Editor's Note: This is your 9th stopped pick-pocket in Barcelona!

Dear Clothing Arts,
 
On Day 4 of our trip to Spain this month, we were on the Barcelona metro at rush hour, on our way back to the hotel from a day out. At the stop before ours four young men boarded, three stood between us and the door. Oddly, one moved behind me and stood there without grabbing a rail. As the train pulled into the station one of the men who stood in front of my wife suddenly bent over and began to wretch and spit up a little bit on the floor. His and his friend's position prevented my wife from moving forward. The man on the floor looked up at us and wretched again. At that point, I noticed the man behind me had his hand in my front pocket. I removed the man’s hand and we exited. Because of Barcelona’s reputation for active pick-pockets, I never went anywhere without my wallet and passport zipped inside the interior pocket of my Clothing Arts business shorts. The man managed to unzip the outer pocket without me noticing – so I was grateful for the secret Clothing Arts zipped pocket – two zippers too many to undo. Without Clothing Arts shorts I would have been without money, credit cards and travel docs. Whew. By the way, I wear my Clothing Arts business shorts even when not traveling all summer long because they are my favorite fit and finish of any short available.
 
So thanks for your great shorts, I’ll never travel anywhere without them.

- Charles S. from North Carolina, USA

(Left) Arch of Constantine in Rome, Italy | (Right) Aerial View of Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain

Editor's Note: This stopped pick-pocket story originally comes from a ***** star review on our Pick-Pocket Proof® Adventure Travel Pants. Our Founder / Designer immediately reached out and was able to get some more detailed information on the stopped pick-pocket experiences. Check out Clark's original review and full email below!

Dear Clothing Arts,

I don't know if you remember, however I ordered the Travel Pants, but they were not scheduled to arrive until after we departed. You answered the phone as you were leaving the shop, and personally got me the Adventure pants - overnight - as a replacement!! (BTW-I just ordered the Travel pants yesterday in anticipation of my 6th trip to Russia, searching for the remains of Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov. The GD, brother of Tsar Nikolas, was actually the last Tzar and was murdered in June 1918 outside the city of Perm.)

Incident #1 - Barcelona

We were walking on a side street of Las Ramblas, actually in the market - fish, meat, pastries, cheese, vegetables...and it was crowded! I felt someone brush against me - not unusual, however their hand was trying to open my front right pocket. I never got a good look at the perpetrator due to the movement of the crowd.

Incident #2 - Rome

I have lived and worked in many countries and try to blend. I usually buy a local newspaper and shove it under my arm, hoping the locals will think I belong. Unfortunately I did not have time to purchase a paper and was trying to figure out the train platform and departure time. I just looked lost and harried and hence a target for being bumped into with the intent of relieving me of my wallet. The individuals who "bumped" into me were very apologetic and, of course, worried about the mess they had made with my clothes, especially the pants which they tried to smooth out! Sorry about their luck!

- G. Clark from Colorado, 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

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

 
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