If you travel a lot and/or have ever had your purse stolen, you know what a pain it is to deal with. If this has happened to you outside of the country and your visa was part of what was stolen, then you REALLY know what a pain something like this is to deal with. Carrying valuables like your ID and plane tickets in an antitheft bag such as this can help reduce the chance of someone stealing these items from you. The bag is RFID protected to prevent someone from stealing your credit card, bank card, and other information stored on magnetized and chipped cards simply by walking by you (it's insane how easy it is for thieves to do this!). The strap on this bag is heavier and harder to slice through than plain nylon webbing. The side panels of the bag are slash-resistant too. The zipper pulls for each opening have little built-in carabiner clips at the ends to clip to metal D-rings to prevent zippers from working themselves open accidentally or someone from doing a fast unzip to steal what's inside your bag. Even the clasp on the shoulder strap have a way to lock closed by flipping the push button to the side. There's also only one strap clasp since the other end of the shoulder strap is heavily attached to the bag. Unless the thief knows the bag has these type of clasps and features, they're a good way to slow down pickpockets and slash-and-run thieves. You can always add your own anti-theft touches as well. Depending on where I'm going, I've added those small tumbler padlocks to my cross-body bag and attached one of those alarms that activates when the pin is pulled. If one of the bag's shoulder strap clasps is detached, it pulls the pin on the alarm. Maybe it's overkill, but after having someone hack my info once (college student working at a pizza place near a military base we were stationed at was scraping credit cards and buying pre-written term papers online and gifts for his girlfriend. He got five years in jail.), I don't care to repeat the ordeal. In general, there isn't really anything spectacular about the way this bag looks. It comes across more as a camera bag, actually. It's plain and doesn't have any identifying design or fancy labeling that screams "I'm expensive - steal me!!" If you put it next to a cheap black nylon bag you picked up for $10, only someone extremely observant would take notice of the small features that make a difference. But being so nondescript is a blessing and a curse. While it doesn't look like a high dollar designer bag, if it is stolen or lost there's not a lot of specific details to make it stand out to law enforcement. It's black, it's nylon, the hardware is shiny and grey. Compare this to a bright pink bag with white fur around the top, gold chain handles, and a big appliqué of a black and white Boston Terrier on the sides. Which one do you think will be easier to spot a thief holding? (You could sew on some decorative patches or other trim to liven up the bag and make it more identifiable. Pins and clip on baubles are too easy to quickly ditch.) I personally don't mind how utilitarian and inexpensive this bag looks. That's what I want, to make stealing it from me less attractive. I want safety features that are hidden that will take a thief by surprise. For storage and carrying capabilities, this bag is big enough to hold your phone, a back up battery charger, a good sized wallet, a small tube of hand lotion, a small bottle of hand sanitizer, keys, a few pens and small notepad, and have a good bit of room left over. There are two main compartments to this bag. On one side the interior has a large zipper pocket, and the other has a large slide pocket, a smaller slide pocket, and four card slots. On the outside there is one zippered pocket, but the zipper doesn't have the same safety clasp feature as the two to the main compartments. The compartment with the card slots also has a little press button LED light on a sewn-in tether with a clasp at the end. The light can be removed if you wish, and you can use the clasp to hold your keys in one spot. Attached to the light when you receive the bag is a small picture set of instructions on how to change out the batteries (two CR1220) if need be. To clean the bag, Travelon says to spot clean only with a damp cloth and let air dry. Putting in the washing machine, submerging in water, or putting in the dryer will damage the RFID protection and void the bag's two-year warranty (which is "Travelon® branded Anti-Theft bags and wallets have been manufactured to provide you with years of trouble-free use. Travelon warrants strictly to those original consumer purchasers, who for their own use or the use by another consumer end user, purchased a Travelon Anti-Theft bag and/or wallet (includes carry-on bags and toiletry kits) to be free from defects in material and workmanship up to two years from purchase for which the original consumers dated proof of purchase by an authorized seller is provided. In addition, the authentic Manufacture dated Label (as stated below) must be provided – without, the two year warranty will be voided."). If you do register your bag, don't remove the little product tag that's sewn into the seam of one of the main compartments. They also send you a 20% coupon off future purchases. I'd easily recommend this bag or other Travelon anti-theft bags to people who travel a lot or are in areas where bag/purse thefts are common (think touristy areas). It's a very well made and well designed bag. There's no reason why it wouldn't work as an everyday purse/bag as well. It's just not exactly 'fashion forward'.
