WOMEN’S SAFETY – HOW TO KEEP YOUR PURSE MORE SECURE

Part One In A Three Part Series

 

Hello Common Sense Crusaders! Join me in making common sense of security in this 3 part series on women’s safety –how to keep your purse more secure. In part 1 I will tackle what might not seem to be a big deal, but when you look at it from a personal security angle you might see it a lot differently – what type of closure is more secure. In part 2 I will go in depth into the questions that you should consider when choosing a bag or purse. In part 3 I will focus on protecting against theft.

This post will focus on women’s safety, but PLEASE MEN DON’T IGNORE THIS POST! You have mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, and daughters who will benefit from this information. I see women of all ages who leave themselves vulnerable to having not only their money and credit cards stolen, but also potentially their identities.

 

AND in addition to those aforementioned items, the potential is there to have your car stolen and your house broken into because you more than likely will have your keys in the same bag. The thief will have your address from your identification and if you have a key fob with an alarm mode on it, your car will be easy to find.

 

Oh, and don’t forget your phone! I stash mine in my purse if I don’t have pockets or my pockets aren’t big enough… which is most of the time! (WHY are women’s pants pockets are SO SMALL?? That’s a topic for a different post!)

 

Here are some common sense safety tips to keep you, or the ladies in your life, safer from theft.

 

The other day at work, I saw one of my personal security pet peeves. A mom had just entered with two young kids. She wheeled her stroller away from Admissions and stopped near me to get her kids set to have some fun. She bent over to get something or stow something in the bottom of the stroller and she had a diaper bag on her shoulder, or at least part of it was. The diaper bag was pulling double duty as her purse. I can tell you this because she had neglected to close the diaper bag and I could literally see everything in there because she only had one strap on her shoulder. I could have easily reached in and grabbed her wallet because it was still on the top of the bag. It could have easily fallen out too and been scooped up by someone else. I see this all the time, and not just at work – at the store, at restaurants, the mall, everywhere. This is a big women’s safety issue which is so easy to fix.

 

Big purses and other bags that double as purses are a personal security nightmare ladies! I have had my share of big purses and diaper bags that were easy pickings for a pick pocket. I look back and wonder how I didn’t lose everything. I would leave my purse open with all the contents for anyone to see because I didn’t feel it was important enough to take the time to close it properly. Pair that with the fact I was generally distracted by my kids, it could have been a long time before I noticed things were missing.

 

That is why considering the type of closure on a purse is so important. It’s kind of weird to think of bag closures as a security feature, but they really are important.

 

Purses with zippers, in my opinion, are more secure then ones with magnetic closures or snaps. I think they are more secure because it generally takes two hands to open a zipper without pulling it to the point of someone being able to notice it or it would take too long to gently ease it open.

 

Snap closures are sometimes a pain in the neck to close. If it took me even a few seconds to get the snap closed, then more often than not I didn’t close it. Plus if you over stuff the bag like I usually did, then the snap either didn’t line up or didn’t stay closed. One side of the snap sometimes rips off leaving the bag still functional, but you can’t close it now. I don’t know how many purses I used long after the snap ripped apart.

 

The same goes for magnetic closures except I think they are the easiest to get open. They also have a tendency to pop open on their own which leads to a wide open bag. They are the least secure in my opinion except for tie closures which I think are basically the same as leaving the bag wide open.

 

From time to time, go through your purse and ask yourself – Am I really ever going to need all this stuff? I have a very small purse with a zipper closure with little room. I specifically chose a small purse so I don’t fill it with junk. Granted my kids are grown now, so I don’t need to use it for kid stuff. I have to make a decision about every item I want to put in there – is this item necessary? Will I ever need or use it? If the answer is yes, definitely, then keep it in there. If the answer is maybe, then that’s as good as a no. If the answer is no then out it goes!

 

If you do happen to be using a bag or a purse that you can’t close properly then bury your important items under your junk. A thief is more than likely not going to go digging under random receipts, coupons and makeup to try and find your wallet. That would leave them open to being caught.

 

Please join me for Part 2 in this women’s safety series where I will go further into detail about considerations you should think about when you are looking for a bag or purse. For now just remember:

Always ALWAYS close your purse or bag – don’t make it easy for thieves to grab things out of your purse or bag.

Try and find a purse or bag with a zipper closure – make sure the zipper is easy to open and close.

Don’t over stuff your purse – Go through it and ask yourself am I going to need or use this.

If you can’t close the bag then bury the important stuff.

 

As always STAY SAFE by being a COMMON SENSE CRUSADER FOR SECURITY!