too bad it's soooo ugly!

very clever, but not sure about the execution? does that mean you have to take your belt off every time you buy a glass of wine or mini eiffel tower?

but hey i'll take ugly if it's functional! my husband and i honeymooned in rome, and at a flea market, poor hubbie got bombarded with about 7 teenage girls groping and making kiss-kiss gestures. once we used some physical force to pry them off we realized what had happened.

i also use the time tested method of not actually having any money...

even in france, shopkeepers might get nervous if you start undoing your belt in front of them...

That belt isn't big enough to carry a passport in, though.
We just got back from a month all over France and never had any issues, in spite of many pick-pocket "beware" signs. We just kept our wallets/passports in our backpack or in my purse. Easy.

At one point I used the time honored method of safety pinning my pocket shut.

Your backpack's the worst place. Keep scans of all info on a USB, and then carry what you need for the day in the wallet, and other stuff in the concealed belt or pouch under your shirt.

I've never had a problem with pickpockets...if you don't dress in your standard tourist clothes or go around yelling in English, you won't stick out like a wealthy American and nobody will bother you.

Can you even use the words "wealthy American" in Europe anymore?

locals get robbed like everyone else. tourists are easy targets and likely to have lots of "gear" that will sell.

i don't do belts or pouches. just my purse. i roll like i do right here in nyc. if i get hit, well, that's life. (and i don't carry my passport around. that stays at the hotel.)

my parents and I were on a very crowded bus in rome a number of years ago. my father realized that the guy standing next to him had his hand in my dad's pocket and was trying to get the wallet out. without missing a beat, my dad stuck his had in the pickpocket's pocket and looked him straight in the eye. it was a pretty tense couple of minutes until the next stop. the pickpocket pulled his hand out of my dad's pocket, leaving the wallet with its owner. my dad took his hand out of the pickpocket's pocket and the guy ran away.

I'm an experienced subway-ridin' bad-neighborhoodin' urbanite and an OBVIOUSLY not wealthy (never got the knack for "dressing better for less"!) and was lucky 2x in Rome. The first time, I caught the woman with her hand in my bag on the subway (she had the gall to try staring me down, in a "What are you looking at?" kinda way, as she slowly removed her hand, empty). The second time, I had walked a half block after exiting the subway when I realized that my shoulderbag had been razor-slit up the side. The lucky part was that I had knotted my camera strap and wallet strap to various hooks and loops inside my bag, so they were, thankfully, still there and untampered-with. Also lucky that a policeman directed me to a hardware shop where they helped me repair my black nylon Chinatown bag with black electrical tape, inside and out. It made it till I got home. : )

I love the expression on that girl's face.

There's nothing that says "TOURIST!" than taking your wallet out of a compartment that hangs from your neck or is strapped on your torso under your shirt. I like the idea of just being too poor to have any concerns about getting robbed. I prefer to spend my money getting to a place instead of spending it once I get there. Also, being the disorganized person that I am, I just shove all cards, bills, etc. in my front pocket. Deep pockets (literally, not metaphorically) make it harder for anybody to reach in there without making it look (and making me think) that something nasty and amazing is going to happen.

We were "cased" on the subway in Rome by a father and his 7 YEAR-OLD son. We caught on to their suspect head nods and managed to leave with our valuables. I got caught off guard while taking a photo at the coliseum when a man dressed as a tourist holding a video camera (but not looking through it) sidled up to me and tried to snatch my bag. Luckily my friend intervened before I was robbed. Both times we stood out from the crowd because we had our backpacks on. Rome is great but it's a pickpocket haven.

The rest of our trip (when we didn't have to carry around our backpacks) we blended in and never had a problem. If you look and act like a tourist in a touristy area it's akin to wearing a blinking sign that says "rob me."

Keep your wallet in your front pocket and hold onto it when you're in crowded areas such a subway. Simply put, just be cognizent of your belongings.

When I toured Europe, I wore my backpack on my front. Well, usually I did this because I was carrying a backpacking backpack (like, 3 feet tall) on my back, but sometimes I did it just to keep it in my sight. Perhaps you can only really pull that off when you're 17, though.
I also used to safety pin the zippers together, but it became a pain and I stopped. The next time I was in Europe, I simply carried a messenger bag and I never had any problems.

there's nothing wrong with looking like a tourist. if that's what you are, that's what you are. people go on about Americans with fanny packs, but that's what a lot of Americans wear right here in America.

other people will see you as they see you. sometimes people know i'm an american on site. sometimes they ask me directions in the local language. que sera.