How do you thwart pickpockets?

Carry a fake wallet filled with anthrax

It's really not that hard, OP

>>1225510
Don't stagger around a new city drunk, don't talk to strangers on the street, be careful if you find yourself in a large crowd in a touristy area, and most importantly don't carry very important stuff where someone might snatch it. If you're paranoid get a money belt of the strappy, elastic kind you wear under your clothes and keep cards. etc. in that. Only have the cash you need for the day in your pocket.

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Inside pocket.

Right outer pocket full of sand.
Left outer pocket full of eggs.

>>1225510
Don't look oblivious, don't carry open valuables.

I figure out where i'm going on a map before i leave wherever i'm at, so i can walk with a purpose without pausing to gape at street signs or stare at my phone.

I don't have a camera out unless i'm using it.

I don't flash big wads of cash when i pay for shit.

Basically normal strert smarts you'd use anywhere.

I followed all of the advice in this thread and still got my phone pickpocketed in the Mexico City subway a few weeks back. After I had stopped a few attempted pickpocketings in the Philippines and Colombia before.

There's always a fight to get on the subway car, like in 0:20 in this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsIIhjAAeyE

So apparently the pickpockets often use the fight to get on the subway as a diversion to pickpocket, as happened to me, even though I was very aware of what was happening with my pockets.

So I'd highly recommend using a money belt in any crowded situation. Just paying attention to what's happening, and keeping everything in front pockets, isn't enough.

I have a pair of pants with a zippered pocket inside the main pocket.

I heard a tip that you can wrap a rubber band around your wallet that way the friction will make it easy to feel if someone tries to remove it. Don't know if it would work though.

Don't go to third world countries?

Or just wear jeans. I don't know how any pickpocket can take my wallet when it takes me 10 seconds of struggling to get it out every time I want to buy something.

shoot them on sight

>>1225643
See
>>1225579

It's not enough, they'll create a diversion so you won't notice the feeling. I noticed and stopped pickpockets in the act a few times before that, but it's not foolproof.

Stitch some velcro onto your pants

Fast mover overflights.

>>1225579
>Mexico City subway
Yea, I thought everyone knew about not using it. At. All.

Like his pic, you avoid any crowds where you lose your personal space like that.

Every city, every climate has a different plan, from money belt when you can't wear a jacket over a bag. Inside shoes. Never exposed. And, frankly, avoiding the subway because you don't way to pay for the bus, don't want to pay for a taxi, don't want to pay for a private driver...pick the level of financial outlay as the situation demands. Do not roll the dice the same in all cities. You simply can't roll with locals all the time like thumbing your nose at chance like it's your right to roam freely and not be careful. Locals of middle income and higher ride the subway in the DF? Oh hell no. No, they don't. This has been the truth for 30 years. It isn't New york. It is a class society.

Go to Iceland? Probably can throw your $1000 camera on a front seat and not even lock your car while away from it. Fact.

Go to DC metro, wear your $400 purse, designer clothes, head to toe, and wave to your Senator and physician in the seats next to you while you proudly admire some special forces in 300lbs of muscle in the aisles standing for the ladies to sit.

I've peeled back carpets in hotel rooms to split what doesn't go into the safe, tucked money under the rubber car mat in a van in case of road robbery, and I still prefer to just wear a closed jacket over a crossbody. I don't like a daypack. They're out of fashion except with students and scream tourist. Don't dress casually, but rather like a local would that has a 9 to 5 job would wear during the day. Ok to sneakers with it, especially for city walking. But most of all, stay handsfree. Keep your eyes around, alert, and never distracted and unaware. Walk with purpose and you'll probably tune into your gut instinct not to go to a certain street, cross a street, hail a taxi, pop into a store. You just sense things about people.

>>1225510
Haha fuckin gyppos.

carry max equivalent of $100 in your front jeans pocket for use during the day.
cards and rest of money in money belt, which you never access except for in the hotel or toilet stall (ie in private)
fake wallet in back pocket, if you can be bothered
if someone approaches you in the street, don't break your stride. Keep walking. Don't get sucked in and they'll give up. They are usually unwilling to walk too far from their pitch.
Don't walk along glued to the gps on your phone or your camera. It's a giveaway that you're a dumb tourist.
don't ever touch your clothes to check that your wallet or money belt is there. It's a dead giveaway for pick pockets.
don't talk about money with your traveling companions while in public
accept the fact that nothing you can do will ever make you immune to theft, broski, so keep your bank's phone number on hand in case your shit dues get stolen.

>>1225688

You're not Jason Bourne, you fucking dickhead

I just keep all my valuables in my front pockets and don't carry a wallet.

