Empty lock box on carry on?
 

hi all,

i am traveling to cancun in a few days and was curious as to whether or not I could carry on an EMPTY lock box?

I may sound paranoid and know that most resorts/hotels should have a room safe and charge for the safe but would feel comfortable having a lock box that only I have the key too.

I don’t plan on checking a bag, rather carry on.

I’d have no problem unlocking the box and showing the contents to TSA but wanted to ask before purchasing. I am not planning on storing anything until I get to my destination but wanted to have an extra layer or protection when I arrived and store my passport/valuable’s in a secure box.

Thanks

Welcome to FT. You should have no problem with the box.

:rolle

I've traveled quite often with a full, locked SentrySafe lock box: (https://www.sentrysafe.com/product/P005C) I reset the lock code to something temporary, in case they want to see in it, but they have never asked. The metal is thin enough for them to X-ray through.

It's just a box with a lock. Just like half the bags going through the checkpoint. If it needs to be opened you will have to open it. But, you don't care about that because it's empty.

On the other hand, if it's portable, it isn't going to do you any good in Cancun. Your travel / theft insurance also likely won't cover anything which isn't in a hotel safe, e.g. room lockbox, if one is available.

The plan is that these lockboxes come with an external cable lock, and you lock that to a pipe or something imoveable in the room. The problem there is, that just advertises to thieves where your stuff is.

It's old school, but for cash and by backup ATM and credit cards, plus my passport, I still use slicks if I'm in a hotel in a questionable area. Hiding stuff behind electrical outlets and light fixtures, or inside the base of a lamp, or taped to the back of a picture on the wall is better security than a safe that the hotel staff can open.

(I know seasoned FTers will poke holes in this, but anyway...)

I carry a PacSafe Portable Safe (smallest one) with me. Never had any issues with security.

Sometimes I put the whole thing in the room safe. Yes, I know the thief can walk out with the whole thing, but it might a teensy-weensy deterrent for an opportunistic thief looking to grab some quick cash.

Sometimes I put in my suitcase, under the lining with the cable locked around one of the inner bars, and also lock and padlock my suitcase. If a thief gets through the first two locks, they will rummage through a suitcase with boring stuff like clothes, laundry. And if they do find the portable safe under everything else and the lining, they'll find another (4-numbered) lock to deal with or a cable/bar to cut. If they get through that... well a very brief round of applause might be in order and I contact the relevant authorities. My hope with this is that a thief would want to be in and out quickly and is looking for the easy stuff to grab.

While I have never carried a lockbox like he's talking about I have brought (checked, I doubt they would carry on) some Pac-Safe anti-theft things. They're basically a wire mesh sack (small things can go through them, they're more for locking up bigger things) but the key aspect of it is that there's a loop of the cable also--the intention is that you hook the cable over something (say, a bed frame) that will keep someone from just walking off with it. (I intended it for when we were sleeping on a train, or going out to eat when I wouldn't be carrying my DSLR. Plans got majorly changed, I never actually used them that trip.)

The point of the lock box isn't to prevent wholesale theft. It's to prevent "skimming". Pull off a few bills at a time, and likely the victim will not notice unless they audit every day. Even with a daily accounting, it'll be a he-said/she-said situation.

Make someone break the box to skim, then there's a much stronger case to be made.

It's my understanding hotel safes are pretty safe since only employees can open them... hotels will quickly fire anyone pilfering from them. (But anything not put inside may disappear)