Am in a quandry as to whether or not we should use any locks, much less the TSA approved locks. We will be flying from the US to Amsterdam via Rome. I used a TSA approved lock on a previous trip to London and it disappeared from my luggage, probably sawed off by TSA who did not put a note in my luggage.
What have been your experiences with locks?
There are differing schools of thought about locks, but I have used TSA locks several times to three different continents with no problems at all. My bag was searched between London and Chicago coming home, but there was a note, and the lock was relocked.
Next time I'm going to use wire ties - the plastic, non-reuseable ones. A huge supply is very inexpensive at the hardware store. You'll need a way to cut them off upon arrival, though.
Nancy, like your idea about disposables. We'll be staying at a private home so we'll have the means to cut them off.
I figure the cost of the locks is fairly small, and if I tape them down they shouldn't get caught or cause tears if pulled (since I'm checking my main bag). If they get cut, so be it. There is the chance my bag will be sliced open (worst case scenario), but I figure that's a risk if the bag is secured with anything that needs to be cut. I dislike the idea of having baggage without any sort of locks. For my bags that I carry, when I want them lockable, I'll have either a small combination lock (if I want to access that area quickly) or zip ties (if I'm happy having that inaccessible until I have access to something to clip them off. There are also little plastic lock thingies available through the webstore here that add a little extra security and are very inexpensive.
We use TSA locks on luggage that we check and and other travel combination locks on all openings on day back backs, etc.
My TSA lock was opened and relocked on a recent flight from Hawaii. The note inside said that my suitcase went through a random spot check.
I've used TSA approved locks on our bike cases when traveling, just to keep the cases from coming open. They always get opened in the US, with a note inside to say the case was inspected. I bought my locks at Target, not expensive, so if they disappear, no big deal.
That being said. I will never purchase a combo lock again. They tend to get 'reset" on their own. I had to find someone to cut off a lock in Italy, not a fun thing. I use keyed locks, and keep the keys in a secure place - and I bring both sets of keys (as they usually come with at least 2) I keep one keep in a wallet, and the other in another secure place.
If you don't have anything of huge value in your checked luggage, you can skip a lock, unless you worry your suitcase might open up and spill contents somewhere along the way....
Hi Mary,
We always use the plastic zip-ties that you can get at Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc. We put an old pair of small scissors or nail clippers in an outside pocket (unsecured) so we can snip them upon arrival. After 7 trips never even lost a pair of scissors!
Paul
Thanks for your replies. I think I'll go the cheap route and use the temporary thingies. Not that I don't trust TSA...
These locks are a joke for use other than to keep zippers closed in use. To open one, all you have to do is put a small screwdriver in the seam and they pop right open. When packing, our luggage had TSA locks on them but we forgot where the keys were, so with my pocket screwdriver I opened it in less than 5 seconds using next to no force. We packed and have new locks on them which are just as strong and one key opens all 6 locks.
