NOTE: This is not an advertisement, and we were not compensated for this post—we purchased this item on our own and wanted to share our experience.
A while back, I wrote about why your hotel safe might not be as safe as you’d like to think. It included YouTube videos of how to easily open a variety of locked hotel safes and some viable alternatives to hotel safes. Full disclosure: it was totally a “do as I say, not as I do” post because although I brought my laptop with me during all of my travel, I was still putting it in the hotel safe (or worse, in the bottom of my suitcase, under the clothes, because nobody would EVER break into my suitcase [it’s SO easy to do] look there, right? #rolleyes). I know, I know…bad Sharon! So I put my money where my mouth was and bought a PacSafe brand Travelsafe 12L GII portable safe a while back. Here’s my review of it.
Although they sell PacSafes items directly from their website, I bought mine from Amazon – it was still being sold by PacSafe, but it was a little cheaper, and I have Prime so I got free shipping.
Why I Chose the Travelsafe 12L GII
I purposely bought the Travelsafe 12L GII portable safe because of its size – simply put, I needed it to hold one, or possibly two notebook computers, 2 iPads and sometimes a few other small items. Here are its specs, as per Pacsafe’s website:
Its anti-theft technology uses a product called eXomesh and a thick wire cable for attaching the bag to something permanent (or at least big and bulky) in your hotel room. It comes with a 3-digit combination lock that is TSA-compliant.
Granted, a would-be thief with a bolt or wire cutter would probably be able to break into the bag, but it’s assumed most people intending to steal something from a hotel room would have minimal tools…maybe a screwdriver? It’s a given that nothing is absolutely 100% foolproof…but I suspected this would be safer than an ordinary electronic hotel safe where you can open it with directions found on YouTube, right?
Initial Impressions
The Travelsafe came in a sturdy bag inside a sturdy box. The instructions (including how to change the combination on the included lock) were frustratingly minimal but between looking at some YouTube videos and reviews/explanations on Amazon, I figured it out in about 5-10 minutes (I’m not going to explain how the Travelsafe and its lock works…if I can figure it out, so can you, LOL) and once you get the hang of its use, it’s easy.
You can pack the Travelsafe flat or you can roll it up. It fits flat almost perfectly in a 14″ x22″ x 9″ carry-on suitcase and that’s how I liked to carry it but, as always, Your Mileage May Vary.
Security Features
To keep your belongings secure, the Travelsafe must be attached to something permanent in your hotel room. Here are some recommended spots:
Under the sink
(Again, I assume a thief would have access to a screwdriver, but unless they’re a plumber, a wrench? Not so much.) (if you’re squeamish at the thought of the bag being on the bathroom floor, put a towel under it.)
A middle door hinge
(I specify the middle hinge because a thief would need to disconnect all 3 door hinges before being able to grab the bag. (S)he may have the tools but might not want to risk the time or noise level).
A television with a base
(double-check to make sure the base is large enough so the wire connected to the bag can’t just slide off the bottom of the base. Assuming it’s not, he or she would need to take the whole TV with him/her. That might look suspicious to be carrying a flat-screen TV with a bag attached to it).
A large piece of furniture (i.e., a bulky chair)
(again, that would be a cumbersome item to have to carry in order to take the bag).
The clothes bar in the closet
(those bars are usually held by brackets screwed into the wall. The would-be thief would need to take quite a bit of time to unscrew everything)
The security lock and chain style lock of your hotel room
(again, unscrewing would have to be done, but it would take some time to get it done)
You might even be able to connect the bag to the bed frame (this method might not work for all beds).
Real-World Use
I first used my PacSafe Travelsafe during a trip to Tennessee, where our hotel lacked a safe. It proved to be effective and held:
- One 13″ notebook computer
- One 13″ MacBook Air
- Two iPads
- Plenty of room for additional items
Pros and Cons
- As I mentioned earlier, I chose to keep it flat and it fits perfectly into my carry-on rollerboard bag.
- Our hotel room didn’t have a safe, so we now actually had a place for our more valuable possessions.
- It has 2 built-in handles, which is apparently the newest addition to this latest model.
- Although the outside is charcoal gray, the inside is a much lighter shade of gray, making it easy to see what’s in the bag.
- The numbers on the lock were easy to read and manipulate (you also don’t need to use their lock if you don’t want to; you can supply your own if you prefer. The bolt of the lock just needs to be 1/8″ in diameter. A 1/4″ bolt [I’m thinking like regular Master locks] would be too wide for the hole it needs to go through).
- Heads up – you have to have relatively decent finger/hand strength and dexterity to pull the wire cable enough so the bag closes and the “pearls” in the cable go through to the position they need to be in. If you have normal adult hand strength and dexterity, you’ll be fine. I suspect those who have arthritis or other problems with their hands/fingers might have some difficulty.
- I chose to connect the Travelsafe to the pipes under the sink
Pro: I didn’t think it would be easy to steal.
Cons: I had to bend down to connect/disconnect it. There would also usually be the “ick” factor of “the bathroom floor,” but our hotel room had 2 sinks: one in the regular bathroom (which was tiled) and one in the area before that, which was carpeted. I connected it to sink pipes in the carpeted area.
No one stole the bag or anything in it during our 3-night stay. Of course, you never know when it’s “your turn” to have your possessions stolen from your hotel room. So, of course, I will never be able to say if it’s a deterrent or not. But nothing was stolen, so I’m taking that as a win ;-).
Conclusion
After over five years of use, the PacSafe Travelsafe has become a staple in my travel gear. It provides peace of mind when staying in hotels, and I highly recommend it to anyone concerned about hotel safety.
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2 comments
Thanks for the suggestions. We either travel with this same PacSafe travel safe, or we travel with our PacSafe backpacks that provide similar features and lock via one of the straps. If you have a rental car, you can also secure the safe or backpack to a hinge in the trunk (boot) then close the trunk.
I’ll stick with just locking my semi-valuables (anything that I would actually leave in a hotel room) inside my locking suitcase. It is easy for someone to slip an electronic item out of a room to steal it but not a suitcase.