On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 11:42:38 -0500, Viking <[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 18:01:57 GMT, Deep Foiled Malls
    ><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
    >>Is that what you wanted to know?
    >Yep, thanks, I'm going to pass that on to my sweetie, and we'll
    >discuss. Thanks for taking the time to write it, DFM. (And now prepare
    >yourself for the "I visited Russia and had a wonderful time" posts
    >that *inevitably* will appear here!)

There wont be many.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

    > Icono wrote:
    >> I don't get it. Isn't a wallet in a pocket "inside the pants"?
    >> Most pants have belt loops. Do you mean the wallet has one? Do
    >> you then run your belt inside your pants and through the
    >> wallet's loop? I don't get it.

Alan S said:
    > The "secret" wallet is designed to be worn between your underwear
    > and the inside of your pants, with a loop that you slip your belt
    > through to stop it slipping down. The loop has a system that
    > assists in retrieving the wallet easily when you need it.


Viking wrote:
    > You put the belt through the loop, and put the wallet inside the
    > pants, not in any pocket. It's called an "inside wallet".

I get it. Thank you.

In a prior post, I told what I carry. No wallet. I'm sure those who
carry wallets and tickets and passports and licenses would find the
information valuable. I don't carry nuttin' I don't need either here
or on The Road. However, when next in a store that might carry such
an item, I'll take a look at it as you seem to find it so useful.
Maybe I'll join your rank.
__________________________________________________ __________
A San Franciscan in (where else?) San Francisco
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 IClast at SFbay Net

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 02:47:57 -0800, Icono Clast <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >In a prior post, I told what I carry. No wallet. I'm sure those who
    >carry wallets and tickets and passports and licenses would find the
    >information valuable. I don't carry nuttin' I don't need either here
    >or on The Road. However, when next in a store that might carry such
    >an item, I'll take a look at it as you seem to find it so useful.
    >Maybe I'll join your rank.

I think Magellan's (www.magellans.com) carries them. Good luck
whatever your decision....

Viking wrote:
    >
    > On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 02:47:57 -0800, Icono Clast <[email protected]>
    > wrote:
    >
    > >In a prior post, I told what I carry. No wallet. I'm sure those who
    > >carry wallets and tickets and passports and licenses would find the
    > >information valuable. I don't carry nuttin' I don't need either here
    > >or on The Road. However, when next in a store that might carry such
    > >an item, I'll take a look at it as you seem to find it so useful.
    > >Maybe I'll join your rank.
    >
    > I think Magellan's (www.magellans.com) carries them. Good luck
    > whatever your decision....

TravelSmith, too. And I've seen them on the bits'n'pieces racks in a
number of luggage stores, and in the luggage departments of large
department stores in the US. There's also a version which straps onto your
leg, and a small, wrist-size one for credit cards/keys.

I've not had my pocket picked but that's probably because I'm pretty
defensive. Ripped off is another thing. The major point of
vulnerability appears to be in stations when you are often not alert and
Italy has been more of a problem than elsewhere.

I just had a small bag taken from the rental car in Malpensa as I was
getting set up. I still don't know how someone got into the front seat
but after my wife and I were separately distracted the bag disappeared.

It was probably a bitch for them as well as me since most of what they
got were the on-line maps & information printouts for the trip. The
only major nuisance was replacing some meds over the weekend.

Stations are a problem for travelers and often attract a bad crowd.
However, I don't think that would significantly affect a hotel a small
distance away. Time will also play a factor. Places go down and up.
Termini is well up from problems that it had some years ago.

Crime tends to follow targets. The bus to the Vatican Museums is
constantly mentioned. Unless there is a major police crackdown I
suspect that the presence of tourists with larger than usual amounts of
cash & nicely negotiable passports will draw pick pockets anywhere in
the world.

As Willy said "I rob banks because that's where the money is."


Carole Allen wrote:

    > Of course if you are going to carry your passport and your credit
    > cards in a pocket accessible to pickpockets, rather than tucked into a
    > money belt.......or an inside hidden zipped/buttoned pocket...
    >
    > In mulitple trips to Italy (and other spots in Europe) I have never
    > once been pickpocketed (not that they'd find much in my pockets), or
    > overcharged, or ripped off in any way.

    > On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 11:54:49 -0500, Viking <[email protected]> wrote:

    >>I'd avoid the station area. Getting there after a 14 hr train trip
    >>--should have been 6, but everything broke (welcome to Italy)
    >>including the a/c, we arrived seriously sick because the temperatures
    >>had been about 120 in those steel cans; the crew had come through and
    >>broken the emergency seals to let in a little air at the top of each
    >>window--we had planned to walk to our hotel but couldn't do it
    >>physically, so took a taxi. He drove us around for nearly 15 minutes
    >>despite our loud protests and wanted to charge us a huge amount--the
    >>hotel turned out to be three blocks from the station we found the next
    >>day. The hotel said a/c, but there was none. I was pickpocketed in the
    >>area the next day--and found during the day that nearly all store
    >>owners warned us about pickpockets. Many people at the hotel were
    >>pickpocketed as well; shared stories with them. On the way to the
    >>police station (the single one where English was spoken), gypsies
    >>tossed a baby at me and snatched my passport from my pocket, which I
    >>snatched back. The line of tourists reporting pickpocketings (you have
    >>to get a police report if credit cards were stolen) was two blocks
    >>long (tells you a lot about the frequency of that). My credit cards
    >>had been maxed out in the 10 minutes it had taken me to get to a phone
    >>to call the card companies--Visa told me it was so common in the area
    >>that many jewelry stores in the area were in on it, sold jewels to the
    >>pickpockets, and split the profit later; my cards had been used to buy
    >>diamonds within minutes of being stolen. Far from getting sympathy
    >>when telling the hotel manager in passing that I had been
    >>pickpocketed, he immediately demanded to know how I was going to pay
    >>my bill. All the restaurants in the area around the station had large
    >>hidden charges that they didn't post or mention, sometimes adding more
    >>than 50% to the bill--and three of them added items we never purchased
    >>to the bill (usually bottles of expensive wine), which took long, hot,
    >>angry interviews with the manager to have removed. Went on a tour
    >>where 60% of the time was spent in totally uninteresting restaurants
    >>and shops where the tour guide greeted the owner familiarly and was
    >>obviously getting a kickback. The person I was with almost had her
    >>purse snatched but managed to hang on; someone we met in the hotel had
    >>had her purse stolen by a passing motorcyclist (A Vespa? Who knows?)
    >>Etc, etc. My advice about the area around Termini and the parasitical
    >>Roman culture that preys on tourists? You can guess for yourself.