Here is a repost of a piece I wrote on Redsnake. It is good stuff and there is relevant discussion on the web page side:

"Several posters have been "fined" by TJ policia for not having ID in their immediate possession. I
believe it was Tony TJ early this year and someone else more recently. Someone (maybe Mulelip)
pointed out that ID is required in Mexico under their laws.

I could not find any reference to this on the Internet, but I have some US State Department advice and my own methods:

Rule No.1: Have duplicate ID somewhere (even at home). I keep my old expired drivers license.
When I change my address and I get a new one I will surrender the expired one and keep the other
current one. You can also get a duplicate from the DMV by saying you lost the original. I also keep a
photocopy as recommended for Passports. OR get a CA ID card from DMV for $12, it is just like a license.

Do the same with your Passport. The State Department recommends that you:

Make 2 photocopies of the ID page. Leave one at home. Carry the other with you but separate from
your real passport. This will speed replacement.

Rule No. 2 - Conceal one or both copies of your ID's on your person. A hidden pocket, money
belt, fishing license holder (ziploc w/ safety pin) inside your clothes or just inside your sock are all possibilities.

Rule No. 3 - Keys. Keep a spare set. I keep a full set at home. I trimmed down my everyday travel
chain down to small numbers and size. Consider a Hide-a-key for your vehicle, including a spare
alarm remote. I have left my primary keys in my hotel room lately, but am not sure if that is safe.

Rule No. 4 - Money and ATM cards. Same rules apply - spares and concealables. While you are at
it photocopy all your credit cards and file it somewhere. Leave all your credit cards at home, except maybe one other than your ATM.

Rule No. 5 - Plausible Deniability. Carry a dummy wallet with a few dollars and pesos, your old
college id, business cards of people you do not like, a "Get out of Jail Free" card (staple a 200 peso note to the back), etc. Keep some napkins in your front pockets for the pick-pockets. If you get mugged, they will get something and run; you may walk away in good shape.

Paranoia? Maybe, but what will you call it when you slip up and your life becomes temporarily
FUCKED due to no ID and/or dinero and someone else has your ID (address), ATM, credit cards and
key chain. Insurance claims ARE FUN!!!

EC"

El Cabrio
Very good post that all newbies should take to heart.When you visit the zona you should always take nothing (including your safety for granted.)
REMEMBER YOU ARE IN A VERY DANGEROUS CITY GOING TO ITS MOST DANGEROUS AREA.I am shouting this because sometimes after I read these boards I get the idea that many newbies and veteran mongers do not understand this until it is to late.

AAA Auto club members can get a wallet card that has keys to their car. It's a free perk for membership. Easy to store in your wallet, for use in emergencies.

Rock

The lots on the US side are not all that safe...I have seen cars with windows broken out while walking through to the boarder.
Remember!...If you park in the lots on the US side of the boarder...do not leave your parking ticket (reciept) on your dashboard or in plain view...this is the FIRST thing a carthief will look for! Without it he wont be able to get past the gate guard.
If you are like me...reluctant to leave a spare set of keys and alarm unit hidden under your car.
Just take a spare key in your shoe...you'r alarm can be disabled via your valet switch upon gaining access to your car.

The most recent trend in vandalism at the parking lots near the border is to completly tear off your car's radio antenae. Had it happen twice now in the $5 lot up the hill behind McDonalds.

Probably just drunk gringo young-uns.

Yep, I always put mine down, even when I park on the US side. Some kind of thrill for drunk teenagers to rip those things off your car. Hardly a Mexico phenomenon.

-Superman-

I had an incident about 9 months ago in the $7 lot, next to that new duty free shop. I was taking a well-deserved snooze in the back of my Suburban. I woke up around 4:00 AM to catch two teenagers peeing through an opening in a soft top of a convertable Cyrsler (??). I managed to scare them off but had to admit it was pretty funny. I sure wouldn't want to be the gingo who owned that car. If it's one of you guys - I'm really sorry but you can always look on the bright side: They were ONLY peeing. They could have decided to take a shit ... prog

Yeah, that's is pretty funny.... uh....right...

well, it finally happened..after kind of poking fun at the paranoia of mongers getting beaten up, abused and mugged..i finally got mine...was walking by ninos heros to check out the street action, was approched by a barker who grabbed my
arm and tried to drag me in a bar..i promptly told
him to f..k off...he grabbed me again and
i said f--k off....i turned around and walked
away, and then got spun around and popped in the nose and cheek...badly bruised nose and
cheek....everything is healing fine..but of course, this all could have been avoided if i would have said nothing, or just no, gracias and walked...ruined my night..left after i cleaned up and had a monger friend take me to clula vista hospital...kandew, thanks again, sorry about leaving ab....