What I've always done in India is taken my credit card, rolled my rupee notes around it, and kept it at the bottom of my pocket. Sometimes, if I'm wearing a button-down with a chest sleeve, I'll tuck my cash in there. Absolutely nobody is going to swipe that without me noticing.

If I'm in a place with lots of mugging-type crimes, then I always leave my credit cards and other important documents in my hotel or hostel before going out at night or even during the day. Should I absolutely need my card, then I'll tuck it into the bottom or side of my shoe - not foolproof, but it's what all the locals recommend.

I've toyed around with the idea of having a pouch or pocket sewn on the inside of a pair of jeans, around the tops of one calf. I can't imagine a mugger making me strip and give him my pants, but I suppose you never know.

>>1225693
>You're not Jason Bourne, you fucking dickhead
No, I'm a tourist with money and sense. Nice of you to think my life as a tourist is that exciting that you'd compare me to a fictional novelist's trained operative on the run! Nope, I was just a tourist going to places with a lot of political unrest and crime. Gypsies aren't as bad immature guatemalan village children with fingers on the triggers of machine guns fighting for one side of a civil war, I promise you.
What makes a traveler smart is to stop acting like some people are too cautious.

>>1225689
>Don't walk along glued to the gps on your phone or your camera. It's a giveaway that you're a dumb tourist.

Now you can just pretend you were playing Pokemon Go.

I have my belongings all over the place, and money in different pockets and bags so that if I were to lose anything, I would only lose some. That being said, I don't remember any successful pickpocket... Like their hand would be in my bag, but I feel it anyway, so I just shout at them, and they leave.
My friends have laughed their asses off the last couple of times we travelled... we went to places where they use a lot of cash still. Since I had no wallet, and money didn't fit my pockets anymore, I just ended up putting stuff in a transparent zip-lock. Which ended up staying in a quite see-through linen bag, sometimes in other plastic bags.
It's the kind of thing that is so ott that pickpockets don't care to take it.

That being said, wherever I can, I rely on my bank cards... Those are also lesd popular amongst pickpockets.

Oh and I dress like crap when traveling.

>>1225579
Soo experienced, but doesn't know the diversion tactique...
Hell, even if they touch me to try and get my attention, I pretend they are air and move on in at a steady pace. They shout in my face, too? Who cares, it's their throat that's gonna hurt later, I ain't gonna acknowledge their presence.

I actually have a method that worked really well for me. I don't really want to say it because pickpockets have internet access, and I don't want them to start finding ways to defeat it.

Do any of you worry about RFID theft?

Me, I was always under the impression that most small-time thieves wouldn't be able to afford RFID scanners, and I myself don't look rich enough to be worth scan-scamming.

>>1225737
>Soo experienced, but doesn't know the diversion tactique...

I knew it. What I'm saying is that it was literally not possible to defend against in that situation, no level of situational awareness would have prevented it. The only defense would be not to have anything worth stealing in your pockets.

I never had somebody pickpocket me, even in major tourist cities and overcrowded markets while wearing shorts where my wallet and phone were basically falling out. Idk, I feel like people generally don't see me as a target no matter where I travel so I never had any issues with that

>>1225767
Because they see you're a broke as nigga

>>1225710

RealTraveller™: Autism edition

>>1225510
by not going to shitty countries that are overrun with them

>>1225689
Probably the most solid advice in this thread, you can also tuck notes in your sock or bra if you feel like it.

I always carried cash and left my wallet in a locker or safe where I was staying. On nights out in certain countries I'd leave phone at the place I was staying at too.

Pro-tip - never accept a motortaxi ride after a night out. Met so many people who were robbed .

>>1225703
I sewed an extra pocket inside my jeans when I first visited Argentina and Paraguay. Worked great in 1998.

>>1225688
>Locals of middle income and higher ride the subway in the DF? Oh hell no. No, they don't. This has been the truth for 30 years. It isn't New york. It is a class society.

Have you been there? The Metro is by far the fastest way to move in D.F. Upper class won't ride it but middle class certainly does. If you can avoid peak hours it's the best means of transport in this city.
I look gringo as fuck but never had any problem.

>>1226944
What happened in 1999?

>>1225688
>Yea, I thought everyone knew about not using it. At. All.

There's nothing wrong with using it as long as you don't have anything in your pockets. Everyone uses it sometimes.

Electrified razor-blades made of acid, pockets full of.

Don't carry heaps of cash with you, wear tight jeans, keep your hands in your pocket when in crowds

>>1225510
It'd be a little inconvenient, but worst comes to worst a Bobby pin could hold your pocket shut. It'd probably dispel most people, unless you've got some huge ass pockets or someone willing to rip your pants to get your wallet

>>1225510
>buy wallet with chain
>don't keep in back pocket
>don't wear baggy pants

>>1225742
>Me, I was always under the impression that most small-time thieves wouldn't be able to afford RFID scanners, and I myself don't look rich enough to be worth scan-scamming.

