Easily Secure Your Luggage While Traveling for Greater Peace of Mind

Handling one's baggage is certainly one of the absolute biggest obstacles for many travelers. For independent budget travelers, efficient baggage handling becomes a necessity. Not only do you have to carry your bags around (I am a firm advocate of the less-luggage-is-more school of travel), but you have to be concerned about their whereabouts at all times lest you and your bags part ways.

If there was one small investment that I could convince you to make for your luggage peace-of-mind, it would be Eagle Creek's luggage cable and lock set (see here). The cable is 4 feet long and coated in soft plastic. It's also extremely flexible, making is easy to snake through baggage handles and around just about any anchor point you wish. Then, when not in use, you can coil it up to about the size of a silver dollar, ready to be stowed in the pocket of any bag.

For the past 8 years I have used this cable to anchor my bags to chairs in airports, to the overhead racks on trains, to my hotel/hostel bed, to train couchette bunks, and to a multitude of other things--even just attaching the bags to each other in hotel luggage rooms while I am out on the town. The included 3 combo lock makes setting up and undoing the cable a breeze.

What's nice about this arrangement is the knowledge that all my bags are together and locked to a fixed place or to each other. That way I can quickly use the restroom or get a little rest without having to take my luggage with me. While not totally safe from a determined thief or a long absence, you have to remember that most thieves are on the prowl looking for easy prey. When they see your bags locked together with a steel cable, they simply move on to easier pickings.