TSA Combination Luggage Lock Airport Security

We've all experienced that moment watching your suitcases, rucksack or other bags slowly disappear under the flaps at airport check-in, half knowing there's a good chance if we don't lose it altogether, someone behind the scenes might take a look, and perhaps help themselves to something inside.

Many "high-risk" airports and destinations have centrifugal saran-wrap machines that will entomb your luggage in layers and layers of clear film. I did this once when leaving Venezuela, only to collect my luggage in London with a huge slice through the wrap and my then rather expensive iPod missing.

TSA (Transportation Security Administration) approved luggage locks offer an amount of security that might just mean the difference between your valuables remaining yours, and you holiday continuing to be a happy experience, or your valuables mysteriously disappearing, with little or no compensation for you.

A three-wheeled combination lock, with flexible shackle allows you to lock the zips of your bags together. And while they won't protect against a sustained attack, they may just prove enough of a deterrent when time is of the essence for the thief and the chances are they'll pass on the luggage with the lock, for one without a lock.

From a lock picking point of view, TSA combination locks provide a mid-range challenge for those working wanting to bypass combination locks, or working their way up to safe-cracking. How will you locate the gates, how will you move onto the next wheel - what is the trick? What is the secret? And look - you can buy it to learn how to defeat it, then once defeated, secure your luggage with it - two items in one!