How to secure a roll-top closure bag?

Question

I’ve got a pretty big bag—actually, a sack into which you put your bag—with a roll-top closure system. I had never heard of it, but you can see it in action here. That one is pretty small, but they go up to 80-90 liters of capacity, here an example.

These sacks are advertised as a good solution for air travels when you have to board backpacks. Some companies won’t allow backpacks because of their loose ends that might stick and block the luggage transportation system. So you just put your backpack in a cheap, lightweight sack and you are done.

Still, there seems to be no way to secure it. One can just open the clips, unroll the top and that’s it. Do you have any experience on how (and if) this kind of bag can be secured?

Here's a close up of the closure, I don't know its name but it's pretty obvious.

Answer 1

One thing you can do is to lock the loops where the plastic clip-lock attaches with a wire-lock as shown in the picture below:

Alternatively you could break the plastic clip-lock that you are showing in the picture and replace it with a regular key- or combination-lock (and you can get those even in the TSA-approved variant). Note that a potential thief could still cut the rope bag itself or the laces that hold the lock.

Another thing is to lock the backpack inside the roll-top bag. Here is a pic of using a net for this. Or just lock the zippers like here.

All of this won't stop anyone determined to get your stuff but it does make it harder.

Answer 2

I have a few of these bags, but only use them for beach/swimming stuff. If I were to try and lock one, I would search for a generic backpack security protector. It seems that there are several of these around, e.g. on Amazon:

These are sold under the Pacsafe name.

There may be other lockable mesh products available.

If you are checking in your bag, you might want to put the mesh around the inner bag and leave the roll-up bag unlocked.

Answer 3

They are normally used for swimming/diving/kayaking/canyoning, as waterproof packaging (although they are a bit more sturdy then). I am not aware of any way to 'lock' them, but why would that be a concern? Backpacks are not lockable either.

Checked luggage is not accessible to the public, and if someone working there wants to open your luggage and steal something, they have all the time in the world to use tools, so no locking makes any sense.

if you want to secure against accidental opening (by being thrown around), a simple wire threaded trough both sides and twisted will help.

Answer 4

To add to mts's answer (sorry, I can't comment as I'm new here), if you find a padlock with a small shackle there is no need to cut off the existing clips, just ensure the straps on each side of the clip are squeezed into the shackle.

That will stop the clip being casually opened, and won't damage the bag so you can use it inside your rucksac as a 'dry bag'. It's not a secure bag, and can't be made secure, but you can discourage easy access.