Walking up to The Santa Justa Lift in Lisbon, Portugal

Editor's Note: This is our second stop in Lisbon! Check out the first one (stop #62) here!

Dear Clothing Arts,

Four couples were in Lisbon, Portugal in October of this year. We were walking through the streets just past the city elevator, the Santa Justa Lift, when I noticed someone touching the back of my pants. I quickly turned to find a young man with a city map in his left hand opened to hide his right hand. He had tried to open my left rear pocket and steal my passport with his right hand. I smiled and moved away from him. He stopped, looked frustrated and turned 180 degrees and walked away without looking at his map.

I can understand his frustration – I find it difficult to securely zip and button my rear pocket. And that’s a good thing! When I travel I always wear Clothing Arts pick picket proof pants. Always!

- Bill from South Carolina, USA

View Of Barcelona from Parc Guell

Editor's Note: This is our 6th and 7th stop in Barcelona! The only cities with higher pick-pocket counts are Rome and Paris.

Dear Clothing Arts,

The check-in clerk reminded me that I should keep my wallet in a front pocket. Since I had my wallet safely secured in my left rear pocket I did not move it. I had two attempts to get at the wallet. Not one of them looked back at me after he tried. Both attempts occurred while on the steps. Once walking down stairs (I saw him after the attempt), and once walking up stairs. I felt fingers sliding along the zipper both times. Had pants buttoned also.

- Jim from Minnesota, USA

St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square in Moscow, Russia

Editor's Note: This is our third stop in Russia and our first in Moscow!

Chuck recently called in to let us know about his stopped pick-pocket experience. Here is his story told to our Founder/Designer Adam:

"We were on a Viking River Boat tour of Russia and had just arrived in Moscow. On our first day there, we went to Red Square, and their annual fall festival was going on. Sculptures were depicting the season like giant pumpkins, and interestingly, a surfboard tank was set up. We walked up to watch the surfers in that tank, and my wife was standing with me on my left side. I felt something tug on my left front pocket and turned around to see what was going on. All of a sudden, someone behind me in line rushed ahead to get away. The button flap had stopped him!

He was able to get the zipper down up to the flap to get a few fingers in but couldn’t get the button flap opened before I noticed what was happening. As soon as I did, he was gone.

I had about $200 in the pocket, and it was held together by a money clip, but he couldn’t get the clip out. When he tried to pull it free, it wouldn’t fit through with the flap still there and that altered me.

My wife was standing on that side, and she felt him bump her as he tried to pull away. This alerted her to someone trying to pick my pockets as well. She watched with me as he disappeared into the crowd ahead."

- Chuck from California, USA

The Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, Spain

Editor's Note: This is our 5th stop in Barcelona, making the metropolis our 3rd highest ranking city for pick-pocketing incidents after Rome & Paris.

Dear Clothing Arts,

I only wear your Pick-Pocket Proof Pants when we travel abroad. The investment was justified when a pick pocket was foiled in Barcelona last week in a very weird episode.

My wife and I were walking down a cross street in a business/residential area when suddenly a white liquid hit us on the back of our heads and our backs. Of course we thought it had fallen or was thrown from above us.   As we were still in a shocked state, a man appeared who very kindly offered to help us get dried off.   He offered to take us to his apartment just down the block. Naively we followed him. When we were in the entryway, he conveniently pulled out paper towels and started patting us down. After he had patted my wife down, he moved to me. Suddenly, he was patting my wallet pocket a bit too thoroughly. I whirled around and he took off running.  

Lights of awareness came on in our heads. As we exited the entry, we saw that the man had stuffed paper in the lock to be able to use someone else's apartment. He had the buttons undone on my pocket, but the zipper protected my wallet. It cost fifteen euros to have our clothes cleaned, to get what smelled like sour milk out of our clothes. My Pick-Pocket Proof Pants saved my wallet--and our vacation.

- Ben from Virginia, USA

Photos Taken By Mike In Rome!

Dear Clothing Arts,

I always watch TV food shows for the best places to eat before traveling. Going to Rome was no different. After a long day of tours in St. Peter's Basilica and the Museum, I looked forward to my walk around to the backside of the Vatican to a highly recommended pizza place. The place was packed and by the time my order was ready I found that someone had been working on my right front pocket. Originally, I had the zipper down with the tab inside and the fold over button flap secured yet only the zipper was moved up to that flap - I didn't feel a thing! It wasn't the 30 or so Euros I had in that first pocket but the 1600 Euros in the interior zipped pocket I was happy to find intact. These pants do exactly what they claim. I've since purchased the jacket, another pair of pants and the shorts. Great product. I would highly recommend.