The only RFID scamming that happens is the people who sell those stupid wallets to "protect you"

Take a comb, fold wallet around it. Make sure the bristles of the comb touch the pants. When pickpocketed, they will catch the pants and stay in.

>What happened in 1999?
>>1227076
The world was working on Y2K bug.

Personally I went to Mexico for nearly a year. Had no problem with thieves at all. Took the ehole thing much more relaxed.

>>1225510
>How do you thwart pickpockets?
Aside from situational awareness and a degree of paranoia and remember that thieves includes other backpackers who ran out of money and don't want to go home...

When I leave my country, I break up my wallet into shit I need and shit I don't. I have a daily/decoy wallet with enough cash for a few meals and no ID except an expired credit card. I use that 90% of the time.

I have a travel wallet hanging from a cord under my shirt, positioned kind of like a gun holster. That has my passport and most of my cash.

My travel pack has small amounts of cash secreted around it for emergencies, USD $100s slipped into the pack straps or lining and other places. Usually I have some in my insoles too. They come in handy because you can change them anywhere too, it's saved my butt once or twice.

Definitely don't get blind drunk in unknown company, that's asking for trouble. Every story I've heard from friends about being robbed/pick pocketed involved alcohol. Drink in the hostel and you'll get laid, drink on the street and get robbed.

I'm fairly paranoid about my day pack because I went to shit high schools where kids stole from each other constantly, it left me pretty careful about always having a hand on my bag and paying attention to who was sitting next to me.

I got out of many countries without ever losing a dime, then I got pickpocketed on my way home a Sunday morning in my own city. There is no escape.

>>1225510

Be white, 6 feet tall, and 185lbs with a buzzcut, apparently.

Never been pickpocketed all through thailand, cambodia, vietnam, philippines, malaysia.

The only place where anybody tried was in the philippines, and that was a pack of really ballsy street kids.

They had their older sister or something with them, and she went up and pressed her teenage titties against my arm and said hello, while the little shits went for my pockets. I smacked her and give one of the kids a kick, and when they ran off they all gave me the finger in unison. Funniest shit I've ever seen. I bought them all some mcdonalds ice creams later when I saw them roaming around, since I felt bad for them (they were extremely dirty and looked homeless).

They fucking loved that shit, and big sister tried to move on me again. Goddamn what a lawless cesspit.

Do you autists really carry dummy wallets and wear money belts?

Just hold a little bit of cash and keep everything smartly stashed at your accomodation, Jesus Christ.

>>1225829
I'm not but the trick is looking like one

Always have money and maybe a second card stashed somewhere like your socks or bag. I got my wallet stolen or lost (I'm a fucking idiot and lose something every holiday) but luckily i had backup funds. Also have your card details memorised so you can wire yourself money from western union before cancelling your stuff.

>>1227184
whoa careful man you could get in serious trouble if anyone sees you hitting kids or anyone for that matter. Especially in third-world countries.
One of my friends had a false sexual harassment allegation, and that's one of the worst things that can happen to you as a foreigner.

>>1225510
>How do you pick thwartpockets?

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>>1227155
You mean these fucking things?

Goddamn, I hate these fucking things.

A traditional leather or synthetic wallet starts out thin, and only gets thicker when you stuff it with bills.

This stupid fucking thing is thick to begin with. It can't be thinner, and it can't even get thicker. Its limits are far more finite than a traditional wallet.

And shit, if I really wanted to protect my cards from RFID theft, I can wrap them in foil.

>>1225510
I have a pair of zipper pockets, and the pants are slim fitting already. I usually wear those when in the tourist areas.

>>1225644
>don't go to third world countries?
youve never been to now have you?

>>1227401
IIRC RFID theft is damn near impossible, and even moreso if you have multiple cards in your wallet

>>1227401
RFID scamming is much harder than you'd think. You have to basically be right against someone for a few seconds to even have a hope of ripping the RFID. Scanners are cheap and easy to make but hard to use.

source: my ass, of course, but seriously, it's fucking hard. You should be more concerned about ATM scams at this point.

>>1227434
>You should be more concerned about ATM scams at this point.
lel, I actually avoided ATMs altogether, for the stupidest reasons.

Exchange rates and service charges. Those are literally my reasons for avoiding ATMs in my travels. I have heard that they're not that bad, but I'm that much of an asshole.

>>1227208
>Do you autists really carry dummy wallets and wear money belts?
>Just hold a little bit of cash and keep everything smartly stashed at your accomodation
'holding a little bit of cash' is what the dummy wallet is for. It's the one you actually use while it holds the day's cash. Not too much to lose in one go.

