Hot answers tagged security
28
I remember seeing this at an airport once before. They didn't have this at my local international airport so I thought it was some crazy thing for paranoid fliers. But in hindsight it has a purpose.
The companies that provide these services claim a lot, but it is definitely going to provide the protection from the following things:
Tampering (or at least ...
24
I'm afraid I can't find any government numbers to back up my anecdotal evidence, but Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro are all very safe - much safer than their equivalents in London, New York or any other 'world' city. I've spent many nights in each, in varying states of sobriety, and never had any problems at all. I've lost my wallet a few times (on trains, ...
23
I think the best write-up I've seen on this is at Corporatetravelsafety.com:
They begin the Paris String Scam by engaging you in innocent
conversation and will usually say that they want to show you a magic
trick. Before you know it, a "string man" has grabbed your wrist or
one or two fingers and encircled it with a homemade bracelet of
colored ...
21
It prevents anyone in the airport from stealing anything from your bag. Not a problem in many European/USA airports, but when travelling through, say, Africa, you have to be careful.
I remember a friend of mine, after transferring through Johannesburg, picking up her laptop case from the luggage carousel and remarking that it felt very light.
19
I can't find the reference now, but there was a great story that an organisation was testing security at airports around the world, by taking a suitcase to the airport and leaving it there, timing how long before it got stolen or identified.
The exception was Johannesburg, where the car was hijacked enroute, and the suitcase never made it to the airport ;)
...
19
Shrinkwrapping your luggage also protects anything protruding or attached such as handles, straps, fittings, padlocks, wheels, etc.
Apparntly it's also used to keep things of odd shapes and sizes together as in this photo from Bangkok airport:
(Thanks to WikiMedia Commons for the photo)
19
Why do you need to give them an excuse? [Currently] we have the right to opt-out, no questions asked. Having to explain yourself eats away at this right.
I've never been asked why I opted-out, but if I was, I think I would say something like "to protest overly-burdensome security regulations". Which is the truth.
17
Plastic wrap, or some sort of net, is also a common technique for people traveling with backpacking packs. The number of protruding straps, handles, etc. are irresistible bait for baggage handlers or machines to grab your bag by the wrong strap and rip it apart. Bundling it until it reaches your destination prevents backpack disabling misadventure.
17
I spent four and a half months backpacking in the 7 countries you mentioned in 2009. Just based on my own experience I would say the difference in how dangerous a place felt was not between the countries but between places within each country, or even parts of a city.
Some parts of the bigger cities should be avoided, especially at night. However many ...
17
Although I haven't brought champagne in checked luggage, I have brought wine on multiple occasions. (Typically bringing it home from places with nice wine.) I roll a nice soft Tshirt around it tightly, and if I have two bottles (which might clink against each other) then after each is rolled in a shirt I wrap the two of them together in another shirt or ...
16
The only possible difference is that in the EU, they may not have the TSA keys. Therefore it just becomes like a normal lock that you have the keys for and they don't. So worst case, they may flag the bag for inspection and require you to open it for them.
Indeed in Europe you're still allowed to lock it with whatever lock you want, so it's perfectly ...
15
I agree with most of the answers, but don't think that if your luggage is wrapped in plastic it can't be "opened by accident".
I have a friend who traveled from the US to Venezuela with his luggage wrapped in plastic, and some things "dissapeared" from his luggage, aparently someone opened it got some stuff and wrapped it again in plastic so my friend ...
15
Jerusalem is no longer divided (it was divided between Jordan and Israel between 1948 and 1967). Israel controls all of it, and there are no check points or border control anywhere in the city.
There are security checkpoints at the entrance to the Temple Mount, but they're there to keep the Israelis (and weapons) out, not the foreigners (as opposed to what ...
15
One of the simplest, cleanest and cheapest solutions that I've seen is a couple I met who were travelling around South America. They'd back up onto a second SD card as well. When a card was full, they'd simply put it in an envelope and mail it home. Very cheap and very easy, and pretty reliable. Send it registered mail if you don't trust it.
Once their ...
14
Jozza'a quote above is on so many of the 'crazy' travellers' Facebook profiles that I encounter. I'm in southern Russia at present after a 34 hour train journey, and I'm trying to work out how to get into Kazakhstan. I don't speak the language, don't know where I'm going, and am on my own. And you know what? I haven't had any problems, no crime, the train ...
