When traveling, knowing your luggage is safe and secure is a huge weight off your mind. If like me you travel with a laptop, camera or tablet the worst thing possible is discovering that you have been pick pocketed or your backpack has been cut open while you’re on a bus or train and your valuables have been stolen.
Before departing for South America I had heard many pick-pocketing stories from others. Knowing that my usual daypack/carry-on backpack was getting older and definitely wasn’t as secure as I wanted, I decided to buy the Pacsafe Venturesafe 15L GII Anti-Theft Daypack
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It turns out, the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII is one of the best daypacks I have ever owned, with the quality so fantastic that I’ll be using it for many years and adventures to come.
The Pacsafe Venturesafe GII consists of two pockets, a large main pocket and a smaller pocket at the front. The main bag space is roomy and basic, no hidden pockets or secret zips. It does have a laptop sleeve which is lightly padded and a velcro strap at the top of the bag for securing a smart phone or iPod, just below a small slit for threading headphones through.
The smaller front pocket is also spacious and basic. A small netted pocket on the front side, and an RFID Safe pocket perfectly sized for a passport plus additional cards, an elastic pen holder and a second small pocket line the walls whilst the area still has plenty of room for additional storage.
In addition to the two main spaces, small drink bottle pockets are on either side of the bag with elastic running across the top holding items in place.
Pacsafe products are minimalistic with a great design. Whilst the bag may seem basic, it has everything you need to store and carry all your day items. But the strength of Pacsafe really is in the security features of it’s products.
The base of the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII is lined with Pacsafe’s trademark Exomesh. A slash proof, flexible, stainless steel mesh, Exomesh protects against would be thieves cutting or slashing the backpack to get to your items. The backpack straps consist of Pacsafe’s Carrysafe slashguard system. Lined with lightweight stainless steel, it’s impossible to cut the straps.
The two zips are puncture resistant and secured with interlocking zip pullers also created with stainless steel, allowing a padlock to secure the zip pullers together, giving no access to the pocket at all.
One of the best features I found on the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII are the hidden security hooks that secure the zip pullers if you are without a padlock. Located at the base of both the larger and smaller pockets the security hooks pull the zip pulls tight and secure them preventing opportunistic pickpockets from easily accessing your valuables.
Whilst not waterproof I found the material of the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII to be water and dirt resistant. I put the backpack through a lot wear, from deserts to salt flats to beaches to cities for almost a year, and after brushing off any built up dirt the backpack consistently returns to almost new condition.
Whilst I have loved using the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII one annoyance I did find was the limited ability to adjust the shoulder strap length. The bag does sit slightly low when I wear it on my back and unfortunately the straps do not tighten any further. However most of the time I have my large pack on my back and the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII on my front, where it sits perfectly and allows me easy access to both pockets, as well as being able to easily secure it should I need to.
The other downside to the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII is it’s price. Coming in at approximately USD$100 it’s definitely not at the cheap end of the market. And whilst some may say USD$100 way too much for a 15 litre daypack, I am satisfied with the cost. I wanted to depart for my great South American adventure secure in the knowledge that my laptop, passport, credit cards and phone were going to be secure at all times, and the Pacsafe Venturesafe GII gave me that.
The quality is exceptional, the backpack far more durable than I had expected, and I plan to use it for many, many years to come.
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