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The Apple supplied freebie iPhone case I’ve been using for a long time is well overdue for replacement. Lucky for me I happened to hear about Carve Cases via Twitter. When I read that these cases were designed & hand crafted in Ireland I couldn’t resist placing an order for one. It arrived today.

Great to see simple packaging for a change. No impenetrable plastic to hack through with a blunt scissors. Good times.

Here’s the back of the case in all its woodeny glory. Wood grain is very pleasing to the eye.

I like the description inside the case – A real person with real hands sanded, filed, sanded (again) and hand finished it in Ireland

Have to admit that before I ordered the case I was a bit concerned about the thickness of the wood and how it might feel in the hand. No concern needed – it feels great. The care guide for the case informs me that natural oils from my hand will darken the wood and give it a beatiful natural warmth and character. I’m trying to verify this claim by rubbing my hand vigorously on the surface and hope to report back soon regarding this

I don’t know how robust the case will turn out to be if the phone is dropped. Carve Cases do warn before buying that if you are prone to dropping your phone a lot, the product may not be for you. They do offer a half price replacement policy if a case breaks which is very generous.

The model I bought was €39, which is the inappropriately named “Plain” model. There is nothing plain about these covers – they’ve got bags of character. There’s a €69 case which allows you to customise the cover with your own design. I predict this option will be extremely popular in a couple of months time when gift buying season is upon us once again. If I had the spare cash, I’d definitely have gone for the custom option.

I highly recommend these cases. They look good, they are Irish made and hand crafted by a company that is just getting off the ground. What’s not to like?

And there’s a bonus as well (this is the “more than just a way to protect an iPhone” bit from the title of this post)..

This piece of wood forms part of the packaging. Rather than throwing it away, there is a challenge to come up with a use for it. Dónal, the owner of Carve Cases, asked people on his Facebook page – “What would you do with it?”. I’m going to use it for growing cress, as lecraic junior loves growing things.