This portable safe was truly a great find and has more uses than I originally thought. I got it in order to have a safe place to secure my stuff in my hotel room while on my travels. Very few hotels I stay in even have a safe. And for the ones that do, the built-in-the-closet metal safe is too small to hold my laptop anyway.

So when I discovered this particular Pacsafe line of products I knew I wanted one. I measured my computer and read the measurements of their 5-Liter size safe on the website. According to the specs, it should fit fine, so I placed my order.

Unfortunately after I received it and tried it out, I discovered that it was totally impossible for my little laptop to fit into it. The reason was due to the design of how the bag changes shape and size when closed. And also due to how Pacsafe measures the item — outside dimensions rather than inside dimensions.

I only had a few options. I could get the next larger size, but I didn’t want to do that since it was over double in size and weight. I could forget about it completely, but I didn’t like that either — I really wanted one of these travel safes. So I did something you might thing totally odd — I returned my brand new laptop and traded it down for the next smaller size! And that one fit perfectly.

In the video below I explain the sizing problems I had with the 5-liter travel safe. I also show you how the closure works and why it changes the bag shape so dramatically, thus changing what you can realistically put into it. I hope this video will give you enough information to help you get the right size for your needs.

Another Use

I also discovered I could use my portable safe as a beach bag. Since I mostly travel alone, whenever I go swimming I greatly worry about my things that are left behind while I’m in the water. And taking nothing at all with me just isn’t much fun.

But with my new travel safe I had a great new option. I put my wallet, eyeglasses, cell phone and a few other essentials into my Pacsafe. I then secured the travel safe to a nearby iron railing. And off I went, to swim in the water. Only this time I had no worries — all my belongings were very safe!