Alpaka Elements Tech Case Mini Review
The smallest, but perhaps still mighty, pouch in the Element product line.
Alpaka ELements Tech Case Mini Review Introduction
Alpaka - typically known as an EDC focused brand from down under - has really been expanding their product line in the past few years. Bags and travel. Slings and accessories. But never straying far from their roots - pouches and tech cases a plenty. They’ve always been a brand that seems to focus on some tech materials but tries to keep the costs reasonable. That gets harder and harder the techier a brand gets with the fabric itself. But, that’s what they seem to be striving for and you see that with the TYPES of products they make, but also making heavy use of X-PAC fabric in their stuff.
While they make tons of different pouches for different things, their Elements tech case is one of their stalwarts. It comes in multiple sizes, and we’ll chat about that a bit later in terms of the utility of them and how those sizes fit into optimizing your travel and packing. But let’s save the goods for the review, eh?
This is my review of the Alpaka Elements Tech Case Mini. Billed as a well made but still fairly priced piece of kit for travel or EDC, the Mini offers their smallest version of the popular pouch.
For full transparency - I purchased this tech pouch with my own money and did not speak to Alpaka regarding this review. This is not a sponsored review article. I do use affiliate links to help keep the site running, but those are of course at no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Elements Tech Case Mini Overview
Closeup of the X-PAC
The Elements Mini is one of Alpaka’s smallest tech cases, but they don’t want to lose any of the organization. So, lots of pockets for your things plus some good features to add to the normal list.
I will note there are two other sizes that are bigger. Mini is a bit of a strong word for this one, though.
Back to the size, while they shrunk the bigger versions down for this model, it’s still designed to be able to fit a standard sized Kindle, which is going to be a great thing for a lot of people.
This pouch doubles as a sling, too, with the included strap.
Alpaka also wants variety here - so you can expect two fabric choices and lots of colors. I went with hot orange because - why not? I love orange in accessories or liners. I find it fits really well with my olive green Able Carry Plus. Here are the material choices:
Axoflux
Exterior
Axoflux Recycled Fabric (POLY 600D)
Comes in Black & Army Green
840D Ballistic Nylon back panel
Interior
300D Cool Grey Honeycomb Ripstop Polyester lining
X-Pac®
Exterior
100% carbon neutral w/ recycled parts.
X-Pac® VX21 Coyote Brown
X-Pac® VX42 Black
X-Pac® VX21 Olive Green
X-Pac® VX21 Slate Grey
X-Pac® VX21 Hot Orange
840D Ballistic Nylon back panel
Interior
200D Blood Orange Honeycomb Ripstop Polyester lining for Black, Olive Green, Coyote Brown & Slate Grey
200D Grey X-grid Ripstop Nylon lining for Hot Orange
It retails for $55.00 USD as of September 2024 - keep in mind it might ship from Down Under, so give it some extra time to get to customs for tracking if you’re shopping from the US.
Alpaka Element Tech Case Mini Features
Posing at my company office during the day job.
Right off the bat, let's note that this pouch has 9 storage pockets across two different compartments, so there’s a lot of choice here.
There’s an included strap if you want to use this in sling mode. I’m not a sling guy, so I didn't use this feature, but I know a lot of you urban traveler kids these days love a sling. So, you’ve got that option.
The YKK zippers on the outside are aquaguard, which I love to see. Coupled with the X-Pac you’re getting some fantastic weather resistance. This is especially good if you are using it in sling mode. Probably overkill if just using it as a pouch inside your bag. But perhaps that “Elements” name isn’t just a coincidence, eh?
There’s a stabilizer handle on the back for one handed use.
The inside is a lighter color, which helps you to see the items in there.
It’s also got a specific pen slot, which fits the Apple Pencil nicely, too.
The Wandering Load Out:
I like to keep my tech pouches slim. Bulky pouches are not smart wandering because it adds size and weight to your loud out. We need way less cords than we think. It’s very rare that you need to charge everything at once, and most things fast charges now.
