Best Anti-Theft Backpack for Travel 2026: 8 Picks

Best anti-theft backpack for travel: decide which theft you are buying against

An anti-theft backpack stops two things: a blade through the fabric or strap, and a hand in an open zipper. It does not stop a phone lifted from your jacket, a bag snatched off a café chair while you look away, or a stranger asking for directions while a partner works your pockets.

So the real choice is between a bag that locks (Pacsafe, Travelon, Baggallini) and a bag that hides its zippers (XD Design Bobby). A locked zip protects a bag that is out of your sight. A hidden zip protects a bag that is on your back.

Skip this page if you spend your trips in hotels and taxis. Everyone who rides a metro with a laptop and a passport on their back: eight picks below, each checked against its maker’s published specification.

The eight picks at a glance

Last verified 23 September 2026. VoyageHacks compared the published anti-theft specifications of 8 backpacks from Pacsafe, Travelon, XD Design, Baggallini and SKYSPER against each maker’s own product pages and the UK FCDO’s theft advisories for Italy, Spain and France on that date. Nothing here was bench-tested: every figure below is a manufacturer’s published specification, and “not published” means the maker does not state it.

Only the Pacsafe and Travelon bags publish all four protections, and only they name a wire or mesh layer inside the fabric rather than a panel treatment.

Pacsafe Metrosafe X 20L: the one to buy first

Check price on Amazon →

The Pacsafe Metrosafe X 20L is a 20 L, 17.7 x 11.8 x 5.1 in daypack weighing 1.87 lbs, with a 750D recycled polyester shell that Pacsafe rates at 1000mm water resistance. It fits a 16-inch laptop and an 11-inch iPad Pro, and it adds a PopNLock security clip and a hidden back-panel pocket.

What earns it the top spot is that every layer is named on Pacsafe’s own product page: eXomesh slashguard in the panels, a Carrysafe strap with Dyneema, Roobar Sport locking zips and RFIDsafe blocking.

Buy it if you carry a laptop and a camera through metro stations every day of the trip. Skip it if you need more than 20 L: the Venturesafe EXP35 is the bigger alternative.

Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP35: the long-trip pick

Check price on Amazon →

The Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP35 is a 35 L travel backpack from the same Pacsafe family, with eXomesh slashguard, a Carrysafe strap and a Roobar locking closure. It is the bag for travelers who want one anti-theft pack to carry everything, not a daypack plus a suitcase.

Buy it if you are backpacking for weeks and moving between hostels and trains. Skip it if you already travel with a suitcase and only need a city daypack; the Metrosafe X 20L is lighter. Before you board, check it against your airline’s cabin limits in our carry-on travel backpacks guide.

Travelon Anti-Theft Metro Backpack: the mid-range pick

Check price on Amazon →

The Travelon Anti-Theft Metro Backpack carries the brand’s 5-Point Anti-Theft security system. Travelon lists the five points as:

• Lock-down straps that wrap around a chair leg or fixed object.
• Locking compartments with zipper pulls that clip shut.
• A slash-resistant body, described by Travelon as “a slash-resistant mesh barrier in all 4 sides and bag bottom panel.”
• Slash-resistant straps with a stainless-steel wire running the length of the strap.
• RFID-blocking pockets for cards and passport; this model ships with an RFID-blocking pouch.

Buy it if you want the mesh-and-wire protection of the Pacsafe at a lower price. Skip it if you want a clean, urban look: the XD Design Bobby Hero is the minimalist alternative, with hidden zips instead of locks.

Travelon Anti-Theft Signature Slim: the museum-day bag

Check price on Amazon →

The Travelon Signature Slim is the same 5-point system in a 5 L, 11 x 12.5 x 3 in nylon daypack that weighs 1.00 lb. It holds a phone, wallet, passport, water bottle and a guidebook, and nothing bulkier.

Buy it if you leave the laptop in the hotel safe and want a small bag for sightseeing days. Skip it if you need a laptop sleeve; the Metro Backpack is the size up. For an even smaller carry, see our personal item bags.

XD Design Bobby Hero Regular: the hidden-zip pick

Check price on Amazon →

The XD Design Bobby Hero Regular is a 16 L, 45 x 29 x 16 cm backpack weighing 1,110 g. It fits a 15.6-inch laptop and a 12.9-inch tablet, has cut-resistant panels, an RFID pocket and an integrated USB charging port, and XD Design makes the fabric from recycled rPET.

