Day bag decision dielemma

We use the Pacsafe Metrosafe 200 (I think it is). I carry the camera stuff, so hubby carries it - cross body. Room for all our stuff - even small bottles of water in the side pockets. Map or guidebook in the bag, along with his wallet and other daily things. It doesn't get overly packed...(and you certainly don't need to stick with pacsafe, but a cross body bag takes some of the pressure off your back/shoulder). We have also put a small travel umbrella in there as well if it looks like rain. And I may have been know to ball up a light cardigan and put it in as well.
http://www.pacsafe.com/metrosafe-200-gii-shoulder-bag.html

You'd only need a Pacsafe for valuables (ours is small) so I wouldn't invest in one just for guidebooks, water bottles, etc: any shoulder bag of reasonably moderate size and comfort will do. I carry the camera in mine - when not around my neck - and haven't ever been overly worried about it being snatched. It also doesn't have a water-bottle pocket but tightly-capped bottles won't leak so we just toss them in the bag.

It doesn't matter what you carry water, a jacket, a guidebook, an umbrella in. Any bag will do that you find comfortable. If someone manages to get their hand in it what are they going to get? The only thing worth making a hullabaloo about is money and ID and your phone or small camera which should be well stowed. Waist pouches are in addition to being ugly not necessarily secure; pickpockets who have no trouble dipping front pockets may well have no trouble dipping bum bags even those worn in front. Perhaps the pacsafe closures will be secure enough to prevent that. Why worry about water bottles; thieves don't care about those.

You can tote several separate things around at once (rucksack, water bottle, waist pouch, et. al.), but at some point, that can become cumbersome, and you have to keep track of everything. There are water bottle slings (sometimes padded & insulated!), that let you carry a water bottle with a strap you can loop over a shoulder or across your body, and that keeps the bottle handy without having to extract it from your pack. Unless you plan to take an inventory every so often -- let's see, there's the jacket, the water bottle, the day pack, the waist pouch, which one had the camera in it again . . . ? one all-purpose bag is pretty easy. Lots of pockets and zippers give you access, but fewer zippers (especially if you lock or otherwise secure them) make it harder for someone else to have access. Of course, the bigger the bag, the more one might be tempted to fit into it, but many bags are equipped with very comfortable straps. If you get one at a retail store, you could try it out, stuffing some items in it to weigh it down a bit, and wear it around for some time to ensure it will work for you when you're traveling. Observance and diligence are pretty effective preventive measures against theft.

I too use the pacsafe metro bag 200. It is lighter than it used to be. It is amazing how much you can fit into this well organized cross body purse, and yet it still looks more like a purse than a tote bag. In other words, it is not too big. It has two outside pockets, which would hold water. I use them for my travel umbrella and my other eyeglasses when in a museum. Have fun.

Thanks everyone. I did check out the PacSafe Metrosafe 200 and it looks like it would work as an alternative to the waist pack.. The waist pack can have zippers locked but then not convenient. I hadn't thought that the water bottle did not need to be in it's own pouch outside the bag. I had already ordered the one from Rick Steves as it was on sale and as cheap as ones I could get locally. I have not found much selection locally for a cross body bag yet. I do wonder if anyone on this forum has used Rick's Civita shoulder bag. The small camera and the phone are the only things I am concerned about being taken as my ID, credit/debit cards and all but day money will be in money belt.

Again, you don't need to spend a lot on a pack if it's just for daytime stuff and not valuables. For a small pack, check out the Merrell Rouge pack on ebags.com. It's cheaper than pacsafe products and practical for those who want a small pack. You can purchase a small luggage combination lock for a compartment on the pack. That's what I did.

I use a hidden pocket for the key items (passport, reserve cash, back-up credit card). I try to wear a shirt with button pockets for most of my day cash and my regular credit card. I'll keep coins and a small amount of bills in my front pocket. For everything else I use a day pack I bought at REI almost 15 years ago. It has a pocket for a water bottle, a mesh outside pocket for anything I want handy and I can store a guidebook, camera, disposable poncho, etc. in the main section. I use a simple travel combo lock that I leave unlocked or moved over one number to secure the zippers. The nice thing about a day pack is that you can put it over both shoulders for comfort when walking. The drawback is of course that you're wearing a backpack around if you're trying to look fashionable. I figure that I look like a tourist anyway so I might as well be comfortable and functional.

Just wondering how prevalent "cut and slash theft" is in Italy such that the "PacSafe" steel reinforcement bag is needed.

Also wondering if the steel reinforced bag straps are a good idea. One of my mother's neighbors was injured in the US when she held onto her purse as a snatcher snatched, knocking her to the ground breaking or separating her shoulder. If a PacSafe bag gets "Vespa snatched", the victim could be better off with a break-away strap.

Most of my days during my one Italian holiday were spent in a small village where we didn't have to be preoccupied with the fear of theft and robbery. And we certainly weren't worried about someone snatching our water bottles.

Two men on scooter purse snatch and drag an old lady. San Giorgio a Cremano - Napoli:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3WHcfTrVU

I use the Veloce Bag for iPads from Rick Steves. There is a inside pocket that's behind a zipper, a flap and a clasp that makes it pretty difficult for a pick pocket to get to. I wore it cross-body with the bag in front and my hand naturally rested there to keep it even more protected. I put my cheaper items in the outer pockets and you can fit a small thin water bottle in there (or clasp it, like someone else mentioned). We didn't have any issues while traveling abroad in Italy for a few weeks.

I have the same Pacsafe bag. I tried Rick's bag but didn't like the day bag, I do use his backpack though as my main bag. There is a store by me that carries the pac safe bags so I tried several of those and other bags out before my trip. I settled on the pac safe bag 200. It fits my iPad or guide book (depending if I take paper or digital on my trip). I can fit my camera the sony NEX 6 with a long lens in the bag. I keep my passport and some cash in there for the day. Never had a problem with it. It also fits my small umbrella and some small items. It doesn't bother my shoulder at all when it's weighed down.