Ever had your luggage rifled through at the airport or train station? If you have luckily been safe from this wrecking experience, then it doesn’t rule out the fact that you won’t ever fall victim to such a fiasco. Chances are more if you are on the go with a zippered bag rather than a secured Hardcase luggage!
Why? Because they are more prone to tampering even if you lock the zipper heads together!
Our post will help you in how to tamper-proof your zipper luggage if you don’t plan on switching to a hard case one!
So, read till the end!
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Why Are Zippered Bags Unsafe?
Traveling with zippered luggage instead of a suitcase can be quite daring. Even if you lock the zipper heads with the TSA lock, by puncturing the zip teeth with a pointy object like a ballpoint, the zips fall apart.
Surprised Right?
After filling their pockets with your valuables, the thieves can erase their crime tracks by simply pulling the heads over the opening, making it close again!
Hence, you would never know that your bag was tampered with!
This is the reason why luggage with no zippers a.k.a suitcases is used which uses a combination of locks or key locks to make the luggage theft-proof.
Anxious Concerns For Travelers:
If your luggage is not security tight, then there is a 100% chance that it can fall in the wrong hands. There are various concerns that you have to face while traveling. The top ones include:
Theft:
Ever lost an item while traveling? Baggage handlers have plenty of time to meddle with your bag, poke it open and take your valuables. The people who were supposed to protect our bags from trouble are themselves troubling us.
Drugs:
This might seem uncommon, but yes drugs do happen. If your baggage is not properly locked, someone can open it up and place drugs into your bag for smuggling purposes. Hence, if you get caught, it would be a huge disaster! Imagine what excuse you would provide to the security staff!
Terrorist Weapons:
It’s not just limited to drugs; some terrorists can even put bombs or any terrorist weapon in your luggage. Hence, you won’t know that you are carrying a ticking bomb to the plane!
If you get caught, which you probably would, you would not only be jailed but also subjected to various tortures until and unless you blurt out your organization.
Hence, securing your travel bag should be your top priority! Because in desperate times no one would help you!
Why Wear The Valuables?
The best trick to keep your most prized possessions safe and out of reach from thieves is to put them in your travel vest. Travel vests have been designed to have various pockets of different sizes, enabling you to put your camera, jewelry, wallet, smartphone, and other essentials in it.
This trick will not only cut down your load on carry-on bags but will also keep your significant items within your reach. Hence, even if a thief tries to pickpocket you, you can instantly grab hold of the situation!
Hacks For Tamper Proofing Your Luggage:
Ok! If you don’t want to switch to Hardcase suitcases it’s totally fine!
But, you should take precautionary measures to try to protect your bag. Even if you can’t shut off the possibility of losing your items, it would be a hit if you can find out that your backpack has been tampered with!
Now, let’s move on to the simple hacks that have been formulated to make your luggage tamper-proof!
Zipper Locks:
To keep the snoopy hands off your travel bag, purse or pack, one effective solution is zipper locks. However, for this tiny gadget to work, your bag should have dual zippers.
How To Use:
To use this device, depress the silver part of this lock to either pull together or detach the zip headers. By using this device, the stealer cannot pull them apart to unzip the bag. When he tries to unhook, it will certainly take time and there’s a chance for you to catch him red-handed!
What’s The Best Zipper Lock?
Nite Ize S-Biner MicroLock: This is used for holding keys together but it can also be used for zippers. The Nite Ize S-Biner MicroLock promotes an S-shaped stainless steel design, featuring various color variants. This S-shaped fella has 2 gates, and you can lock or unlock them by twisting the central lever. It’s a sturdy tool and can effectively keep the sneak thieves away!
Zip Ties:
Zip ties are cable ties that are designed for one-time use only. They are nylon construction mini security tools.
How To Use:
Just snap the zip loops with this tool and the zippers won’t move. The zip ties come with a nail clipper. If you want to unlock the zippers, you will have to cut the tie off. This tool is effective only when you don’t need to frequently open up your luggage. Because it’s not reusable and can only be unsealed by cutting via nail clippers.
Also, if you are flying with the zip tie attached to your luggage, there is a chance that TSA security might cut it off. Once it’s done, you can’t put it back!
What’s The Best One?
Travelon Secure A Bag Cable Ties are the most distinguished ones. These nylon-made cables can be used to secure not only beefy zippered bags but also your laptop, tablets, or iPad. They promote good adjustability and sealing features.
Cable Lock:
This lock features a cable and a lock having a dial combination. For it, to work, your travel bag should have two zippers.
How To Use:
For using the cable lock, your bag’s metallic zip headers should have a hole in them. Pass the cable through these loops and then snap them into the lock. With the dial combination, set the security combo for unlocking the seal.
