Luggage Ties, Security Seals, and Locks
from Packing and Luggage Accessories

LEFT: PrivaSeals make it easy to see if anyone has tampered with your zippered luggage.

Now that governments are routinely opening suitcases for inspection at airports, traditional padlocks on zippered luggage have become obsolete. And in any case, such locks have never prevented a determined thief from getting into a suitcase--at best, they've discouraged casual pilferage by making it obvious when a bag has been opened.

My wife and I don't even use locks on our suitcases these days. Instead, we close most of the zippers with inexpensive four-inch nylon cable ties, which are available at large computer stores or electronics dealers like Radio Shack. We leave a toenail clipper in the unsealed top outer pocket of my suitcase and use that to clip off the nylon cable ties when we reach our destination.

If you prefer to avoid the geeky look of cable ties, or if you want something that has more of an official look, try one of these accessories from Magellan's:

PrivaSeals (see photo) resemble small plastic padlocks and have one-of-a-kind serial numbers that you can write down before you check your bags with the airline or hotel porter. They're easy to use: Just snap them into place as you would a luggage padlock; you can twist or cut them off when you're ready to open your bag.

Luggage Seals are even easier to use, since the numbered plastic strips can be yanked off when you're finished with them. They're similar to the strips that TSA security inspectors use to reseal opened bags at U.S. airports. (They're also slightly cheaper than PrivaSeals.)

Travel Sentry Keyed Padlocks, Travel Sentry Combo Locks, and SearchAlert Combo Locks were developed in cooperation with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. TSA inspectors can open the locks with a special tool, then reseal them after inspection. (These obviously work best on trips within the United States, where inspectors are likely to have the required tool. Also, there have been reports of clueless TSA inspectors breaking the locks; Magellan's offers free replacements to victims of ignorant inspectors.)

Next page: Luggage tags

 

Copyright © 1996-2009 Durant and Cheryl Imboden and their licensors.
All rights reserved.