Travel Luggage Anti-Theft Countermeasures

[Doc]

Putting your home address on the outside is telling people that you are not home. I always put my work address and cell phone on my luggage.

Kind of...

On your way home, then put your home address and phone number on your bags. On your way to go diving- keep those tags tucked inside your bags.

On the way to your dive destination, print tags with your airline routing, your name and your resort destination contact information. (passenger locator code, too)

Make three tags for each bag, have them laminated at Kinkos, tie them to the bag with waxed string (Wallmart craft section). Your bags will always follow you if they have a surviving name tag.

Just like addressing an envelope in the mail. Don't confuse anyone.

 

[peterbj7]

I always put the address of a relative or close friend I know will be at home during my trip, usually my brother. I NEVER put my own address or phone number.

 

[boulderjohn]

There have been many threads over the years related to theft of dive equipment and the warning about making it look too obvious that you have dive equipment in your bag. I believe my summary of the general conclusions of these threads (especially one I started myself a number of years ago and cannot find now) is accurate: airline luggage thieves are looking for small, easy to walk off with, easy to fence items. Nothing in standard scuba gear falls into that category. In fact, it may be that an easily identified scuba bag may be a deterent to theft, since it is not likely to have the jewelry and other items of that kind that thieves are really after.

 

[Gombessa]

If you want to talk about real "theft countermeasures," you can try this method I heard about from some photographers: buy a starter pistol (the little ones they use for races and shoot blanks), throw it in your luggage and declare a firearm. TSA will screen you at check-in, put a REAL lock and warning tape over it, and it'll bypass regular checked-baggage security and get eagle eye treatment from origin to destination.

You'll probably need to get a locking hard case for it, and you can probably only do it for domestic travel.

 

[RJP]

If you want to talk about real "theft countermeasures," you can try this method I heard about from some photographers: buy a starter pistol (the little ones they use for races and shoot blanks), throw it in your luggage and declare a firearm. TSA will screen you at check-in, put a REAL lock and warning tape over it, and it'll bypass regular checked-baggage security and get eagle eye treatment from origin to destination.

You'll probably need to get a locking hard case for it, and you can probably only do it for domestic travel.

With today's luggage weight restrictions you'd probably need to LEAVE HOME whatever you were hoping to avoid being stolen in order to put the gun and hard case in the bag!

 

[CheddarChick]

I painted pretty pretty fishies on my black bags...Cheddarguy thought I was nuts, until it worked like a charm......