Travel Purses 101

September 12, 2009 5:32 PM

You: intrepid traveler. Me: in need of travel purse advice.

I am looking for a safe, secure yet stylish travel purse. I like this one, but I'm concerned about its security. The side with all of the important stuff is just secured with a flap button. Then there's this one which is less expensive and appears to be more secure.

Do you have a travel purse besides one of these that you recommend for safe travel? Or, do you have either of these and recommend it? I want to be able to fit at least one guide book, probably a water bottle and the usual and customary travel sundries (although not a camera - I have a separate bag for that).

posted by Leezie to travel & transportation (17 comments total)

I use this in black leather when I travel and it's brilliant !
posted by dawdle at 5:49 PM on September 12

I recommend the MEC All Shoulder Bags, especially the Small Carry All Shoulder Bag and the Travel All Shoulder Bag. I don't know how easy they are to get in the US, but they're fantastic bags, very secure, and I like the way they look. They also carry a lot without appearing to be enormous.
posted by jeather at 6:57 PM on September 12

I guess I'm not very stylish, but in Budapest I got a North Face small messenger. It doubles as a purse and it fits my ultraportable laptop if it needs to. It has a flap for security, is waterproof, holds a water bottle on the side, and has all kinds of great pockets and stuff. It's been everywhere from rural Poland to the Bronx and held up awesome.
posted by melissam at 7:08 PM on September 12

I don't have either of those but would recommend the second one, since it is more secure (that diagonal strap is awesome!) and it also looks less expensive. If your wealth isn't advertised on your shoulder, you are less likely to be robbed.
posted by ramenopres at 8:31 PM on September 12

Security for carrying things when traveling:

Might be robbed to high probability of bad stuff: passport, credit card, any large denominations of currency you won't be using that day: go in a secure pouch under your clothes. This is not a purse, no one is supposed to know that it is there.

The bag: strap goes over your chest. Hand stays protectively on the purse.

Go with the one you can wear without someone taking it off you easily.
posted by titanium_geek at 9:56 PM on September 12 [1 favorite]

I have a Pacsafe. It's practically bulletproof, and come in several different colors and sizes, depending on what version of 'stylish' you're going for.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 9:59 PM on September 12

I have two Pacsafe 200s for my everyday bags and I love them. Slash-proof (both body and strap), cross-body, nice looking. They zip across, no flap, but there's a cool little latch you can latch the zipper pull with so that it can't be opened. Plenty of room for a guidebook, bottle, camera and all the rest.

I also second having your passport in an under-clothes bag. I didn't keep my money or cards in there, as I felt those would be relatively easy to take care of and it would be a huge hassle to fish them out, but my passport (and contact numbers for the cards) I kept in one of those security pouches. Straight around my neck would have felt weird (and been noticeable), so I did it cross-body, so that it was against my side and that worked great.
posted by clerestory at 10:31 PM on September 12

Sorry, I should mention the specific model - it's the CitySafe 200. I got it at REI - most of them seems to have some Pacsafe models if you want to go and try them out.
posted by clerestory at 10:35 PM on September 12

I recently traveled for several weeks, and I was so happy to have this LeSportsac shoulder bag. Like you, I wanted something to carry a (very thick) guidebook, water bottle, plus all my other daily necessities (camera, card case, snacks, etc.). I carried my cards and cash in an inner zipped pocket, and my passport I always left at a hotel in the safe while out sightseeing. I had one of those under the clothes hidden passport carriers for when I needed to carry it, but truthfully it was a pain to dig out and I felt pretty comfortable putting it in the inside zippered pocket.

I know that a flap is generally considered more secure on a purse, but when I traveled a few years ago and used one I found it annoying to get into. YMMV. With the LeSportsac shoulder bag, I carried it across my body and always slid it in front of me with my hand on top of the zippers if I were in a crowd or whatnot. It's a very light bag, and held everything I needed.
posted by JenMarie at 11:22 PM on September 12

Go with the one you can wear without someone taking it off you easily.

Seconded: that's about all you can do. It's still not perfect -- cutpurses are called that for a reason, and will snick off the strap with a razor blade in about half a second if you're not paying attention. There are shoulder bags with a steel cable hidden in the strap for this reason, but that is probably overkill for anywhere other than crowded markets in Egypt or central Africa.

As for nimbler pickpockets... keep your hand on the flap, or turn it around so it's against your body.

