We met Pacsafe founders Rob Schlipper and Magnus McGlashan at their first Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City in 1998, when the backpack protector was still their only product. The idea made immediate sense to us: build the security into the bag instead of adding locks, cables, and gadgets after the fact.
Pacsafe has since grown into backpacks, sling bags, wallets, and portable safes, and the idea is the same. Make a bag harder to open, cut, or carry off. That matters most on trains, in airports and markets, and anywhere your bag is surrounded by people or out of your hands for a few minutes. These are the Pacsafe pieces we would pick today.
What Pacsafe Builds Into Its Gear
Slash-resistant panels inside the fabric
Cut-resistant anchor straps
Lockable zipper systems
Puncture-resistant zipper coils
RFID-blocking pockets for passports and credit cards
Hidden internal storage pockets
Carry-On Travel Packs
Packs big enough to be your only bag, with Pacsafe's security built in.
Pacsafe GO 44L Carry-on Backpack
At Luggage Online
Packs like a suitcase: the main compartment unzips all the way open and locks. A hidden RFID-blocking pocket up top holds your passport, and a side handle lets you carry it like a bag.
A secret lockable back compartment holds a 16-inch laptop. The fabric and shoulder straps are cut-resistant, the zippers lock themselves, and there is an RFID-blocking pocket for cards.
For sightseeing, commuting, and the bag you carry once your luggage is at the hotel.
Pacsafe V 16L All-around Backpack
At Luggage Online
Two lockable compartments, a padded sleeve for a 13-inch laptop, and a hidden back pocket. Light enough for every day, and it slides over a suitcase handle.
A 12-liter sling for hiking, biking, and travel days, with two water bottle pockets and room for a hydration bladder. It is made almost entirely from recycled materials.
Three card slots, a hidden pocket for cash or an important card, and an outside pocket for tapping a transit card. It works with Pacsafe security straps as a wristlet, micro crossbody, or on a belt loop.
Worn under your clothes, it holds your passport, cards, and cash. RFID-blocking material protects e-passports and cards, and the strap is wire-reinforced against slashing.
Where Pacsafe started, plus the locks and the safe we would pack with it.
Pacsafe 85 Backpack and Bag Protector
At Luggage Online
Today's version of the protector we sold in 1998. A stainless steel eXomesh cage cinches around a 55 to 85 liter pack, duffel, or suitcase and locks it closed. A padlock is included.
The same idea for bigger bags. It fits backpacks, duffels, and soft-sided luggage up to 120 liters and locks to a fixture. It folds small, and a padlock and pouch are included.
A 12-liter portable safe for your hotel room. It holds a laptop, passport, and other valuables, and its stainless steel cable locks it to something that won't move.
Walkabout Travel Gear was there when Pacsafe introduced its original backpack protector.
Pacsafe founders Rob Schlipper and Magnus McGlashan introduced their original backpack protectors at
Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City in 1998. Walkabout had been founded in Salt Lake City and had only started attending the
show the year before, so meeting them there was a lucky break for both young companies.
At the time, the backpack protector was their only product: a stainless-steel mesh cage that wrapped around a backpack or soft-sided bag and locked to a fixed object.
Walkabout was already selling travel gear online, and we became one of the first online retailers to carry Pacsafe. We may have been the first, but I have not found enough proof to claim that.
Those original backpack protectors came in several sizes, and Pacsafe still sells
versions of them today alongside its anti-theft backpacks, sling bags, wallets, and portable safes.
