Airport security worker explains why you should never put a padlock on your suitcase
Topics: Social Media, Travel, Viral, TikTok, Reddit
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Social Media, Travel, Viral, TikTok, Reddit
Turns out your safety measures securing your bag with a combination lock are a lot more futile then you realized.
Finding a suitcase which will survive being lobbed like a sack of potatoes onto the conveyor belt and one which is big enough to fit your endless outfit options without going over the airline's ridiculously precise measurements?
Finding a bag to take on holiday with you is no easy feat and it turns out making it secure is harder than you thought too.
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A user took to a Reddit thread to ask: "People who work for airlines, what are secrets passengers don't know?"
And it didn't take long for a worker to weigh in, revealing padlocks aren't as effective as many of us think they probably are.
They wrote: "It's literally not even a deterrent. Some might take it as a sign that the bag is worth searching."
And the proof is really in the pudding after an airport worker revealed just how easy padlocks are to get around.
In a video widely circulated on TikTok, a Transport Security Administration worker revealed how pointless combination locks can be in particular when it comes to securing your luggage.
You may've thought you were safer with a hard-shelled suitcase versus a soft one, but think again.
Using just a pen, the worker can be seen breaking through the zip of a suitcase, breaching the suitcase's security pretty instantly.
In the video, he explains: "The pen to the zipper technique has been around for tons of years, so I wanted show you guys this, so you know to look out for it.
"I'm just going to go all the way around and this once zipped up bag was opened with just a pen."
The worker then suggests another small consideration when it comes to buying a suitcase for your travels which may help deter thieves.
It's as simple as a suitcase having a cover over its zipper - one 'extra added layer of security'. And it's not taken long for people to weigh in
One TikTok user said: "I literally only have clothes in there - have fun."
Although, another ominously noted: "It's not what they can get from the luggage - it's what they can put in it."
"Or just carry your valuables with you," a third suggested, while a fourth wrote: "But tell me solutions not problems."
And TikTok being TikTok, a whole trend has since started of identifying 'Suitcases that pass the pen test' - if there was anything that sums up the weird limbo period between Christmas and New Year's, doom-scrolling about suitcase zips is pretty perfect.