WATERFLY vs Pacsafe Metrosafe: Two Anti-Theft Bags Tested Side by Side

Here is the short answer: if you are buying a sling bag specifically to protect yourself from card skimmers and opportunistic pickpockets, the WATERFLY RFID Crossbody Sling wins on value by a margin that is hard to argue with. Both bags put RFID-blocking protection between your cards and any scanner within range. Both ride across your chest in front of your body, which is the position that most effectively neutralizes grab-and-run theft. The real question between these two bags is narrower than most buyers realize: do you actually need a physically slash-proof shell with wire-mesh reinforcement and lockable zippers, or does a solid RFID pocket combined with smart carrying habits cover the realistic threat you face? For the majority of travelers, the answer leans clearly toward the WATERFLY at around $33 rather than the Pacsafe Metrosafe at $120 or more.

I tested both bags across several days of city travel in destinations with well-documented pickpocket activity. That included the Barcelona metro during Friday evening rush hour, the Campo de' Fiori market in Rome on a Saturday afternoon when it was shoulder-to-shoulder packed, and the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar where the crowd density and low lighting create exactly the conditions that encourage opportunistic theft. I was paying attention to how each bag handled the day's demands: how it felt after five or six hours of walking, how quickly I could access my passport at transit checkpoints, how much it drew attention from strangers, and how it held up to the general rough handling that city travel involves. I also ran both bags through multiple airport security screenings to see how the removal and repacking process worked in practice. The findings below are honest about both where the WATERFLY surprises you and where the Pacsafe's premium features are genuinely useful.

	WATERFLY Sling Bag	Pacsafe Metrosafe
Price	~$33	~$120-$140
RFID Blocking	Yes, dedicated RFID sleeve pocket	Yes, full interior RFID-blocking lining
Anti-Slash Material	No (nylon shell only)	Yes (eXomesh stainless wire lining)
Lockable Zippers	No	Yes (RooBar locking zip pulls)
Capacity	6L	10L
Weight (empty)	~0.9 lbs	~1.5 lbs
Strap System	Padded adjustable crossbody	Padded adjustable crossbody
Water Resistance	Water-resistant nylon	Water-resistant polyester
Best For	Frequent travelers, day trips, city tourism	Long-term travel, high-risk routes, overnight transit

Where the WATERFLY Wins

Price is the most visible win, but it compounds into several less obvious advantages. At $33, the WATERFLY sits at a price point where you don't agonize over the decision and you don't stress about the bag's condition on rough travel days. I've dragged mine through monsoon-season markets in northern Thailand, shoved it under bus seats on overnight routes in Southeast Asia, scraped it against stone walls while navigating narrow alleyways in Italian hill towns, and forced it into full overhead bins on budget airlines where bags take real abuse. The water-resistant nylon shell holds up better than that price point suggests it should. After nine months of regular use, the fabric shows superficial wear on corners but no structural damage, no delamination, and no zipper failures. That's a track record I'd stand behind.

Weight is the second advantage, and it builds across a travel day in ways that matter. The WATERFLY comes in around 0.9 pounds empty. The Pacsafe's stainless wire mesh lining and heavier hardware bring it to roughly 1.5 pounds empty. Half a pound sounds insignificant, but add a passport, a compact camera, a water bottle, a light layer, and a portable charger, and you're already carrying a loaded bag that's 0.6 pounds heavier than its WATERFLY equivalent before you even step out the door. Over six hours of cobblestone walking in summer heat, that difference registers on your shoulder and across your chest. Lighter bags also travel with less visual gravity. A visibly reinforced, rigid-framed bag communicates to observant people nearby that you're carrying something you consider valuable. The WATERFLY's relaxed, unstructured nylon silhouette blends with a daypack or a casual city bag. That kind of visual anonymity is its own passive layer of security, and it doesn't cost extra.

The RFID protection in the WATERFLY is also legitimately functional rather than a marketing afterthought. The dedicated RFID-blocking sleeve sits in the main compartment close to your body when the bag is worn crossbody. It fits a standard passport and four to five cards with room to remove items without fumbling at a checkout counter or ticket gate. In destinations where contactless payment readers are ubiquitous, and in many European cities that now includes metro turnstiles, café readers, and museum ticket kiosks, keeping your card data behind a blocking layer removes the skimming risk entirely. The WATERFLY covers that threat as completely as the Pacsafe does, at a fraction of the price. The organizational layout also works sensibly for airport days: your RFID documents stay in one sleeve, your phone and boarding pass in the front pocket, and your jacket and charger in the main compartment. Clearing security is faster when everything has a designated place and you can swing the bag to your front without taking it off your body. If you want to understand how the bag holds up over months of actual trips, my full nine-month review covers the wear patterns, zipper durability, and daily organization in detail.