Your accommodation is not trustworthy, hotel cleaners are paid peanuts and treated like shit, they'll loot what they can because it's not a job that anyone cares about losing.

Unless you're staying in the Shangri-la (and not even then desu) I wouldn't trust anything in a hotel. Sure, your laptop is going to be fine on the desk but not cash. I've got friends who lost wallets/cash in western five star hotels.

>>1227420
>not going to third world countries
You have to wonder what board that anon thought they were on.

Do you think people browse /trv/ to compare steak houses and champagne bars in first world countries?

>>1227437
>Exchange rates and service charges. Those are literally my reasons for avoiding ATMs in my travels. I have heard that they're not that bad, but I'm that much of an asshole.

I only think they're ok when compared to fucking around with travelers cheques and money changers. Basically every way to change money is going to have bad rates and charges, if you try very, very hard then you can maybe find somewhere ok. I know a few places in a few countries but desu it's not usually worth the effort of going to them. If you have the time then do whatever you want, I prefer not to carry large amounts of cash when traveling anyway.

I always check for skimming devices though, I know several people who have found them so it's worth a look. A lot of ATMs these days have shit on the card reader anyway that would make it hard to attach a skimmer.

>>1225510
Pocket quicksand

>>1227434
A quick google search on how hard it is shows it is a .00001% chance, and the person doing it basically runs it through a machine that is less than a 1mm away.

You'd more likely to be pickpocket'd then go buy a lotto ticket and win before your RFID would be copied and USED which would give a direct trace to anyone stupid enough to use it.

>>1227208

...where nobody will ever steal your shit, nope, no way man

>cleaners with the reset code to hotel safe
>gangs that pay off the night manager for keys
>hostels... kek

>>1227439
>>1227753
I took a really interesting gamble then.

I stayed at a two-star "hotel" in Hong Kong. Actually, it was an office building that was repurposed into a hotel. I once left my money in my room, and when I came back to it at night, it was right there, on the nightstand.

The bed has been made, the trash was taken out, the towels were folded, and the slippers were neatly arranged. Everything on the nightstand was left exactly as-is.

I'm the exception, not the norm, but I had a better opinion of the place despite being such shitty lodging.

>>1227759
>stay at a hostel
>other dude in the dorm room leaves his money spread out on his bed
>couple of euro bills
>more and more every day
Dunno what that guy's problem was

>>1225510
Grab them by the wrist and twist it so hard that it breaks. Should thwart them off for good or at least for a few minutes until the entire gypsy colony comes to break your kneecaps.

>>1227153
>wallet with chain
I'd rather be robbed

>>1227990
Christ is this really true? I heard of gypsies attacking you if you try to resist their advances.

>>1225510
Have your wallet in one of your front trousers pockets. Put your hands in your pockets while walking around. Check your wallet when cunts bump into you.

>>1227437
>Exchange rates and service charges. Those are literally my reasons for avoiding ATMs

But my time when traveling is worth something to me, I don;t want to spend it getting cash the long dumb stupid way. A convenient ATM is a tie saver. I'll pay a little bit for that time.

>>1227447
>Pocket quicksand
Take that idea over to a /d/ drawthread, you'll be a hero...

>>1227759
>I took a really interesting gamble then.
You got lucky I guess. I suppose that money obviously left out is kind of suspicious so maybe they were worried that you had a hidden camera watching it or it was bait or something.

Of course you could have just had an honest cleaner, I'm sure they exist. I'm even sure that most of the cleaners are honest. I just know a few people that lost purses and even a whole suitcase from their hotel room.

>>1229146
>Take that idea over to a /d/ drawthread, you'll be a hero...
Kek, vore pickpocket porn?

I wrap my cash around my dick and tie it with a string. If they want my money, I'm gonna get something out of it.

>>1225510
Keep wallet in front, keep hands in your pockets in crowds. Stay reasonably sober. Only one known attempt that I am sure of and that was in Amsterdam. The ol' act like they trip into you.

>>1225510
Also everyone suspects and is on guard for Roma/Gypsies. So if a Roma is around, that's the distraction the real pickpocket will use.

>>1227229
>you could get in serious trouble if anyone sees you hitting kids or anyone for that matter. Especially in third-world countries.
Nobody cares about street kids, especially not in third world countries. All of the natives knows that they are thieving little shits.

>>1225662
Easy, stop being a dumbass, hand in pocket/cellphone all the time, stop thinking about bullshit and be aware that your white skin and looks might be a "I'm another naive tourist", so everyone is trying to fuck you up

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>>1225510
Just wear a fanny pack under your coat, easy solution.