A hidden zipper is a zipper placed against the wearer’s back or under a flap, so it cannot be reached from behind. That is the Bobby’s whole anti-theft idea. It works while the bag is on your back and does nothing once you take it off.

Buy it if you want an anti-theft bag that looks like an office backpack. Skip it if you often set the bag down in cafés or on trains: the Pacsafe Metrosafe X locks.

XD Design Bobby Original: the smaller Bobby

Check price on Amazon →

The Bobby Original is the 12.5 L model that started the line. It fits a 15.6-inch laptop and a 9.7-inch tablet, is water-repellent, and uses concealed zips and panels XD Design calls slash-resistant. XD Design makes no RFID claim for this model.

Buy it if you want the Bobby idea in a smaller, lighter bag. Skip it if you want an RFID pocket; the Bobby Hero has one.

Baggallini Securtex Windsor: the pick for women

Check price on Amazon →

The Baggallini Securtex Anti-Theft Windsor Backpack, now sold on Baggallini’s site as the Securtex Classic Anti-Theft Windsor Backpack, holds 15.8 L, weighs 1 lb 12 oz, fits up to a 16-inch laptop and uses Baggallini’s Securtex system. Baggallini describes Securtex as slash-resistant panels, a double-cable cut-resistant strap, locking zippers and RFID protection.

It is the only pick here from a brand that designs mainly for women, and the only locking bag with a softer, less technical look. Buy it if the Pacsafe looks too much like expedition gear for your trip. Skip it if you want the widest choice of sizes; our carry-on backpacks for women guide covers the non-anti-theft options.

SKYSPER 20L: the budget pick, with an honest caveat

Check price on Amazon →

The SKYSPER 20L Anti-Theft Travel Daypack is a packable 20 L daypack with an RFID pocket and basic lockable zip pulls. SKYSPER publishes no slash-resistant mesh and no cut-resistant strap, so it is not a slash-proof bag in the sense the Pacsafe and Travelon are.

Buy it if you want a cheap, foldable daypack that deters a casual hand in the zipper. Skip it if you are carrying a laptop or camera through crowded transit; the Travelon Metro is the cheapest pick here with published mesh.

What each anti-theft term means

Anti-theft backpack makers use overlapping marketing words for different things. These are the terms on this page, one definition each.

• Slash-resistant mesh. A slash-resistant mesh is a layer of wire mesh sewn between the outer fabric and the lining, so a blade cannot open the bag fast enough to matter. Pacsafe calls its version eXomesh; Travelon calls it a mesh barrier.
• Cut-resistant panel. A cut-resistant panel is a tougher fabric or insert in part of the bag, not a full wire layer. XD Design and Baggallini use this wording.
• Cut-resistant strap. A cut-resistant strap has a wire or high-strength fibre inside it, so the bag cannot be cut off your shoulder. Pacsafe uses Dyneema in its Carrysafe strap; Travelon runs a stainless-steel wire through the strap.
• Locking zipper. A locking zipper has pulls that clip into a catch, like Pacsafe’s Roobar or Travelon’s locking pulls, so it stays shut when the bag is out of your sight.
• Hidden zipper. A hidden zipper is placed against your back or under a flap. It is a placement strategy, not a lock.
• RFID blocking. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the short-range radio a contactless card or passport chip uses, and RFID blocking is a metallic lining that stops that signal.

Two rules follow. First, none of the eight makers publishes an independent, numeric cut-resistance test rating on the pages VoyageHacks read, so do not trust any site that scores them against each other. Second, an RFID pocket matters for cards, not the passport book: see what RFID blocking actually protects for the ICAO Doc 9303 detail.

What the official theft advisories say

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes a safety page for every country, and its pages for Italy, Spain and France all flag bag theft. VoyageHacks read all three directly on 23 September 2026.

All three pages give the same advice: do not carry all your valuables in one place. France’s page asks travelers to “keep your passport, credit cards and other valuables in separate bags or pockets.”

The US State Department’s Italy travel advisory makes the same point: “Organized groups of thieves and pickpockets operate at major tourist destinations, in train stations, bars, and cafes,” and “Thieves on motor scooters regularly snatch purses or bags off pedestrians.” A scooter snatch is exactly the theft a cut-resistant strap is designed for.

Rome, Barcelona and Paris: the documented patterns

No official source ranks these three cities against each other, so here is each city’s documented pattern instead.

