If you are a regular air traveler within or to the US, then you have probably at some stage had your luggage opened by airport security.

This can sometimes present a problem if you want to actually lock up your luggage to protect it from prying fingers (or anything else). Many people have reported that their locks have actually been broken by luggage inspectors.

Well some enterprising people have actually come up with a travel lock that allows inspectors in airports to have a master key that can unlock their luggage locks without the need to break them. Basically a skeleton key.

At first thought, this might seem like a good idea and it probably will be… for a while.

Me, well I don’t exactly have a lot of faith in the integrity and honesty of minimum wage luggage inspectors and to be perfectly honest I think it won’t be too long before other people also get access to these skeleton keys.

While these locks may dissuade opportunistic thieves to a degree, I don’t think they are the answer.

If you want true security for your luggage when you travel, then the only real option is to take luggage that is small enough to be classed as “carry on” so you can take it with you into the cabin and keep and eye on it.

But for those who insist on the facade of security, these locks might be a helpful stopgap measure.