13
If at all possible, park near other
cars. The proximity of other cars
means that any potential thief not
only has to watch for you returning,
but also the owners of any of the
other cars.
An active alarm, preferably with a
highly visible red light blinking in
a prominent location. These tend to
get ignored when they go off in urban
areas simply because ...
13
Some airlines now enforce plastic wrapping your luggage themselves. I flew out of Johannesburg with Emirates and they took it upon themselves to plastic wrap my luggage. I assumed it was for 2 reasons:
to help prevent theft from luggage because OR Tambo International is known for pilfering
to make the luggage as compact as possible.
13
All of the capital cities are dodgy, but some only in certain areas.
Belize
Belize City and Belmopan both have bad reputations, but they're the only capital cities in Central America I haven't been to.
Costa Rica
The most developed and safest country in Central America.
San José feels safe compared to the other capitals and people do go out at night. ...
13
We went to Empire State Building during our Christmas season trip to NYC. I carried a small digital camera in addition to my phone which had a camera. My girlfriend carries a Nikon digital camera D50 with exchangeable lenses, and also a camera in her smartphone. Security checked the camera equipment without difficulty. I was completely unaware that there ...
12
While I don't regularly sleep in the airports, I suggest you check out these tips:
Whether you are sleeping in the airport by yourself or with friends, it is good to know where security is. Know where their office is and look for video cameras in the spot you decide to stay the night. They've probably seen many airport sleepers before you and they will ...
12
Last night we had a story on Carte Blanche (a South African investigative reporting program) where they said that there are about 140 000 incidents of theft at OR Tambo per year, so the situation is still really bad despite lots of measures put in place. They showed CCTV camera footage of how the thieves know exactly where the cameras are and grab bags off ...
12
Generally speaking, yes. However the same common-sense rules apply everywhere. Don't leave it alone in a bag somewhere, don't flash it about, etc. The only time I had anything stolen was my bag, in an ex-pat bar in Roppongi. Says a lot.
More: Japan is still a rather cash-based society given how early and frequently banks close, and I found that my UK bank ...
12
I went several times to this park and I never had to deal with that kind of people (I am French). They certainly target tourists so I would recommend the usual stuff I apply to myself not to be bothered in such a case.
Walk confidently, a bit fast. You know where you are going.
Do not look around or stroll in front of them. Look in front of you.
If they ...
12
It depends what you're doing, where you're doing it, and (from personal experience) whether you look like a member of $racial_minority.
The loitering laws are in place so that the police can ask you for ID if they think you may be doing something illegal. For example, someone "loitering" on a parking lot can be looking for cars to break into. However, if ...
11
Buy a gun.
No really. You can buy a Starter Pistol (you know, the kind used to signal the beginning of a race) for under fifty bucks. According to TSA regulations, any case which contains a firearm is inspected at the time of check-in, and then locked and tracked in transit. This means that your bag will not be searched except under your direct supervision, ...
11
For one thing, you should choose a reputable hotel/hostel with employees you can trust. Then just leave your valuables in the room (or a locker in a hostel dorm). I stayed in cheap (but good) places (USD 8-11 / night) and had no problems in Costa Rica or Panama.
To find out which places are "reputable", I'd rely on online resources (reviews on Hostelworld ...
11
My method is to keep valuables in a piece of luggage that locks. It won't stop seriously determined thieves from slashing open your luggage, but if they're that determined, they could probably break open a cheap safe, too. For documents/money and other small items, I try to hide them on a hidden or hard-to-access interior pocket within my locked luggage so ...
11
With backpacks, The small outer pockets are the target for pickpockets. They are easy to open without you noticing it. So always leave your valuable stuff at the main pocket of the backpack even if you use locks on the outer pockets they can still steal stuff from it. In Egypt around 2001-2002 I have seen some one whose passport was stolen from his backpack ...
11
Yes, U.S. Customs and Border Protection can and does search electronic devices entering the country. No, it does not matter if the device belongs to a US citizen or not. There have been court cases about this practice, but so far the courts have decided it does not constitute unreasonable search and seizure since the searches occur before the traveler has ...
10
Casual thieves will try to defeat the ignition/steering lock and either ride off with it or ramp it onto the back of a pickup. Professional thieves will bring a couple of bars of rebar and a buddy or three, pick up your ride and haul it into a truck.
Prefer covered/underground/garaged parking over uncovered/lot/street parking. If fewer people can see your ...
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