• Rome: the FCDO and State Department language above, with no published city-level dataset. The risk points are transit and the major sights on any Rome things-to-do list.
• Barcelona: the most granular data, from secondary reporting on Catalan police and city figures rather than a direct police-site read. Reporting on the Mossos d’Esquadra’s Pla Kanpai operation says it identified 266 repeat pickpocket offenders in 2025. Reported risk concentrates on metro lines L1, L3 and L5 at rush hour, La Rambla and the Boqueria market.
• Paris: the FCDO names the Métro, RER and mainline stations. Secondary reporting on RATP data places Gare du Nord and Châtelet-Les Halles highest for theft reports, and the Île-de-France network’s security line is 3117 by call or SMS.

Edge cases and what goes wrong

• The bag is off your back. Most café and train thefts happen to a bag on a chair or luggage rack. Lock the zips and use the lock-down strap if you have one; a hidden zip does nothing here.
• You keep everything in one bag. The FCDO’s advice for all three countries is to split valuables. Keep a card and some cash in a pocket and the passport in the locked compartment.
• Airport security. Anti-theft zip pulls clip and unclip by hand, with no key, so they open normally at screening. That is general practice, not a published TSA rule. For checked bags, use a TSA-recognised luggage lock instead.
• Jewellery and small valuables. A locked main compartment is not a safe. Keep rings and watches in a small travel jewelry case inside it, or in the hotel safe.
• Overclaiming cut resistance. A panel described as slash-resistant is not the same as a full steel-mesh layer. Read which one your bag has.
• You lose the bag anyway. A luggage tracker in an inner pocket helps you find a bag you left behind, though it will not recover one that was stolen.

Sources

The Barcelona and Paris figures (Pla Kanpai, RATP station rankings, 3117) come from secondary reporting on police and transit data, not from a direct read of a police or RATP page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best anti-theft backpack for travel?

For most travelers it is the Pacsafe Metrosafe X 20L: Pacsafe specifies 20 L, 1.87 lbs, eXomesh steel-mesh panels, a Carrysafe strap reinforced with Dyneema, Roobar Sport locking zips and RFID blocking, plus a 16-inch laptop sleeve. The Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP35 is the 35 L version for longer trips, and the Travelon Anti-Theft Metro Backpack is the mid-range alternative with a stainless-steel wire through the strap.

Do anti-theft backpacks actually work?

Against two kinds of theft, yes: a blade slashed through the bag or strap, and a hand dipped into an unlocked zipper. Steel mesh like Pacsafe’s eXomesh or Travelon’s mesh barrier stops a fast cut from opening the bag. They do nothing against theft that never touches the bag, such as a phone lifted from a pocket or a distraction team, which is the tactic the UK FCDO describes in Spain and France.

What is the difference between slash-resistant and cut-proof?

Only the brand’s wording. Pacsafe and Travelon describe a wire mesh that resists a fast blade cut, XD Design calls its Bobby Urban body fabric cut-proof, and Baggallini uses slash-resistant panels. None of the eight bags on this page publishes an independent numeric cut-resistance rating, so VoyageHacks quotes each maker’s own term and does not rank them against each other.

Is a hidden zipper the same as a locking zipper?

No. A hidden zipper, like the ones on the XD Design Bobby, sits against your back or under a flap so nobody behind you can reach it while you wear the bag. A locking zipper, like Pacsafe’s Roobar or Travelon’s locking pulls, clips shut so the bag stays closed even when it is on a chair or under a table and out of your sight.

Do I need an RFID-blocking pocket in a backpack?

Not for the passport book, whose chip already refuses a reader that has not scanned the printed data page. The pocket helps with contactless payment cards and the US passport card, which answer any reader in range. Treat RFID blocking as a small bonus for cards, not the reason to buy an anti-theft backpack.

Where in Europe do I most need an anti-theft backpack?

The UK FCDO flags pickpocketing and bag-snatching in Italy, Spain and France, concentrated on public transport, at main stations and at tourist sites. For France it names the Paris Metro, RER lines and mainline stations. None of the official sources ranks one city above another, so treat Rome, Barcelona and Paris as equally worth a locked bag on the metro.

The bottom line

Buy the Pacsafe Metrosafe X 20L for a daypack that locks, resists a blade and survives a strap cut, the Venturesafe EXP35 if it is your only bag, the Travelon Metro for the same idea at a lower price, and the XD Design Bobby Hero if you want hidden zips in an office-style bag. Whatever you choose, split your valuables the way the FCDO advises. Tap any card above for the current price, then check the rest of the travel gear hub, from passport holders to packing cubes.