2x USBC to USBC cables (one for me, one for player two; this works for M1 Laptop or iPads)
1x USBA to USBC (for outdated planes and hotels)
1x Aukey International Multi Adapter with 18w (this can handle charging an iPad or MacBook Air, though only “just” on the latter). I replace this with an Anker GaN or Baseus GaN charger for EDC.
1x Anker Slim USBC wall charger (back up and in case player two and I both need to charge)
1x USBC to Lightning Cable (for my phone and AirPods Pro)
2x USBC to Lightning Adapter (for my remaining cords when I left the Lightning cable behind)
Work iPhone
Pen
2x AirFly Bluetooth Adapters in their zip pouch.
For one person, this would be less bulky.
The Good
Alpaka has found a good balance of high end where it’s needed, and maybe some cost savings where it’s not. That second part is not a shot at the product - it’s a good thing. The outside is high cost, techy fabric with high end water resistant zippers. That’s what you want. Inside the ripstop material doesn’t feel as premium - but I don’t think it needs to be. This is what helps to keep the cost reasonable. I like this move and think it’s smart for the consumer. To be clear the inside doesn’t feel cheap - it just feels “regular”.
Love the color and fabric options. Not everyone wants the crinkly X-Pac fabric, so it’s great that there is an additional choice. Also, not everyone is a travel ninja and they don’t want plain old black accessories all the time. Count me one of the latter, and while I think I’d get the Cayenne rather than the Hot Orange next time (that hot orange is in fact HOT), I love all the different color options to help you match your kit or stand out a little through the accessorizing vs the main bag.
There are lots of thoughtful design choices and they picked a really nice layout in the inside with the additional zipper pocket and phone section (or at least, what I call the phone section; it also works for a passport or Kindle). The zipper pulls, the option to use as a sling and not sell you an additional strap, and the rear grab handle are all great and perfectly useful. Not gimmicks at all.
Weather proofing is great to see on this kind of thing.
Pricing is fair. I’ve seen some prices getting over $80.00 and outside of the fabric-freak niche - I don’t actually think the average traveler needs that. Unless you want it, then have at it, Hoss. But for all the rest, this is a nice price point for a high quality item.
The Bad
I think I do want to call out the “mini” on this one. While it might be mini in comparison to the other sizes, it’s far from mini in my opinion and it’s actually one of the larger tech pouches I’ve reviewed lately. Bellroy Venture, Aer, and Pioneer all have smaller options that are just as packable. So, I think they could go even smaller on this - though I imagine the Kindle piece was part of the decision process.
Ships from Oz, which is totally fine if you’re reading this as an Australian, ha. But, if you’re in the US, there is a longer lead time and there could be shipping mishaps due to the further deterioration of our postal service.
The hot orange is….SUPER CHARGED. Maybe make it a little cooler!
Final Thoughts On My Alpaka Elements Tech Case Mini Review
This was my first experience with Alpaka as a brand after frankly seeing them quite literally all over the space. They’ve always been known as a brand that was making well made, well priced items that you could trust to be useful in your EDC and travel.
For all intents and purposes here, they succeeded on the Elements Tech Case Mini. The internals are really well thought out, the materials are great, I love the color options, and there are thoughtful touches like the hand strap on the back plus the sling strap if that’s your bag (get it?).
I do think this particular one could be a bit more “mini” - as this wasn’t really. I also think this electric orange (while admittedly, I know this was the point) could just be a LITTLE less bright, ha. But, that’s all personal choice. There was zero issue with the functionality of this case.
While traveling and in everyday use, this tech pouch did all it was supposed to do. The high amount of additional colors and material choices are always a good thing - and it’s something that’s missing from MOST manufacturers. This is also a good way to get an orange tech pouch without having to auction one of your arms to find an Evergoods one.
I think this pouch, and Alpaka in general as a brand, is very worth checking out for your EDC and travel organization needs. In fact, I plan to check out their travel pack soon - the Elements Travel Backpack soon.
Wander more and Wander smarter, everyone.
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