Old Conventional Wisdom Locks on Softsides

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Dave Frightens Me:
I use cable ties too whenever I go anywhere near Asia, as you are more
concerned about someone putting something in than taking something
out!

As in drugs to smuggle? Or illegal stuff to set you up for police
extortion?
--
The classic vehicle from decades past.....Baggage handlers (mith Mafia
connections) in Rome inserting packages of Turkish Delight (heroin, much of
which came from Turkey until the mid-late 60s, the trade finally eliminated
by using US AID dollars to pay farmers not to crop poppies - and by the
contemporary surge of easier ways to bring H from SEAsia) into travelers'
luggage and visibly marking same so that at the end of the flight at
Idlewild, the local baggage handlers (who along with the freight folks
there) were managed if not controlled by organized crime, could remove the
booty and tranbsfer it to NYC area distributors.

A precursor of "The French Connection", you could always recognize the FBI
men in Naples and Rome by their heavy-soled wingtip shoes, then de rigeur in
the Bureau.

TMO

B Vaughan wrote:


My biggest worry would be losing the key and having to cut open the
bag myself.

That's why I choose combination locks! (True, I MIGHT
forget the combination, but that's harder than losing a key.)

On Fri, 06 Oct 2006 09:46:49 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:



B Vaughan wrote:


My biggest worry would be losing the key and having to cut open the
bag myself.

That's why I choose combination locks! (True, I MIGHT
forget the combination, but that's harder than losing a key.)

I once used a combination lock on a suitcase. However, I had trouble
opening it at the other end, for some reason I never figured out. I
had to break the lock. I had chosen a combination that I use often for
other things, so I'm sure I didn't forget it. Either the lock was
defective or it was too difficult to align the numbers correctly, or I
needed to do two spins, or something like that. In any case, I don't
need those hassles after a long voyage. I just don't lock the luggage.
I've never lost anything.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

Nice OT crosspost and who answers ??
Who ??
Duuh.

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" a écrit dans le
message de news: ...


wrote:


Despite the latest advice to use TSA locks on softsided luggage,
doesn't the old wisdom still apply?

SFAIK, the only reason for locking your luggage (soft OR hard-sided) is to
prevent it popping open and spilling your belongings across the tarmack en
route to and from your plane. (I'm sure a knowledgeable thief can easily
open any bag, locked or not, without recourse to cutting into the
soft-sided ones - that's why, if you MUST travel with anything of value,
you are advised to carry it onto the plane with you.) I have used the
little plastic gadgets, which work just fine if you have sufficient
strength in your hands to break them open when you arrive (or can borrow a
knife or scissors at your destination). Otherwise I find them a real
pain, when a TSA approved combination lock is easier for me to open.

No one cares

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" a écrit dans le
message de news: ...


B Vaughan wrote:


My biggest worry would be losing the key and having to cut open the
bag myself.

That's why I choose combination locks! (True, I MIGHT forget the
combination, but that's harder than losing a key.)

On Fri, 06 Oct 2006 10:16:25 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per Dave Frightens Me:
I use cable ties too whenever I go anywhere near Asia, as you are more
concerned about someone putting something in than taking something
out!

As in drugs to smuggle? Or illegal stuff to set you up for police extortion?

Both are possible. Both are huge acts of injustice.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

Thanks everyone for your advice. You are basically confirming what I
had surmised. The plastic ties will be my "protection" while in
transit. I do own the TSA locks which I will use whenever I think a
lock is advised. Since 9/11 I have not had anything stolen out of my
unlocked luggage during transit, but I try to make sure there is
nothing valuable or enticing in the checked luggage.

Signed, as in what you do on your credit card. The trick to preventing
tampering with these is gently heating with a lighter, twisting the tail.

As I travel Asia through/to on almost all my jobs, this is the main reason I
do it too, and I have just started photographing my bag with ties on the
conveyor belt.

Saves on legal fees defending yourself for something you didn't do!

"Dave Frightens Me" wrote in
message ...
On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 09:49:31 +1000, "glenn P"
wrote:

I think locks are a waste of time. You are not seriously keeping anyone
out
of your bag, just stopping snoopers.

When travelling light with a soft bag, I use signed cable ties. Not for
"security", but for tamper evidence.

What do you mean by 'signed'?

I use cable ties too whenever I go anywhere near Asia, as you are more
concerned about someone putting something in than taking something
out!
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

In "glenn P"
wrote:

When travelling light with a soft bag, I use signed cable ties. Not
for "security", but for tamper evidence.


Tamper evidence? What more evidence do you need than to find that the
cable tie has been cut off entirely?

Of course when that happens, you'll feel much better to find the little
note from TSA in your bag.

It's for your own good.

Do it for the children.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

glenn P wrote:
Signed, as in what you do on your credit card. The trick to preventing
tampering with these is gently heating with a lighter, twisting the tail.

As I travel Asia through/to on almost all my jobs, this is the main reason I
do it too, and I have just started photographing my bag with ties on the
conveyor belt.

Saves on legal fees defending yourself for something you didn't do!


Are there any comfirmed cases of this happening to anyone in, say, the
last 10 years, or is this just an urban legend?