Imagine going to your favorite hiking spot after striving for a long period of time.
It is pretty much obvious that your hiking backpack will be full of all of the essentials that you need throughout the whole hiking trip.
But unfortunately, at an unlucky moment, you discover that things have been stolen from your backpack!
All of a sudden, you become standstill in grief, sadness with a regret for not locking your backpack just before that unlucky moment!
That’s why it is important to know how to lock hiking backpacks to avoid such unwanted accidents in your hiking trip.
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Benefits Of Locking Your Backpack
Before we dive deep into the tips and tricks of locking backpacks, let’s talk about the benefits of it a little bit first.
Usually, no one would like to see that their precious items are gone from their backpack in the middle of their hiking journey due to a few moments of negligence or unawareness.
Obviously, it’s not even a practical idea to keep an eye all the time on your backpack.
Moreover, you might need to leave your pack for a while to go to the washroom or when you sleep or eat.
And, not everyone around you is a gentleman who wouldn’t even think of stealing things away out of your knowledge.
So, to avoid falling into such unwanted miseries, it’s better to lock your backpack the right way. It will save your items from being stolen and also the whole hiking trip from being ruined.
Another benefit of locking your backpack is, it prevents your pack from opening while you hike on the trails.
Additionally, no one can use their sticky fingers in the meantime from the back while you are walking.
So, it basically works like overall protection from unknown thieves around you.
Tips To Lock Your Backpack
There are several ways to prevent thieves from stealing things away from your backpack.
Here, we will be discussing the most effective ones.
#1. Pick Up A Lockable Pack
When you buy a backpack for hiking, make sure it has pre-installed lockable chains or zippers to ensure safety.
Some bags come with such features where there holes on the zippers. These holes can be used to put an external lock on them to tie together.
This lock keeps the zippers locked and can’t be opened without keys.
So, whenever you leave your pack for a while, no one can have access to your precious things inside due to the locking.
Secure your pack with a lockable system like this.
#2. Use Quality Locks
The main part of locking your backpack comes to choosing the required numbers of quality locks.
There are enormous lock options available in the market, based on your preferences you can buy any of them.
But make sure, your locks are not that easy to be cut by a regular thief knife.
If you are worried about potential thieves around you, then putting a quality lock is the best thing you can do. When it comes to quality locks for your backpack, then combination locks are more suitable.
In these locks, you have to set a combination of digits, thus you make your pack secure enough, as thieves can’t ever figure it out.
However, you can also try using deadbolt, padlock, and even digital locks according to your convenience.
These locks are also effective enough against any form of theft.
#3. Use Ties Of The Zippers
When your backpack has too many compartments and you need to access them frequently throughout the whole day, then it’s not quite practical to lock them each time.
It might make you feel irritated and that’s the reason you might think of some other ways to lock your pack without locks.
Instead of locks, you can use ties of the zippers to keep them closed as well. If you don’t want to invest in locks, then you better invest in zip ties, as they are cheaper and easily accessible.
However, it will not be as safe as the locks could provide you. But, even if a thief tries to cut off the ties, you can sense the cutting motion at least!
#4. Use Cable Locks
Another effective way to lock your backpack is to use cable locks.
When you are using the washroom or setting up your camp leaving your pack behind somewhere near, a thief can take the advantage of that particular moment.
In that case, you can use a cable lock to secure your pack with safety.
Cable locks are made of sturdy metal wires which give your pack decent security when you wrap the cable between straps and some immovable object.
The object can be a tree of your hiking spot or any strong grounded heavy material that can’t be moved even if someone tries hard enough.
But again, these cable locks are not as effective as real key-based locks. Any skilled thief can get into your pack to steal stuff by cutting the straps.
That’s why it is more preferable to wrap the cables around different parts of your pack to make it harder for a thief to even think of sneaking.
#5. Use Wrapping Netting
If you have this option of wrapping around netting with you, you better utilize it as a locking system to secure your backpack.
In fact, there are a lot of hikers who do think this is an effective locking system. This netting actually includes metal or rope material that you wrap all-around your pack.
This all-around netting works like a lock for your backpacks and it gets quite difficult for the thief to sneak around.
However, there are still chances for him to try with risks, but this takes a lot of courage that most thieves don’t have.
Though it’s a great way to lock your pack, metal netting also increases weight for you to carry.
Additional Precautions For Backpack Safety
The main aim is not to lock the backpack itself, rather save it from any kind of theft from happening.
And it is also equally important to minimize the chances of stealing by taking required precautions.
Other than locking your backpack, you should also follow the suggestions below.
#1. Avoid Top Loading Backpacks
There are certain precautionary steps that can reduce the chances of theft. So, as a part of a precaution, you can pick up a backpack that doesn’t have top loadings.
Because, on the top compartment of such bags, you won’t find drawstring closure more than one in most cases.
And, that works as an easy target for thieves to sneak around while you are hiking.
So, if you want to feel secure in your trip while wearing your pack and walking, you better avoid such packs that come with top loadings.
#2. Avoid Putting Precious Things Into Your Pack
This might sound silly, but it is worthy enough to secure your precious things from being stolen. Your backpack usually carries all the necessary things that you need to survive out in the wild.
But, when it comes to your laptop, mobile phone, gadgets and any card and every other precious item, it’s better to carry them always in some small bag instead of the real big pack.
In this way, you will be having peace of mind, never worried about losing precious things even if a thief tries to play with sticky fingers.
#3. Keep Money, Cards, And Passports Into Waist Bag
There are certain things you should never keep in your hiking backpack.
Your cash money, ATM cards, and passports are such items that should be kept in a small waist bag that you can carry with you all the time.
If you keep such important things in your main hiking backpack and somehow things get wrong, then you know well how pathetic your next moments will be!
Without money, card, and passport, your life will be totally at a standstill and messed up! So, you better keep them safe in those waist bags with you.
#4. Avoid Being Flashy
When it comes to finding out the right target for stealing, in most cases thieves go after flashy guys who look rich and full of wealth from outside.
So, it will be a great trick to fool those people with sticky fingers by adopting a minimalist look all around even if you are rich enough!
Wearing simple headphones, simple hiking dresses, carrying a low-budget camera could be your beating steps to make thieves uninterested in you.
Being minimalist doesn’t only reduce the level of stress while making choices in life, but also it makes you quite a less important target for thieves while hiking.
Final Words
For a safe and sound hiking trip, your backpack’s security does matter a lot.
Because, once you lose your valuable and necessary items, then the whole thrilling fun will immediately turn into tragedy.
So, to prevent your items from being stolen, use this article’s knowledge about how to lock hiking backpacks.