HBoy - That really sucks. What's the name of the bar this asshole was trying to get you to go into? Did you talk to the manager?

Happyboy,
I was about to say, "No, Gracias" is alot safer than "Fuck Off" when turning down an undesired solicitation in a 3rd world country that is not your own. Remember that you are a guest in their country.

Tijuana survival skills are actually not that tricky

I've seen the barkers deck local Mexicans too.
You gotta be respectfull down there. Those barkers probably don't like their job much anyway,I can't see it paying much.

A couple of weeks ago,three kids probably around 18-20 were drunk and being loud and obnoxious walking on the bridge back to the border.
Some mexican guy decked two of them. They didn't know what hit them,and of course didn't fight back. All they did was yell and threaten the guy.
I hoped they learned their lesson....

your right, guys, survival skills are really easy..i dont know what got into me...i am in my early 30s...i go down to tj every once in a while..sometimes i even go alone..I never had a problem..but i guess i was tired and agitated...and all i had to do was keep my mouth shut..No, i didnt bother talking to the manager..i walked into a bar near the miami club, cleaned up, and took a taxi back to the border..the guy who hit me left and went back to his job..He just popped me once and then walked away...I will heal up and go back mongering...I am not scared, but of course alot more cautious..

Well if you tell someone to fuck off it might be a good idea to keep an eye on 'em eh?

Happyboy, I get angry just reading your post. I hope you made that story up. I can't believe you let some dude grab you twice and you did not retaliate, then he hit you and you cowered away. If some fucker hits you, hit the bitch back! A quick shot to the gut will disable 90 percent of all men. At the very least you should have grabbed a cop. Instead, the message that guy got off you is it's okay to hit people, because they'll just cower away. That dude spent the rest of the night laughing with his buddies about the gringo he punched in the face.

Judging on your description, it must have been one of the barkers at Rio Rosas? If you want revenge on that dude, let me know and I'll go down with you.

-Superman-

Superman, thanks for the reply...Look, i didnt feel like going to jail in TJ..If i retaliated, i would have had some other guys in the mix, it would have gotten real ugly, and i would have been arrested...I know that not doing anything does give the guy the impression thats its ok to
pop gringos in the face...But again, if i would have kept my mouth shut, this would have been avoided...thanks again for the offer to get revenge, i admire that...but i dont want any more problems and i wouldnt want anything to happen to you, if something did indeed go wrong..Remember Superman, this is the zona roja in TIJUANA, a dangerous place, high risk...someone could have pulled out a knife or a gun, and i could have been left for dead..I am just chalking this up for experience...And this is coming from someone who has gone down countless times, even by myself, never had trouble before...i will go down again, but i will be more cautious..

The Zona barkers- can be 'pesados' but in my 15 years of experience I haven't known them to grab people and drag them into the bars. Unless someone else has ever seen this I'm inclined to think that HappyBoys version of the facts is missing something.

i dont know what more facts you need reytj..I was walking down the street, a barker motioned to be to go into the bar..then grabbed my arm...i said fuck off...i started to walk away...he grabbed my arm again..i said fuck off in his face...i started to walk away..got spun around, popped on the side of the cheek and nose...I was bleeding, he looked at me and walked back to the bar..i looked around..walked into another bar, cleaned up and took a taxi back to the border....It was my fault as far as mouthing off...All i am saying is that I may have took for granted and had a false sense of security while walking around TJ by myself late at night...Tomas has already stated that he has seen barkers deck locals..Heck, last month I saw a couple of locals beating the crap out of each other in front of Adelitas and the cops were just looking at them doing nothing...All i am saying is...walk with confidence, be aware of your surroundings, and engage in a reasonable manner whenever you are approached by locals trying to sell you something..

ok enough of this...I have a question about id..do most of the mongers carry it? or do you carry a "dummy" wallet as well as extra cash hidden on your person...I was thinking just leave the wallet at home...hide your id and atm card on you...and keep some cash in various pockets on your person...what is the best way to go...

