Pacsafe

Keep gear, including cards, back ups, card reader and laptop (with charger)in one bag….and carry that bag yourself all the time, always…never let anybody touch it ever. And good luck to the guys going through your underwear wasting time cutting through the Pacsafe.

Practically, I think Pacsafe is useless.

Thanks Tom. I tend to agree with your evaluation. You have also answered my next question regarding where to keep my underwear.

Karl Grobl has a pretty detailed review of using the pacsafe:
http://karlgrobl.com/blog/2008/05/pac-safe-luggage-locking-system/

I hava a Pacsafe and did use it only once. It’s simply too heavy to it carry around. I prefer locking my things in a locker from the hostel/hotel or otherwise keep it next to my head while sleeping. I sometimes even have the whole big backpack in my bed and hug it during the sleep.
The pacsafe itself is nice but you can still open the bag inside and steal things like lenses or small cameras that fit the net holes.

An insurance is a bit more expensive than a pacsafe but makes you feel much more relaxed.

I lost my camera gear in a pink backpack on a night train to Zurich last fall. I stil have not gotten a Pacsafe. The backpack was on a rack above me when I slept. The thief did not touch my small suitcase on a rack on the other side. The suitcase had my laptop. I wore my wallet inside the pant pocket.

If I am going to do it over, I would avoid a night train even in Europe. I suspect that the thief got off at the Salzburg train station, where international routes involving the former Yugoslavia would go through.

I have used the same route going to Zurich from Austria before without a problem, so another key thing might be what kind of seat you will have. It seems safer to sleep in a compartment where all the other passengers are long distance passengers. I was in the compartment close to the one end of the train, and all the other passengers were short-distance passengers.

For me the weight of a Pacsafe would be an issue.

Tomoko, what you say is interesting especially because what you describe might be one of the few situations in which the Packsafe would be fairly sure to prevent the theft. It seems Paul’s method of sleeping with the pack would also be a good preventative and eliminate the burden of carrying 0.5kg of stainless steel wire.

Big fan of my pacsafe.

It’s heavy, but a nice visible deterrent.

Airport security does enjoy asking me why I have a large bundle of steel wire in my carry on.