Often1

You should probably change the thread title to something useful.

There is no value in locking your luggage. If TSA wants to open it, it will either use a key (if your luggage has "TSA Complaint" locks) or simply cut or force the bag if need be.

If a thief wants to steal the bag or its contents, she will simply slice the bag, cut the locks or force them.

There should be nothing valuable in checked luggage anyway.

findark

As mentioned, you need to either have a compliant lock system or you run the (relatively small) risk that TSA or other authorities will break the lock in order to search your luggage. This isn't a legal issue, but you will effectively lose the lock.

Personally I use a small lock on my checked baggage (with the combo 1-2-3) more as an assurance that there is no conceivable way the bag will open accidentally, but I do agree with Often1 that you should not consider it a guard against criminal activity.

WineCountryUA

This seems like a great thread for TravelBuzz!

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

gfunkdave

I lock my bags but only to guard against them accidentally opening.

jrl767

I think you meant to type "TSA compliant" locks, but the typo ** is ** rather amusing

anniegray

I always lock my bags and every time I arrive home from USA they are unlocked with the calling card inside

rickg523

I use wire ties - instead of locks - for exactly that purpose. Cheap ones that I can cut with nail clippers.

OUTraveling

I usually store my CCW in my Pelican case and slap on a discus padlock on them. Flying out of SNA is pretty easy as the TSA agent is in the main terminal and will screen my bag in my presence. I don't even carry my CCW very much at my destination. Mainly it is to keep TSA agents with sticky fingers from stealing from you.

More info available from the King of secured luggage travel Deviant Ollam:
https://deviating.net/firearms/packi...unts/0017.html


How I secure my luggage

Zeeb

I don't bother locking my bags because as others have noted, if the TSA wants in they'll get in. And if a thief wants in they'll get in. I take the same philosophy with checked bags as I do with my wallet and or when I leave my car somewhere - I accept that there's no way to be completely safe so instead I just try to make sure that I'm not the easiest target. I try to make it so somebody at least has to make a little bit of an effort to pick my bag over the one next to it. To that end I use wire key loops like the one shown here on my luggage. It isn't gonna stop somebody who really wants in, but it does prevent someone from sticky hands from just reaching in and grabbing stuff. They have to take a couple of seconds to unscrew it and take it off before they can unzip my bag. I use the same for carry on luggage that I put in the overhead for overnight flights.

jerseytom

Eh. Can only agree to an extent. Granted I tend to deal with this with software IP and protection rather than physical goods, but I think the principals are similar.

Ultimately no lock / security system / whatever is 100% impervious to attack. Do you not lock your house or car doors? After all, if a thief wants in they'll just pick the lock or bust the window - so why bother?

Crimes can be opportunistic - if something is trivially easy to do (unzip, grab something, walk away without drawing any attention) it may be far more likely than if there's even something basic to impede it. So while a lock (on luggage, a car, a house, whatever) is no guarantee for safety, it is also going to deter some non-zero quantity of easy opportunistic theft.

Hell there was a serial killer out there at one time who, "later told detectives that he took locked doors as a sign that he was not welcome, but unlocked doors were an invitation to come inside."

TechnoTourist

You can 3D print the keys for TSA compliant locks, so they are little more than a nuisance to a determined thief. Locks might cause a casual snoop to move to the next bag.

tanglin

I also use cable ties on my Pelican box when checking it in. On the top inside I have an envelope with more ties and a note asking security to please replace the one they cut of. They always have.
For regular luggage I use a TSA lock but only as extra insurance against accidental opening.

cbn42

On the flip side, since most bags aren't locked (unlike cars or houses), the presence of a lock can indicate to a thief that there is something valuable in a bag.

I never lock my bags except when traveling to certain developing countries where this practice is the norm. I have never had anything stolen.

Yachtman

I'm another one who uses zip ties. They reduce the likelihood of an opportunist thief or the bag accidentally opening (zipper gets caught on something in the conveyor system etc), but also if the TSA cut off the zip tie its not a major problem. That said, I never have anything particularly valuable in my checked baggage.

lhrsfo

Bearing in mind that most flights go nowhere near the USA, the TSA comments are somewhat irrelevant. Personally, I think there's only marginal utility in locking bags - purely on the theory that opportunistic theft of contents is easier with unlocked bags, which is probably a bigger driver than good suitcases and locks demonstrating that there are items worth stealing.

When I do travel in the USA, the TSA snoops through my possessions about 50% of the time, so clearly there's no security of possession there.