Overnight and Overland - security?

Heading off in October RTW with my partner and we are planning on not getting on a plane for the first 4 and a half months, as we will be going overland from UK -> Indonesia. Some of those journeys will be overnight, and obviously there is a concern of security with regards to kit whilst asleep on those journeys! We will no doubt keep our money and passports on our persons for that reason, but I'm not sure what to do about cameras, mp3 players and possibly a netbook (which may or may not be joining us, based on whatever answers I get on this thread!)... Is it worthwhile getting one of those pacsafe net things for this type of travel? I don't really want to attract thieves to my kit by using one, but I presume there are very few other good methods of protecting bags from being rifled through, snatched or slashed when you're vulnerable and asleep.

I expect the transport will vary enormously so I wouldn't necessarily take it for granted that we will be able to lock a door to a couchette or anything. In the past I've just slept on top of my bags, but I don't think I can go for that long without a proper sleep!

I just carry my netbook in a shoulder bag with other odds & ends, no knows it's there & you just take it with you at rest breaks & use it as a pillow when sleeping. Only travel with a beat up point & shoot camera that no one would want anyway & use my iPhone for music.

Keep your valuable electronics near you in a small bag, throw the rest in storage with the other bags. I did this with a pro-body dSLR in South America and it was never a pain to manage it by my feet or in my lap on bus rides. If I was ever really worried about it, I'd wrap the strap around my leg so that I'd feel a tug on the bag.

Generally you'll find that local people on transit are fairly considerate and friendly. You do face risk of having things stolen now and then, but it's easy to be vigilant for the small amount of difficult to replace items and to not have to worry too much if your 8 spare pairs of underwear are nicked along with your bag of clothes. Clothes and miscellaneous toiletry items are cheap and easy to replace in many countries.

Okay thanks for the tips, i was planning on having everything in the seperate small bag anyway for where the main bag needs to go into storage, as I have done that upright sleep/bag hug/pillow set up many times and it has been fine. I guess I'm thinking more about horizontally based trips - i.e. couchettes on trains, I suppose I could sleep on the kit, but it'll probably be worse off for having done so! In those situations my main bag would be in the same compartment, hence why I was thinking of the net - as I can perhaps chuck all my bulky kit in there and lock it to the luggage rack. But I do think that in a way that's just exposing my paranoia to any potential thief!

Nothing that I will take will be irreplacable, but it would be a massive pain... I had my bike stolen recently in less than an hour I was away from it, so it's really put my paranoia guards up! But a bike is just a bike, my main concern with netbook and/or phone loss is the data that would be on them - by which I mean cached data from accessing internet banking, emails and the like - has anyone tried using encryption/lockdown software in the event of theft...?

Any suggestion what to do if you went on a trek or something? By which I mean multi-day, Inca Trail, Mongolia tour and the like... Take netbooks with (I have a drybag that can be used...) or would it be better locked up in a hotel/hostel/luggage locker for a few days? - i've never asked at a hotel before whether such a service is available... any ideas?

If it makes you feel better I've had my whole pack stolen from me twice. Once from a car while eating dinner, and once from the luggage rack above my head (my stupid fault). I've also had my bike stolen while I was 20 feet away from it, and I've had my apartment broken into and computer stolen. I completely understand your paranoia.

I personally hate the bulk/weight/hassle/attention of the packsafe nets. On a sleeper train I just lay my really important gear next to me. Insurance is great for peace of mind.

At the end of the day it's about what makes you feel better. If the idea of the packsafe helps, then try one out for a while and you can always dispose of it, or eve take it back if you decide you don't like it before the trip.

Netbooks are pretty light. I'd just throw it in the bag (drybag is good) if you're doing any trekking and are worried about it. I wouldn't personally trust most hotels with my bags for a few days, but I did leave my netbook in my bag at my hotel room every day during a month in South America.

Surfing in Costa Rica for 3 months really helped me chill out about this. I was staying in a really inexpensive place and had to leave EVERYTHING in my room when I went to surf. Sure, I could have put my wallet contents into plastic and put them in my shorts, but in the end you have to reach a place where you leave concern for your crap behind and focus on being present in your journey.

One of the benefits on sleeping with a silk liner. Can use even on some of the even hotter nights and can stuff a few odds and ends inside it and out of sight. Other than that simply tying your zippers closed and crudely tying your bag(s) to something solid and ideally near your head generally does the trick. On night transport most thiefs are probably just going to give your bag a tug and if it doesn't easily go they are probably just going to move on.

If you're doing the Trans-Mongolian, get a lower berth and you'll be able to put all your gear in the "box" under your seat meaning someone would have to move YOU to get at your stuff.
Otherwise stuff it in your silk liner, use it as a pillow or snuggle up to it in foetal position. All work!

Cool, thanks for all the advice people! I think I will probably chill out about it once I get on the road, just need to get the first leg underway to test out these ideas and sort out a selection of padlocks and insurance to take with for hostels and the like.

Re: hugging your stuff inside a sleeping bag liner, I had an idea when I was looking at different options before that perhaps pacsafe should do some sort of teddy bear safe, that you can take to bed with you, and that suggestion made me think of that again

Generally in the past everytime I've thought about taking the netbook away, I've left it home at the last minute and decided it's not worth bothering with, so that might yet happen! We shall see...