What’s The Best One?
Sure Lock is the toughest and resilient lock that features a sturdy and rust-resistant zinc alloy body. No matter what harsh environment your bag goes through, this lock won’t budge an inch!
It has secure readable dials in white imprinted on black background. Set your dial combination to unlock your backpack!
TSA Dial Lock:
It’s not enough to just lock the zip heads together so that the thieves can’t open the bag via the zippers.
They can just get access to the inner contents of the bag by puncturing the zip teeth. However, with the TSA dial lock, they won’t be able to cover up their crime.
With the TSA Dial Lock, your travel bag zipper heads would be locked into it, hence, after puncturing, they won’t be able to move back the zippers to close the opened space!
Although this TSA dial lock prevents your bag contents from getting stolen it can alarm you that your bag has been meddled with!
Triple Lock:
This is similar to the TSA dial lock. With the assistance of this gadget, you get to lock together the zipper heads with something immovable like the bag’s handle. In this way, the zippers can’t move to reseal the perforation.
Not only that, with this lock, you get to latch your bag with other stationary objects like a bed, sofa, or even a train rack.
What’s The Best One?
The best triple lock so far is Lewis N Clark Triple lock boasting zinc alloy construction. It features 2 cables rather than one. The shorter one can be used to pull together the zip heads whereas the longer one can be attached to the bag handle. With its 3 dial combination, you can easily unlock the lock.
Similarly, if you don’t want someone to run away with your travel bag while you are sleeping at the hotel or on the train, just attach the longer cable to the nearest sturdy, heavy and immovable object, like a rack pole, etc. This is to save your bag from getting stolen!
Tamper Lock:
Tamper Locks are an intriguing protective hack then can deter the thieves away. They usually come with a cable tie, a tamper lock tag, and a lock. Let’s learn how to use this tool!
How To Use:
Using a tamper lock is a 3 step process.
- Firstly, you have to use the cable tie (supplied with the lock) and pass it through the zip loops.
- Use the tamper lock tag and loop it around your bags handle
- Move the zippers of the handle and pass the zip tie through the tamper lock tag and seal it.
As the zip tie is attached to both the zippers and the tamper lock tag, they both are immovable. Zippers can only move to a point where the handle allows, beyond that they become immobile!
The only way to open this lock is either using the perfect dial combination or by cutting off the cable tie with some sharp object. It gives you plenty of time to catch the thief at the time of crime!
Plastic Wrap:
Ever seen bulky bags wrapped in plastic? Covering your luggage with plastic is yet another effective way to make your bag theft-proof. This service is provided by various airports. With the thick plastic covering, no one would have more time to cut through the beefy plastic to get access to the bag. This hence keeps your luggage safe.
Although it is effective in deterring theft, it’s not environmentally friendly. Not only that, this plastic wrapping service is not for free. Neither can they be reused. Hence, if you are frequently on the go, then you might have to spend a bunch just for this environmentally unfriendly material.
Luggage Cover:
Luggage Cover is an alternative to the plastic wrapping trick. They are not only reusable and environmentally friendly, but they also won’t break the bank!
What’s The Best Luggage Cover?
The most prominent luggage cover is HoJax Spandex. It comes in various sizes ranging from about 18 to 32 inches. The cover is double stitched and constructed to provide great durability. With its tremendous elasticity and slip-over design, every corner of your suitcase is perfectly covered. The only parts that remain exposed are the side handle, main telescopic handle, and wheels.
It comes in various colors, so you can instantly recognize it from afar! The material makes it tolerant against dust and scratches!
It’s a good alternative for plastic wraps!
Lockable Strap:
These straps are unlike those usual luggage straps which you just wrap around the luggage and close off with a buckle.
They are a bit different. With the beefy nylon strap design, they tightly hug your suitcase and snap into a TSA lock having 3 dial combinations. They are sturdy and won’t slide off.
What’s The Best Lockable Strap?
Elastraap is one such lockable nylon straps that firmly protect your bag. The only way to get access to the items is by cutting off the straps or using the TSA dial combination to unlock it!
Elastraap can fit various size bags and come in bright colors. This makes your bag easily recognizable; hence you quickly go home with your checked luggage!
Final Words!
All the hacks mentioned above might seem not an absolute solution for preventing theft, but they can alert you that something has happened to your bag.
Now whether an item is stolen or added ( drugs, bombs) you can instantly know when you check through your stuff!
To prevent a bad ending, one should take necessary precautions. Therefore, we advise you that even if you are stubbornly persistent in using the zippered bags, use the special zip bag locks that we have mentioned above.
Each one of them plays a vital role and deters the strangers away! We wish that you keep safe and Happy Traveling!
