Yup - my pack may be a North Face Lhasa, but it's good ol black (and don't start on how PC and I have matching bags, we didn't even know each other when we got them... even if it did turn out to be the same year).

I have 4 little locks that with the zippers - not the world's best deterrent, but a deterrent. I can tuck away my straps, but for Asia I may do a trash bag for extra protection. I'll probably also get a thin bike cable (like the kind you use to make removable seats removable-proof) and bring my bike lock, to help lashing the pack to train luggage racks, etc.

PacSafes are a good invention, but for me and my gear, not worth the weight.

Cheers, Anthony

Too funny. Now that I've decided that it's not for me...somebody bought me one as a going away present!!! (at least I have the receipt) And I just saw a guy coming out of the airport (in Chicago) wearing one and my first reaction was "Oh honey! Why don't you just tattoo 'I'm scared of this big crime-ridden city!' on your forehead and get it over with! Frankly, I was almost insulted on behalf of my hometown to have someone broadcasting that they think it's a such a scary place.

If I had one, I think I'd only use it for putting it on luggage racks or leaving it unattended in my hostel. I wouldn't wear it walking out of the airport into a cab or something... although I would be tempted in a huge, teeming mass of people or in a particulary dangerous region.

They should make them in black or some other non-obtrusive colour.

"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour." -- Sir Ernest Shackleton

I ran the North Face Warranty & Repair Department for a decade.
Between 1,000 and 3,000 items a month came through our doors, including packs of all kinds.

I cannot remember ever seeing a single slashed pack.

I think that it is much more likely that someone will steal your kidneys.

I've never had my bags slashed (*knock on wood*). I don't bother with chicken wire or a pacsafe. If people want the dirty, stinky clothes in my pack..they can have it.

In South America, I did see people putting their bags in the woven plastic bags that are so common in the region.

But still, I didn't even do that and never a bag slashed.

A pure wast of money and it might actually attract the bad guys because it seems as if you'd have something really valuable there. Well it is (it's only my darn house!!), but don't put it in their face!

Adrian

I've seen pacsafes in action twice: once on the street in Vienna, once in a hostel in Prague. My first reaction every damn time? Oooohhh, wonder what's in THAT bag, must be a nice camera........ The thousands I have seen without pacsafes I never wondered about.

I have one and have been using it for only a few weeks and overall I like it. I feel safer using it then keeping important stuff like airline tickets in the hostel's safe. They have thirty people coming and going everyday and they're going to match your face with your stuff? I don't have anything really valuable in it, I just feel safer knowing my bag is locked to a sink or something. I met a guy that used one who said it's great for SE Asia because you can chain it to a tree on a beach and forget about it. Of course, somebody could cut down the tree or slice open your bag and steal your deodorant, but the point is your minimizing your chance of getting ripped off, not eliminating it.
One final note, though, there are little plastic beads that help lock the chain in place and mine are all breaking. I intend to to get it replaced under their warranty, but had I known this would happen, I probably wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

I keep airline tickets passport and most funds on me at close to all times. unless I am drinking

I´ve been using a Sea to Summit pack cover for my backpack. It´s similar to a regular pack cover for backpacking in the rain, except it has a zippered panel that makes it lockable. It also has a shoulder strap. I like it alot. It´s only a bit heavier than the regular pack cover I´d be carrying anyway. My boyfriend just puts a thin retractable cable lock (from the hardware store) through the drawstring on the top of his toploading-pack. Pacsafes are much too heavy. The people I´ve met who´ve had stuff stolen from their bags had unlocked bags; the bags were not slashed. Not to say slashing never happens.

I took a Pacsafe with me on my nine month RTW trip and I used it twice!!! It IS bloody heavy and next time I'd leave that at home and instead take a single length of cable and a padlock to attach my rucksack to something that doesn't move, padlocks for all the lockable pockets and I'll never leave anything in it that can't be stolen!

I always possess the minority opinion in any PacSafe discussion, but *gasp* I like it!

I used mine *a lot* on my year-long RTW trip, especially on the trains in India. I understand the position of "oh, this is a beacon saying 'Valuable! Steal me!'. However, I feel that any backpacker's backpack, no matter how road-scuffed, is a tempting target to thieves. They know you had the money to get to their country and will probably own things they'd like to get their hands on. I'm more of the school of thought that I'll make my pack as difficult to grab or slash as possible, and the thieves will move on to an easier one.

I also put my pack/rain cover over the pacsafe, so it's less conspicuous.

I think it probably depends on where/how you're travelling too. I travelled with one girl a while back around Italy and Germany who used one and it seemed a real pain in the arse to get it to fit in that little bag when your not using it - and to get things in and out of your bag. (Incidentally same girl had her wallet pickpocketed. Thats probably a bigger risk than someone slashing a pack - at least they know theyll probably end up with some cash. I keep anything like tickets/passports/large amounts of cash in a moneybelt - worn at all times. Im amazed by the amount of people who keep hundreds of Euros in their wallets which are then stolen).
I bought a borrowed pacsafe with me this time to Europe - been here 8 months and havent used it. Im now wondering how much its going to cost if I send it home as it really makes a difference to the weight of your pack - like adding a can of soup. If I was going somewhere like India or South America maybe Id consider it or a similar alternative.

That's funny, Encarm, I had the same dilemma. It's the only item that I brought with me that I cursed that five pounds in my bag every time I saw it. I might as well have carried a rock. To mail home, to not mail home? I think I finally threw that sucker off a bridge. Screw pacsafes.

No offense to the pacsafe company

Yeah I wish I could throw it off a bridge, (actually Im very close to the Cliffs of Moher right now) but as it is borrowed, I think Im cursed to drag the bloody thing behind me for the next year of my travelling life.