Toiletry bag/kit + Backpack question
 

I will be traveling with standard size carry on luggage and it looks like some form of toiletry bag or kit would work better than my standard shaving kit which will be too large. Any suggestions on brands or sizes? My other question is what are you using for an additional carry on bag for medicine, books, etc when aboard a plane. I am a little leery of using a backpack from a security standpoint, i.e. theft.

Where are you going in Italy?

I walk around Italy all the time with a backpack, although I keep the super-valuable items like documents, credit cards, drivers license, etc., securely tucked close to my person, in front of me. On the few occasions I am in places where I feel a backpack is a temptation to sticky fingers, I turn it around and have it across the front of me, not the back. I often will do that in busy train stations, as a precaution. I just find a backpack so much easier to move around with as opposed to a messenger bag or other cross body bags if I am also dealing with rolling luggage on staircases, etc.

I like LL Bean's toiletry bags for their features and sturdiness. We have the medium, which is pretty big, and the large, which is ridiculously huge IMO. Perhaps the small size would work for you?

I have always preferred cross body bags to backpacks. They can be flipped to the back if you feel safe and need to move quickly, to the front and grasped if you feel unsafe, and kept on the side most of the time--at least that's how I do it. You can find them in tons of sizes. I generally like shopping at Zappos because of the free shipping both ways.

A toiletry kit with hook is more useful. Many bathrooms have no space to put on the counter type of bag. I hook my hanging kit on towel bar, on bathrobe hook, or on door knob at a minimalist type of place. I use backpack for medicine, books, etc. Those items are not the target of theft. They are after cash, credit cards, and iPhones.

Agree with greg, the hook is pretty key. We've hung our LL Bean kit in the closet, on a nail, you name it. Very handy.

You can buy toiletry bags in lots of places such as T. J. Maxx, Walmart, Target, Cosmetic stores. Take a look at what these stores offer and you'll find something that suits you.

No one will steal your backpack on the plane. If you're wearing it when you arrive then it will be difficult to get it off you. It's not any easier to steal a backpack then any other carry on bag.

If you go with the backpack then do not put it on until you're off the plane. You can wear it in front when you're in tight places.

I've been hit so many times by people wearing backpacks while waiting to deplane and windmilling around hitting me over and over. I can't believe they don't realize that their backpack is hitting something.

I use either a backpack or small duffel.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/48309...d-carry-on-bag

Any liquids have to go in your quart ziplock bag (I imagine that includes shaving cream).

I like a backpack because it's easier to manage that with a rolling bag than having two bags (especially if you are catching trains). I don't like a backpack with wheels. The wheels just add weight and take up much of the space in the backpack.

I have used this for years - its great:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/73889...etry-bag-small

OMG-adrrienne.....finally someone else who is also knocked around by others backpacks! I travel constantly and am amazed at the numskuls who turn from side to side on the plane, whacking whoever has the misfortune of being in the path of their oversized pack! Never an excuse me or apology....completely clueless!

To the OP, if you are concerned about theft, take a look at pacsafe products. If you use a backpack, use one that you can put under the seat and can fix the strap around a seat post--so it can't be "snatched" quickly or easily.

I find that getting hit with a backpack is much more common if the backpack is huge rather than a carry-on sized one.

I also wish the numskulls who use the kind of rolling duffels that they drag behind them would realize the tripping hazards many of them create with their cluelessness about letting it drag way behind them. (This seems especially true of short people whose duffel luggage has a long handle for dragging. Luggage with spinner wheels that can be kept to one side or pushed ahead seems to be more in people's control.

I really think strapping one's luggage to seats etc is overkill, especially on planes. The history of people's backpacks getting "snatched" is just about nil. I cannot recall reading a single trip report or rant about a traveler who experienced that kind of theft. The problem with backpacks is if you leave valuable items in the zip compartments and someone you don't notice behind you unzips and rummages and steals your phone, wallet or something important.

but if you don't put important things in your backpack, it's not a problem. If I sit down to eat in a train station or busy sidewalk cafe with a backpack, I put it under the table between my feet (and for overkill you can always stick a foot through one of the straps).

Thanks for posting that link, DebitNM, that's exactly the toiletry bag I have from LL Bean. I think it's great!

Does that LLBean bag lay flat when not in use, or is it bulky when empty?

It's pretty flat when zipped and empty; even more so when left unzipped.

I may have to get one then. The amount of toiletries I usually have scattered all over the single mirror shelf and in the bidet is . . . downright embarrassing.

I have a similar one from Rick Steves. The hanger is great in small bathrooms without counter space.

My husband always uses a backpack as his 'personal carry-on' whereas I use one of my (too many!) totes. Debating on whether going w the latest and greatest of the rolling totes that are designed to fit under seat. But, I am 5'8" so like to have something soft on which to put my feet. They are well organized for access, I must have outside pockets for water bottle, magazine, and the zillion things I carry on. Yes, the hang-up toiletry bag is very handy; we have been in many small European bathrooms where there is a tiny glass shelf which would not accommodate even a small bag. Hooked bags always work, many sizes available now and flatter styles available too. As to the backpack, get one that has a front waist clip, and never put in your wallet, iPhone or passport, my husband keeps that in chest pockets or wears his multi-pocket ScotteVest. With so many compartments, in backpacks, totes, travel vests, it is easier to foil thieves as finding things is frequently the problem for us, the owners of such! We use the backpack as our daybag for map, water, jackets, etc., and prefer to use the lightest unstructured one we can find. For Switzerland, bought myself a small folding-into-itself from Travelon, did not want to have any cross-body purse hiking -- it was great on the trains and did not 'take out' fellow passengers. I too share the pain of the 'backpack person' who swings and practically knocks you over each time they turn.

Really appreciate the many informative responses.

I travel with one small backpack. Most would call it a daypack. I chuckle when I read about 'duffles, wheels, spinners, etc.' My backpack is not my 'personal carry-on' as aliced puts it, it is my ONLY item of luggage.

Size is not the only factor for carry-on. Weight and contents also have to meet the criteria set by the airline. Weight limits on N. American airlines differ considerably from those on European airlines for example. You can get variances from 44 lbs. to 11 lbs. in carry-on weight limits.

In all the responses above, what I read from my perspective is that all are packing too much stuff. The two commonest mistakes travellers make are trying to see/do too much in too little time and packing too much.

As for a toilet kit, I use a small 'packing cube' I got on sale at REI which weighs 4 ozs. and loaded totals .75 lbs. The LL Bean one linked weighs that much empty.

WEIGHT is a travellers number one enemy. Look for the lightest weight example of any item you decide you need to have. NOT which ones does the average tourist like best. They don't know any better.