WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER PUT A PADLOCK ON YOUR SUITCASE

It turns out that using a combination lock to secure your bag is far less effective than you initially thought. Without going over the airline's absurdly exact measurements, is it possible to find a suitcase that will withstand being thrown onto the conveyor belt like a bag of potatoes and that is large enough to accommodate your endless outfit options? It's not easy to find a bag to bring on vacation, and it turns out that making it secure is more difficult than you might have anticipated.

"People who work for airlines, what are secrets passengers don't know?" a user asked in a Reddit thread. A worker quickly weighed in and revealed that padlocks aren't as effective as most of us believe them to be. "It's literally not even a deterrent," they wrote. It could be interpreted by some as an indication that the bag is worth looking for. And after an airport employee exposed how simple it is to circumvent padlocks, the evidence is in the pudding. A Transport Security Administration employee exposed the futility of combination locks, especially when it comes to securing your luggage, in a video that went viral on TikTok.

You might have assumed that a hard-shelled suitcase was safer than a soft one, but you were mistaken. The worker can be seen quickly breaching the security of a suitcase by using only a pen to break through the zip. He explains in the video: "I wanted to show you guys this so you know to look out for it because the pen to the zipper technique has been around for tons of years."

I'm simply going to go around, and all it took was a pen to open this once-zipped-up bag." The employee then offers one more minor tip to keep thieves at bay when purchasing a suitcase for your trip.

It's as easy as putting a cover over the zipper of a suitcase to provide an "extra added layer of security." Additionally, it hasn't taken long for people to contribute.

"I literally only have clothes in there - have fun," remarked one TikTok user.

"It's not what they can get from the luggage - it's what they can put in it," said another menacingly.

A third suggested, "Or just carry your valuables with you," 

And TikTok being TikTok, a whole trend has since started of identifying 'Suitcases that pass the pen test' - if there was anything that sums up the weird limbo period between Christmas and New Year's, doom-scrolling about suitcase zips is pretty perfect.

Watch the video on how the Airplane Security guard explains why you should avoid putting a padlock on your suitcase here.