Originally Posted by
achurchk
I guess I should have been clearer. I do use packing envelopes etc., but it isn't my clothes that are a problem. As an example, I enclosed a spare laptop in bubble wrap (3 layers) and nestled it in between my other items. TSA opened it and did not re-wrap. It arrived cracked and tilted in my luggage. Had I had something available to occupy the open space in my luggage, I don't believe that would have happen.
That was the most costly episode, but I still find it amazing how 'shook up' things appear if you leave any open space in checked luggage.......
Well, your first mistake was packing a fragile/valuable item in checked bagage.
Your second mistake was packing a fragile/valuable item in checked bagage.
And then you compounded it by packing a fragile/valuable item in checked bagage.
Because, YES, packing a fragile/valuable item in checked bagage is so egregious an error in judgement that it counts as three whole mistakes.
I'm sorry to pound on you like this, as it's not my intention to be insulting or demeaning. But this is a really serious error and it sounds to me like you're specifically searching for a way to make packing your fragile/valuable items in checked bags safe. Well, there is no way to make it safe. Just don't do it, ever.
Suitcases are not secure. Anything soft-sided or zip-closure can be opened quite easily with a knife or pair of scissors or a knitting needle. And even if you use something as solid as a Pelican case as a checked bag, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, which on a Pelican case is the lock you secure it with. And TSA has bolt cutters that will go through any lock you can imagine - and they WILL do so. Once that lock is off, the items inside the case then become fair game for anyone in the back areas of the airport - baggage handlers, airline employees, TSOs - to rifle through the contents.
So, just don't do it. There is no solution that will make your fragile/valuable items acceptably safe from either impact damage or theft in a checked bag of any type. If your items don't fit in your carry-on, figure out something else - ship it, rent/borrow it at your destination, or just do without, because putting it in your checked bag is just beggin' fer trouble.