Post 9-11 packing gear

I am getting ready to make my first overseas trip after 9-11, although I've made 50 within the U.S. Since 9-11. Looking for suggestions for an easy way to secure my ice chest without having to pad-lock it, as the lock will likely be snipped off at some point. There is a lot of expensive toys in the ice chest and I usually strap the case and I have a built in pad lock latch. But since they will likely cut the lock during the trip, are there any suggestions as to how I might have a user friendly way of making a secure closure so that it optimally deterrs wannabe lookliloos? I realize that if they want it they will get it, I am just looking for nifty ways to close the top and have it latch shut then use something like duct tape and straps to "secure" it.

Thanks.

Joe

Joe,

On my last trip, I used an ice chest that had no latch. What I did was to create a couple of straps from 1" wide webbing and some fastek buckles. To keep them from getting lost, I screwed them into the ice chest at three points (cover, back, and front). I specifically chose buckles that I couldn't pull apart no matter how hard I tried to make sure they didn't pop open. Then, to "lock" the chest, I used zip ties to secure the buckles together and left a bunch of extra ties inside the chest right at the top. That way, if TSA or anyone had to open it, they could cut the ties and replace them when finished.

I'm pretty sure that I could have skipped the zip ties, but I was slightly worried about leaving it that easy to open either for thieves or because of rough baggage handling. This last trip was an experiment, and the ice chest was a cheap one ($40 with wheels and handles), but it worked extremely well.

I use zip ties all the time on my UK box. They can and will cut them to get in but will replace them with the TSA zip tie. It is a flimsy little tie that you can easily break with you hand. Zip tie just helps deter the others from taking a look. The other nice thing with my UK is the 6 latches that make it take a bit to get into especially if you have not used the latches before. Downside is the weight of the box.