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Air Travel: "Protect your Luggage from being Pilfered"

What Happened to my/our Stuff???

  • Had 'checked' luggage opened.

  • Had 'checked' luggage opened & valuables stolen.

  • Had 'checked' luggage opened, valuables stolen and reimbursed by either Airline and/or TSA.

  • Had 'checked' luggage opened, valuables stolen and NOT reimbursed by either Airline and/or TSA.

  • Art is King!!!


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I have learned to hate to fly. Last time I HAD to fly the wondeful TSA did not close the bottle of shampoo in my checked luggage and my toiletries bag and all that was in it was a gooey mess.
 
sw ar.born in ok ben everywhere else i wanted to visit.dont get farther away from home than i can walk back anymore.life's the same whereever you go.its what you make of it ;P
 
I fly all the time, I'm in the Merchant Marine and fly to join/depart ships all over the world. For a two month voyage it takes two big bags with work clothes and all. One bag will contain my knives (tools of the trade) and electronics (hand held VHF radios, Sirius etc.). Maybe I'm lucky, but I've not yet had a problem. From the constant use, my luggage is pretty well beat up. And this maybe the reason I've been so far unplauged by thieves. An old Chief Engineer I used to sail with would show up at the airport with luggage that had been sewn, taped, tied, (you name the kind of fastening) together. Man it was junk. The gal at the ticket counter would make him sign a form which acknowledged the fact that the luggage was junk. I asked the CE about it once, and his reply was: "No one will steal this crud and they won't bother to look inside it either. They're lookin' for the high end luggage to kipe." His luggage could have been filled with hundred dollar bills and he'd have lost not one. Of course this was before the TSA.
 
I have flown carry only for the past decade. I've learned how o pack so that I have enough for several days of travel. No need to haul any stuff than I need.

We try to go carry-on only when we can, but there are two problems with that. First, you might be out of town for more than a few days and need to bring more stuff. Second, you might be traveling with something that can't be brought in a carry-on bag. I'm going to North Carolina this weekend and I can easily fit all my stuff into one bag but you can't bring a straight razor in a carry-on so I'm probably going to end up checking a bag after all.
 
The whole idea of your "TSA Approved Locks That They Can Open Whenever They Feel Like it" has always struck me as completely bizarre. What sort of country are you living in if that feels normal to you?

I always travel with the strongest locks on my luggage that will fit... and when I say lock, I mean an actual lock - one that doesn't open for any random stranger. Do you really think that criminals don't have copies of the master keys?
 
The whole idea of your "TSA Approved Locks That They Can Open Whenever They Feel Like it" has always struck me as completely bizarre. What sort of country are you living in if that feels normal to you?

I always travel with the strongest locks on my luggage that will fit... and when I say lock, I mean an actual lock - one that doesn't open for any random stranger. Do you really think that criminals don't have copies of the master keys?

They're intended to discourage the casual/opportunistic pilferer, not the serious thief.
 
My solution to TSA opening my bags is to always carry a firearm in my checked luggage. This forces TSA to scan your luggage in your presence and once you re-lock your luggage it cannot be reopened unless you are present. With that said, a gun friendly TSA Agent advised me to carry a more secure piece of luggage as zippers and locks in and around them can be easily cut off. I am thinking about hard size case with some sort of hasp system that will allow for bigger padlocks.
I do this as well. Nothing fancy, just a starter pistol.
Not so much now, but I used to have to travel to do 'on location' photography shoots, and it worked out kinda like this... Strobes, various photography stuff and whatnot would go into a checked bag that had the starter pistol. Laptop, hard drives, primary camera body, single 'hotshoe' strobe, one zoom and one prime would be in a messenger bag that never leaves me. Secondary camera body, lenses, and enough equipment to do the job should everything goes missing on the plane gets shipped to the hotel and is waiting for me.
I've since sold most of my equipment because I'm not doing that sort of thing every weekend. But now, I just rent gear from lensrentals.com, have them ship to a FedEx location (hold for pickup in the special instructions) near the airport that I'm going to. Then I just take it back to the FedEx before I leave, and that bypasses the TSA entirely.
It is sad that it has come to this.
 
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