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If an airline has ever lost your luggage before, you know how terrible and inconvenient that experience generally is. But at least the airline is doing what it can to locate your bag and return it to you as soon as possible. When your bag gets stolen, on the other hand, you can feel at a complete loss and if you haven’t popped a luggage tracker inside, you may have absolutely no way of getting it back.
It’s a sad commentary that travelers have so much to worry about when they embark on a vacation that’s oftentimes meant to give them a break from their worries at home. But between scammers who target travelers and thieves looking to rip travelers off, there’s a lot to think about and prepare for.
If you’ve ever traveled by bus or train, you know that uneasy feeling you have when you stow your luggage down the aisle from where you’re sitting. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to sit next to or in front of your bag so you can keep an eye on it for the duration of the journey (like we did on the fast train from Rome to Naples). But not everyone can sit in those coveted seats so chances are, your bag is out of sight, though certainly not out of mind.
If you’ll be traveling by train or bus any time soon, using a lock with a steel cable to secure your bag to a pole is a great way to deter thieves. A video shared by @doina demonstrates how to use the cable. She captioned her post with this:
After having our bags stolen, and witnessing multiple instances of people’s bags stolen on trains in Italy, including one time when the thieves with absolutely no shame came to us to ask for our luggage pretending to be train staff but they were clearly just young female thieves that I had to chase out the train and then call the police, I learned 3 lessons:
1. Never leave your luggage/bags unattended, not even for 1 minute
2. Don’t make yourself a target, try not to travel with obviously expensive luggage. When our travel bags were stolen, they were the only designer luggage bags amongst a lot of other bags that didn’t get taken; but ours did because of the obvious luxury branding.
3. Even the smallest protection discourages them from stealing, because they normally look for “very available” things they can steal. They normally steal a few seconds afore the train doors close and it leaves for instance. They also don’t want to attract attention hence they will act natural and grab the bag as if it’s theirs, so hopefully cutting a metal wire discourages them.
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These are great tips: Don’t leave your bags unattended and leave your luxury items, especially luggage and bags with designer logos, at home.
As for the lock with a steel cable, this is a great way to deter thieves who are looking to grab a bag quickly and escape. It takes less than a minute to secure your bag and will make yours the least desirable to steal and will slow down would-be thieves, at any rate. This one is constructed with braided steel for strength and flexibility along with cut resistance, making it a great anti theft cable. And yes, it may be possible to cut through the cable with wire cutters but again, probably not something a thief who wants to make a quick escape wants to take the time to do. Plus, when you’re not traveling, these steel cables have a multitude of uses at home, for your bikes and when camping.
And don’t forget, always keep a luggage tracker like an Apple AirTag in all of your bags so that you can find them if they get lost or stolen. If you use an Android device, consider getting a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 or a Tile tracker.
KEEP READING
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I use a short bicycle cable with a combination lock connection. No need to carry a separate padlock. Also can connect 2 bags together thru the straps at times there is no metal carrier – taking 2 bags connected is difficult and obvious. And in the back of a car when traveling in remote areas and stopping along the way, can connect bags to the car or to each other. Another idea it to get a colorful or designed bag as crooks like to take standard black bags.
Very good information.