When a hostel doesn't have any lockers available?

Hi Billy,

Best thing I can recommend is that you take two locks - one combination lock to put on lockers at the hostels that have them... the second lock I recommend is one of those cable bicycle locks (as an example, look here). You can take the cable lock, weave it through multiple straps and clips on your backpack, and then wrap the cable around something more permanent like a support post on a bunk bed.

This will by no means make your bag immune to theft; rather it will act as a deterrent. A thief still could get out a knife and cut the bag open or loose altogether. If you wrap the cable through multiple points on the bag, it would take a fair bit of work to cut your bag completely free. This could take some time, so a potential thief would probably be more likely to try an easier target.

Hope this helps - have a great trip!

I personally think that if I had to be that careful, I wouldn't stay in a hostel. I wouldn't want to be that close to criminals. Being afraid of my safety and my belongings so much doesn't sound like such a good time. But I'm sure some hostels are safer than others, and they are a lot cheaper.

just because you stay in a hostel doesn't mean that you are surrounded by criminals. I have stayed in a few hostels without lockers and I always use a cable lock to secure my back pack to something stationary and use zipper locks. The dorm rooms were at least lockable so the only people who accessed the room were hostel staff and my room mates. I have had things stolen before at hostels, but they were little things like my alarm clock and a lipstick. When there are no lockers I take my valuables with me (ipod and netbook). However, doimg my research for hostel rooms I check before and see if they have lockers. If they don't and there are no other options I will not hesistate to stay there. Hostelworld, hostelz, gomio are great resources to research hostels and past users will rate them on safety and security as well as other points.

Things go missing in regular hotel rooms as well.

It takes only one criminal to mess up your trip, and when I have my own room, at least I'm not sleeping in the same room with her/him.
Of course things can go missing in regular hotels, but sharing a room with a group of strangers, the chances are greater! I'm Hostel Phobic! Lol!

I can lock up the zippers on my backpack, and then I lock my pack to the bed or some other difficult to move object. But I wouldn't leave anything valuable in my backpack anyway.

But in my experience, most hostels have lockers, especially HI hostels.

Billy: If you want the added peace of mind, look into one of the Pacsafe mesh backpack locks. It's a stainless net that slips over your entire pack and you can secure the pack to a fixed object with the cable lock. This type of lock can also come in handy if you are taking a train where you might have to leave your pack on one of the luggage racks that are on either end of the car where it is out of your line of vision.

I've stayed in lots of hostels without lockers (or with lockers that were too small to accommodate a full size backpack), never had any problems with theft. Hostels aren't crawling with thieves, I don't think having a private room is necessary to keep your valuables safe. If you want to minimize the amount of times people are going in and out of your hostel room, perhaps book a bed in a 4 share bunk room instead of an 8, 10 or 12 bunk room. It usually only costs a few dollars more. If anything, it's worth the extra money if you are a light sleeper.

Billy -
I've stayed in hostels in both the US and Europe. I've never had one without somewhere to secure a bag. I typically go with HI hostels and they almost always have lockers.

Check the hostel website - it should say on there if they have lockers. Or drop them an email.

stayed in hostels all over europe, never had a place where i couldn't store a bag, the thing you really need to worry about is people drinking your milk while you're in edinburgh. now that i did have an actual problem with. :o) milk aside, your bags should be relatively safe. check the ratings at each hotel on the internet, there are several sites available for that on the web. try trip advisor. i also check with all of mine via the hostel booking websites, people leave reviews, you'll have just about everything you need to know then.

I've stayed in one hostel that I can remember that didn't have any type of lockers. Also if you arrive prior to check-in time and just want to drop off your bag to go sight-seeing for the day your bag will most likely end up in a common room, usually locked up (but they give the key to hostel guests to access the room and leave their packs). I only traveled with mini combination locks on my bag and a larger one for when there was lockers available. Luckily I didn't have any problems but the cable lock isn't a bad idea. I just didn't have anything in my pack that was valuable to steal.