And don't travel without a copy of your passport and other id (and some money) somewhere else, like back in your hotel.
posted by rokusan at 12:34 AM on September 13

I'll second the suggestions to put nothing valuable in your bag--then it doesn't matter what kind of bag you have. My current favorite is a small, lightweight hemp backpack. It's so thin that I can put it in my carry-on bag with no problem, and because it's a backpack, it's more comfortable to use when it has heavy stuff like a bottle of water and a bag of nuts. It's also inexpensive looking and therefore less appealing to bag snatchers. I use twist-ties to keep the zippers closed and slow down any pickpockets when I'm on a crowded tram or whatever, but even if they got in, they wouldn't get anything I cared about.

I wear pants with pockets. My current favorite are cargo pants with flat pockets that have noisy velcro flaps. My passport goes on one thigh, my iPhone goes on another, my money goes in a pocket that's separate from my minimal wallet, and I'm happy.

Probably the safest bag would be a beat-up plastic shopping bag with the logo of a local discount store.
posted by PatoPata at 7:28 AM on September 13

Yeah, use a money belt under your clothes.

PatoPata's advice is also excellent, including using a shopping bag (although the downside of this is that if you happen to leave it somewhere, it's less likely that you'll find it again or that someone holds it for you).

I'm a dude, so I use a wallet instead of a purse, but my organization generally works like this: depending on the lodgings, I either keep the money belt under my pillow or beside my bed (if I'm in a safe secure location). In the mornings, I withdraw the money I need for that day. I also keep one credit card in my wallet, since they're useful for some purchases and it's okay (or at least, not disastrous) if they're stolen. I leave my passport, backup credit card, ATM card, and leftover cash in my money belt.

No matter what purse you get, wear it across your body rather than just over one shoulder. That way it's much harder for people to grab it from you. There are some "uncuttable" purses that have a metal strap, but I'd avoid these. A lot of thieves have starting simply cutting out the bottom of purses anyway, and if you get one of those thieves that grab for your bag from a motorino, the last thing you want to happen is for the metal strap to pull on your neck and either choke you or knock you to your feet (not sure if this actually happens, but it would be my number one fear using one of these things). if you follow the advice of using a money belt, then if it does get stolen it's less of a big deal.
posted by Deathalicious at 10:10 AM on September 13

I heartily recomment Pacsafe. It was lent to me by a friend who also had a great experience with it. I used the DailySafe H100 for a 2 week holiday and it was by far the best purse I have ever used. Secure enough that I felt it wouldn't be pickpocketed, but easy enough to access when I wanted to get inside. It surprised me how much I could fit in the bag, it's really small but really organized. I could fit in a hat, my sunglasses, wallet, hand sanitizer, a tiny flashlight, pen and paper, napkins, the list goes on, I could even fit the guidebook if I was wearing the hat. I had no problem getting things out quickly because of the structured pockets.

I loved having a small bag, I was limited to how much I could carry and didn't end up dragging around the kitchen sink.

I also had a neck wallet worn in my pants for emergency money, credit cards and passport. This was secure, but not too awkward getting out for when I needed them (which was rarely because cash is king!).

All this after backpacking Europe like the irresponsible fool that I was then. I used a money belt, sometimes. I didn't have health insurance and I also got drunk a lot. I thought that the whole safe traveling thing would be much more of a hassle. It really wasn't.
posted by Gor-ella at 1:34 PM on September 13

Anything by Civilian Lab is great; I own a couple of their bags. Not really purses, but they have a separate section for just about anything and I never lose my stuff traveling with these. Also, they are pretty tough and don't wear out easily.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:22 AM on September 14

My other tip for traveling safe is cut a slit on the inside waistband of your jeans and roll up your emergency cash and a copy of your id/hotel information and stow it in there. Seriously. Even if you're hit and mugged while unconscious, that stuff most likely will never be found.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:23 AM on September 14

As Unicorn implies, it's good to put some money in a place where muggers won't look automatically. Thieves know about money belts, so their utility definitely depends on context. Sewing hidden pockets into your clothes is a really good idea, as is the dummy wallet. I stash things in my bra... ymmv. I almost never carry my passport but sometimes take a copy.

No matter what kind of bag you have, carry it like it's the least insecure bag on the market -- shorten the shoulder strap, wear it across your body as other commenters have advised, keep it in front of you rather than at your side or behind you. Be aware of where all of its parts are, i.e. have physical or visual contact with the important points of access (the opening and the bottom). If you keep putting your hand on your pocket or purse and casting worried glances, you are more likely to be targeted, so it's good to act like you're not carrying valuables even when you are. Just make security a habit so you can be non-chalant.
posted by ramenopres at 2:38 PM on September 14 [1 favorite]

If you keep putting your hand on your pocket or purse and casting worried glances, you are more likely to be targeted, so it's good to act like you're not carrying valuables even when you are. Just make security a habit so you can be non-chalant.

Yes. Look confident, like you know where you are going, what you are doing. This is good security.
posted by titanium_geek at 4:22 AM on September 15