Where the Pacsafe Metrosafe Wins

The Pacsafe's physical security features are real and worth understanding clearly. The eXomesh stainless steel wire mesh woven into the bag's shell panels is genuinely slash-resistant. A blade drawn across the bottom or side of the bag, which is an actual theft method used in high-density transit environments in parts of Eastern Europe, South America, and some Southeast Asian cities, will not cut through the Pacsafe. It will cut through the WATERFLY's nylon. That is not a hypothetical risk cooked up in a marketing brief. It is a documented tactic in specific places, and if your travel calendar includes extended time in those environments, the Pacsafe's construction is addressing a real gap. The RooBar locking zippers reinforce the same argument. Without the key, the zipper pulls cannot be opened. In situations where your attention is divided or your bag is out of your direct line of sight, such as sleeping on a night bus, sitting at a busy cafe with the bag on the back of your chair, or moving through a dense crowd where your peripheral vision is limited, that mechanical lock is a meaningful barrier.

The Pacsafe also serves a different organizational use case. At 10 liters versus the WATERFLY's 6 liters, it functions as a genuine all-day city bag rather than a transit carry. If your day requires a full water bottle, a light jacket, a tablet or e-reader, a full-size camera, snacks, and your travel documents, the Pacsafe can absorb all of it without feeling overpacked. The WATERFLY at 6 liters requires more selectivity about what you carry. That is not necessarily a flaw but it does mean the WATERFLY works best as a document and essentials bag, worn alongside a separate daypack, rather than as the single bag for a full day. Pacsafe also backs its bags with strong warranty support and the hardware quality reflects the price point: zipper pulls feel substantial, seams are reinforced, and the strap system shows no wear degradation even under months of daily use. If you plan to use the bag for years across dozens of high-intensity trips, the Pacsafe amortizes its cost more convincingly than if you're buying it for one annual vacation.

Slash-proof fabric matters most when your bag is out of your direct line of sight. In a daytime city market with your bag worn across your chest and facing inward, good habits cover the same threat for $87 less.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the WATERFLY if you are a regular traveler who visits popular tourist destinations in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, or Latin America, whether for weekends, annual vacations, or occasional international trips. Your realistic threats are card skimming at ATMs and crowded transit stops, and opportunistic distraction theft in busy markets. The WATERFLY handles both. You want a bag that disappears on your chest after an hour of walking, does not flag you as a tourist carrying expensive gear, and costs little enough that replacing it if something happened would not ruin your travel budget. The 47,000-plus Amazon buyers who gave it 4.5 stars mostly fit this exact profile. If you want more detail on how the bag performs across months of real use, the honest review of the WATERFLY covers the trade-offs that the listing description does not mention.

Buy the Pacsafe Metrosafe if you are a long-term traveler, slow traveler, or someone spending extended months in destinations with elevated bag-theft statistics. You routinely use overnight buses and trains where your bag rests beside you while you sleep rather than across your chest where you can monitor it actively. You carry a mirrorless camera, expensive electronics, or documents that genuinely cannot be replaced easily while you are on the road. You also have a travel gear budget that treats a $120 bag as a considered long-term investment rather than a stretch purchase. The Pacsafe is built to last several years of hard use and, if that matches how you travel, the per-trip cost amortizes well. In that profile, it is not overbuilt. It is precisely the right tool for the threat level and use pattern you actually operate under, and the peace of mind it provides on an overnight train in a less-traveled region is genuinely worth something.

There is a third path worth naming before you decide. Buy the WATERFLY and use it with intention. Keep the bag worn across your chest with the main zipper facing your body. Never put it on a chair, table, or bus seat beside you in any crowded or tourist-heavy environment. Use the RFID sleeve consistently, every time you board a metro or walk through a market, not just when you remember to. Keep your phone in the front zip pocket rather than a back pants pocket. Do those four things and you have addressed the realistic theft scenarios for almost any mainstream travel destination without paying the Pacsafe premium. It is how I've operated for over two years across six continents without a successful theft attempt. The WATERFLY, worn correctly, is a serious anti-theft bag that earns its place in any carry-on-only kit.