- Mike from Utah, USA

Dear Clothing Arts,

My wife and I were in the train station in Lisbon. As I rode up the escalator to the platform, I felt something brush against my leg. I immediately turned and a man was passing me on the escalator. He offered an apology and blamed his red bag for brushing up against me. I thought no more of it. A while later, we were again going up the escalator and I felt a tug on my pants leg. I turned and the same man was passing me. I told my wife loudly that he had just tried to pick my pocket. He ran away. I notice that my right cargo pocket was unbuttoned, but my passport and wallet were still zipped inside thanks to my pickpocket proof pants!

- William from Georgia, USA

 
Hi Clothing Arts,

Finally getting around to the testimonial I've owed you for a few years.

Background:

A month-long trip through Europe and Morocco. Many airports, trains and train stations, subways and subway stations, city buses, tour buses, ferries, crowded tourist sites, city streets, small towns, big cities. Made it through big cities with pickpocket problems like Rome and Paris with no apparent problems (though I wonder if someone tried in those cities but I just didn't notice.) All in all a great trip but I had two "stops" on that trip:

Incident #1 - Madrid

One late night we got out of a show and headed for the subway to go back to the hotel. A couple other events let out at the same time and the subway hallways were suddenly overwhelmed with people. Big crowds waited for particular train lines. We shuffled in and out of the subway cars as a group. Suddenly I felt a smooth, faint pull on my right rear pocket. I immediately reached back but the person's hand was gone. I turned around but had no way of knowing who among the dozens of people could be the perpetrator. Luckily, I had the rear pocket double-protected with the zipper and the buttons and I didn't lose anything. The thief obviously realized what he was dealing with and moved on to greener pastures. It was a weird feeling which followed-- I was angry that someone would try to steal from me, but at the same time almost giddy that planning ahead and buying PPP pants saved me money and problems.

Incident #2 - Agadir, Morocco

I was visiting friends in a small town in southern Morocco and was traveling up to Marrakesh. To do this, I had to take a local taxi to a large taxi station in Agadir, and there transfer to another taxi which could take me to the bus station, which then would take me to Marrakesh. As I found a cab at the taxi station I was approached by two men who began begging me for money. One of the men became very aggressive, came very close to me and began shouting at me to give him money. As I opened the taxi door and was getting into the car he became even more aggressive and forcefully grabbed for my wallet which was in the front right pocket of my PPP pants. I had my wallet double-protected with zipper and button and he grabbed the outline of my wallet through the pant material and began yanking upward. A quick, hard elbow sent him sprawling backward and I jumped into the cab and we sped away. My pocket held tight and had no damage. If I had regular pants on I would have definitely lost my wallet. Incidentally, my wallet only had money in it. I usually separated my important things- I kept my cards in the smaller pocket inside the front pocket and I kept my passport in what I call the "secret back pocket" aka " passport pocket".

So thanks very much for a great product. I never travel
foreign or domestic, short or long without at least one pair of PPP pants and one pair of PPP shorts. I recommend them often to people during travel discussions. I haven't tried the shirts or jacket but I will get to them one day.

Thank you,

Scott from Hawaii, USA
 

Editor's Note: It's a common trick for pick-pockets to stake out ATM's around the world, especially in tourist-prone areas. We suggest using enclosed ATM's when possible and storing your cash in your double and triple secure pockets.

Dear Clothing Arts,

This was in Florence Italy. I had gone to the ATM. I put the money in the hidden pocket and then zipped both pockets. A few hours later I discovered that my outer pocket was unzipped, I never felt a thing but my Euros were safely inside the inner hidden pocket. A HUGE sigh of relief waved over me!

Thank you!!!

- Jo from California, USA

Jo and her husband both wearing their Pick-Pocket Proof Pants on their trip!

Photo of the U.S. Army's 28th Infantry Division Marching Through the Arc De Triomphe - 1944

Dear Clothing Arts,

I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago for 10 days. The evening that we went to the Arc of Triumph the sidewalks were very crowded. I simply wanted to see were my dad drove the tank through the Arc with General George Patton when Paris was liberated in 1944. It was an electrifying experience to be there. Walking back to the metro it happened. A group of guys, commotion, and the attempt at my wallet. All happened in just seconds. Of course I still had my wallet and everything else in my pockets thanks to my Clothing Arts pants. Thank you!

- Gary from New Jersey, USA

Editor's Note: This stop comes to us via a new 5 Star review on our Pick-Pocket Proof® Adventure Travel Pants. Winston was traveling on the #64 bus in Rome when a fellow passenger attempted to unzip his waist-side pocket.

The #64 bus in Rome is one of the biggest hotspots for pick-pockets in the city. The line runs East to West across the Tiber River; from the center of the city to the Vatican and Castel Sant'Angelo. If you have a trip coming up to Rome or are thinking about going in the future, make sure to be mindful of this bus line. It is very convenient to get to some major sights but make sure to be observant of your surroundings!  

Winston's experience brings our stopped pick-pocket total in Rome to 17! We've posted a screenshot of the review below.