BootsnAll's Travel Community

Hi,
I'm heading off to SE Asia soon, for two months on the super-cheap. I know this is a pretty well covered topic, but I want some fresh opinions on pacsafes. I don't really want to have to lug one round and plus I'm on a really tight budget ad they cost heaps in NZ. I prefer the 'if it looks like you've got nothing to steal, people won't try' philosophy, but the problem is, I do have some stuff worth nicking, about $900 worth of cameras and some climbing gear. And I really can't play safe and leave them at home 'cos they are pretty much the reason for my trip. I've read a few strands that say your gear'll be fine so long as you keep your valuables with you, but how do you deal with going to the beach and other situations when you just can't have your gear with you?? Should I really trust the honesty of people who run the safe rooms at hostels?
any advice would be muchly appreciated.

One of the aspects of travel is that you have no choice but to meet people who are in the same boat as you (figuratively and literally).
Find some pals and join forces for 'stuff watching' when you go swimming.

The rest of the time, the expensive electronic trinkets stay in your daypack (which NEVER leaves your sight).

Yes, this has been discussed before, but...

On our trip my boyfriend had a $900 camera. We also had a Pacsafe. I can count the times we used the PacSafe on one hand. it was a pain in the butt. However, it was handy a few times, like on sleeper cars on trains, we were able to lock the pack to a pole so at least the whole pack couldn't be stolen without a struggle while sleeping.

I don't know if the PacSafe stops people from stealing. I don't know if it makes people want to steal your stuff MORE because it must be valuable. Yes, it is easy to get it open if you really want to (if you have wire cutters).

I think Joe is right.. you need to have the expensive electronics with you at all times. We did leave the camera behind a few times and hid it in bunches of clothes in the backpack (usually dirty clothes) although that probably wasn't that smart, either.

Maybe one of your requirements for hostels will be that they must have lockers.

The other thing that I keep repeating over and over is to not bring along anything that you cannot afford to lose.

That $900 camera? Stays at home.
That ring from Grandma? Stays at home.
That expensive iPod? Stays at home.
That iBook? Stays at home.

Agreed. If the equipment is worth more to you than the trip then your better off not going on the trip. Besides that, if you keep your wits about you nobody will have the time or inclination to steal your gear.

Joe,
As I said before, not taking my camera is not an option. One of the main reasons I'm travelling (apart from having some fun) is to get together a portfolio of travel photography to show to any magazines etc that might want to hire me. So no, I won't be leaving it at home.
And I'm aware that while travelling you can never be 100% safe, and it is a risk I'm prepared to take, however I would like to minimise that risk where possible.

Re: using pacsafe to lock your gear to bunks etc, I have a cable lock which wraps around the pack and serves the same purpose. I'm more concerned about the times I cant be with my gear.
Is it safe to leave your gear in your cabin? (assuming you aren't sharing with strangers) Are the attedants at hostels generally trustworthy?
And how common are hostels with individual lockers?

Do I think that traveling "super cheap" on a "really tight budget" increases the likelihood that your room will be broken in to? Yes, I do. Everybody has a key.

"Is it safe to leave your gear in your cabin?" Rarely.

"Are the attendants at hostels generally trustworthy?" Usually, but there is no fixed rule here.

"And how common are hostels with individual lockers?" Uncommon.

That said, I always leave my fancy stuff in my room in SEA and have never had anything swiped.

I found quite a few hostels with individuals lockers on my last trip. Of course there's nothing to say that THOSE can't be broken into, either. But I've noticed that some guidebooks mention when hostels have lockers.

I find lockers in Europe, but never in SEA.

I’m in SE Asia now, and I have a small Pacsafe with me. I’m a travel writer working as I go. I have a bunch of equipment that would not only reduce me to tears to lose for their monetary value, but at this point there’s also the cumulative writing/pictures/etc of two years on the road to think about, which would be a devastating loss (yes, I have all the important stuff backed up three times, but still it would royally suck to lose the less important, but fun random pictures/research/files/music that I’ve collected).

My equipment bag, “The Office,” is far too heavy to haul around as a day bag and Buddha help me if I were to get caught in a serious rain storm, so leaving it behind in my room is unavoidable. I also have steel locks and two Defcon One mobile alarms with motion sensors and big, off-putting, red flashing lights when they’re activated. Usually I just use the steel locks on the zippers and one of the alarms when I leave the bag in my room, but when I’m feeling extra uneasy about the security at a hostel, I wire that sucker up good with everything I’ve got (zippers locked, one alarm wrapped around The Office, the other wired directly to the laptop, motion sensors activated, and the Pacsafe encasing the whole mess). Yes, it takes about 10 minutes to secure the bag with all of these components, but the end result of flashing red lights, over-sized locks, steel netting and warning chirps from the alarms whenever anyone looks at the bag for too long is such a raging, f*ck off deterrent that I’ve been quite happy.

And to echo Joe’s statement, I have been on the road in SE Asia for three months (Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Myanmar so far) and I haven’t experienced a single, questionable, possible-theft attempt and I haven’t heard any stories of outright theft from other travelers either (though tales of leaving-stuff-behind-in-a-drunken-haze and having it be gone upon return is a constant), whereas after the same amount of time in Europe, I’d heard countless burglary and mugging stories from other travelers and I’d personally survived a couple mildly worrying attempts myself. I didn’t have the Pacsafe in Europe, the locks and alarms were sufficient, but I bought the Pacsafe for this leg of my travels just for luck. Better paranoid than sorry.

Though ultimately, despite my complete violation of this rule, yes in general, very, very valuable stuff should be left at home. If you’re bored at work, I have documented my packing listand a rambling essay entitled “Dangers, Annoyances, No-nos and a Few Urban Legends That Go With European Travel.”

Pacsafe's are a pain in the arse (excuse language if anyone cares). They take up more room than their worth and really don't add much to your security.

I went travelling round the pacific islands with my camera gear and ended up just taking it everywhere with me. I would make sure I was always with other backpackers who looked reasonably trustworthy if I wanted to go to the beach or something. And if it looked like there was a possibility of something happening, I'd just skip the swim.

Seriously, its all good to stress about security but don't let that get in the way of a good trip, even if taking photos is your main aim.