you’re looking for inspiration to expand your research. Thus, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to 5 of the most popular key pouch brands.
All brands on this list offer at least one key pouch with the following characteristics:
- Made primarily of authentic leather, with either traditional or ecological tanning.
- Mix of traditional and minimalist styles as a key cover or pouch format, which secures keys in place but requires opening to access them.
- Compatible to an extent with certain add-ons such as multitool, flash drive, or bottle opener.
Compromising ease of access for elegance and style, a key pouch will secure your keys with minimal jingling. However, since it might be more bulky than other keychain types, perhaps it’d better suited to carry on a backpack or purse.
We won’t cover ring or organizer keychain formats in this post (check out these blog entries instead: key ring brands, key organizer brands).
| Brand | Leather |
|---|---|
| Bellroy | ✔ |
| Café Leather | ✔ |
| Crazy Horse Craft | ✔ |
| FOCX | ✔ |
| Hardgraft | ✔ |
Bellroy
- Origin: Australia
- Material: Premium eco-tanned leather
- Accessories: Fob loop
- Key/tool capacity: Up to 8
- Prices: €35 – €59 (EUR)
- Website: bellroy.com
Bellroy, an Australian-based brand headquartered in Melbourne, began around 2010. They’re a certified B Corp, which makes products that aim to last and have a positive impact on the planet. Bellroy manufactures two magnetic key pouches with different dimensions and key capacity, plus a previous iteration of the same models which is still available for purchase on their website. All models are made of premium eco-tanned leather.
Café Leather
- Origin: Spain
- Materials: Premium vegetable-tanned leather
- Accessories: None
- Key/tool capacity: Up to 12
- Prices: €45 (EUR)
- Website: cafeleather.com
Manufacturer Café Leather is headquartered in Madrid, but their products are made by artisan hands in the small Spanish town of Ubrique since 2017. Their philosophy revolves around three things especially: Search for authenticity, passion for small details, and respect for well-made things. Café Leather offers a single key pouch model, made of premium vegetable-tanned leather, though with limited stock at the moment of writing this post.
Crazy Horse Craft
- Origin: Lithuania
- Materials: Vegetable tanned leather
- Accessories: AirTag holder
- Key/tool capacity: Up to 6
- Prices: €19 – €34 (EUR)
- Website: crazyhorsecraft.com
Lithuanian brand Crazy Horse Craft was established in 2015 in Vilnius. Their origin starts by discovering a heirloom vintage leather sewing machine which they decided to use to make beautiful and useful things. Crazy Horse Craft offers a few models of key pouches that can be opened and closed using metallic snaps. Their products are made of vegetable tanned leather that come in various modern yet fashionable colors.
FOCX
- Origin: Germany
- Materials: Eco-tanned leather
- Accessories: None
- Key/tool capacity: Up to 6
- Prices: €15 (EUR)
- Website: focx.store
German brand FOCX was established in 2016, headquartered in Reutlingen. This startup was created to illustrate an enthusiasm for minimalism EDC culture. FOCX offers a single key pouch model (which matches their C-series wallet), made of eco-tanned leather and available in three colors. Their keychain model consists of a single leather wrap that secures keys and folds the main body using elastic loops.
Hardgraft
- Origin: United Kingdom
- Materials: Vegetable-tanned leather
- Accessories: Key loop, key belt
- Key/tool capacity: Up to 8
- Prices: £39 – £89 (GBP)
- Website: hardgraft.com
British company Hardgraft was founded in 2007, yet surprisingly is headquartered in Monaco. Above all, their designs juxtapose new ideas with good old-fashioned skilled workmanship using premium materials. Hardgraft offers an elegant collection of leather key pouches, which match their wallets and card sleeves, in particularly stylish colors. Their products include various securing mechanisms, from zippers to snaps.
Key takeaways
In conclusion, here are some pros and cons of choosing a product from any of these popular key pouch brands.
Pros of a key pouch:
- Practically noiseless – minimizes keys jingling
- More elegant than other keychain types
- Generally less expensive than other keychain types
Cons of a key pouch:
- Sometimes more bulky, not suited for pocket carry
- Limited to none accessories sold separately
- More complicated to maintain due to material