Hboy - I do exactly what you do. I don't bring my driver's license however. I spent a few bucks a couple years back and got myself a California ID card. I bring it and the ATM card and keep them in a small billfold. In that billfold I also keep enough money for a cab back to the border and parking fees. I then keep single bills in a separate pocket for tipping. I keep the larger bills in another pocket and so on. You want to make this a habit... so that even if you're completely lit you'll know which pocket to reach into. And never, never, count your money outside. If you need to do an inventory, go into a bathroom stall (as if to take a shit) and count it... prog

Excellent advice Prog. I do the same except for the ID part which is something I never thought of. Thanks for the added insight.

Lovesthezona - You're welcome. Always happy to help out a fellow monger... prog

ReyTJ, I have had a barker at Hacienda Bar grab my arm as I walked past. He did not actually try to drag me inside, but he did pull me to a stop. I reacted pretty much as Happyboy did, knocking his arm away and telling him to keep his fucking hand off me. The main difference was that I stood there and glared him down until he backed off, before I walked away. As Redongdo said, "Well if you tell someone to fuck off it might be a good idea to keep an eye on 'em eh?" From the look on his face, I would not be surprised if the only thing that kept him from taking a swing at me was Hacienda's close proximity to the police substation.

Thank you Hippie for responding. Since I don't know HappyBoy from Adam I was somewhat skeptical based on my experience. But if it's happened to you then it's happened to others.

this happened to me some time ago - seems pertinent.

i was going into peanuts & beer as my first stop of the night & realized i hadn't done my money maintenance yet. that is, put serious money away, plant some red herrings in conspicuous places & a small amount of working capital in my shirt pocket (i always try to wear a shirt with a flap). the bar pimps did the usual yelling & waving, but i walked on past to a spot out of sight in an alcove.

i was in the process of moving stuff around when one of the jerks popped up right in front of me - an old guy, drunk i think. i actually had my wallet in my hand (the fake one actually, but he didn't know that) & he had me cornered. i was so startled, i said something like "get the fuck away from me". the old bastard got pissed off, pulled out something like a chisel (something with at least one very sharp edge) & started waving it about a foot in front my face. he was saying something obviously threatening, but between my lousy spanish & his slurred words i couldn't tell what it was.

i probably out-weighed him by 80 pounds or more & old as i am, probably had at least 10-15 years on him. all i could think was that if i had to take the thing away from him, & could avoid getting an eye poked out, i might have to break his arm, & then i would be in really deep shit. i just ended up glaring at him.

neither of us moved for 2 or 3 minutes (it seemed a lot longer) with him waving the damn chisel under my nose & weaving like a drunk. finally he backed off & i took off, with him yelling at my back. it was a long time before i ever went back to p & b. have never seen him again.

Rather than a separate wallet I carry my ID ATM and wad in a fishing license holder (a heavy zip-lock bag just the right size) pinned inside my clothing. I carry some small bills (enough to bribe a cop) in a decoy wallet in my back pocket. Funds shuffles occur in private.

With current events bringing a refocus to the need to carry ID on trips south of the border, I thought that it might be a good idea to re-post the following from the old Red Snake Board. Given the slow down of visitors in TJ, the number of 'targets' is equally reduced, so it can't hurt to take a little extra precautions with your ID and your 'extra' money.

*****
With credit to BillyPV. (Originally posted to Red Snake 09/2000)

Although I just made my 1st TJ trip last weekend, I do a lot of traveling due to my job. One of the things I do is carry only a small amount of cash in my pocket. My large bills and credit cards I keep in a really trick "leg wallet". It straps around your calf with velcro straps and when you pull your socks on it can't fall off or be seen. Here is a link to see it.

http://distantlands.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=detail&id=2563&product=30

Not bulky at all, my friend! The picture is REALLY deceiving because if you're sitting down and your legs are crossed, even though it is covered by your sock you can't tell it's there! It's that thin. The back is lined so your leg won't sweat and the thing is so thin and light you forget it's there 2 minutes later!! My daughter just turned 21 and went with her friends to Vegas. I gave it to her to use and she loved it. She kept some money in her pockets, but put the rest in the leg-wallet so she wouldn't have to worry about her purse getting stolen when she was playing the machines.

It's probably the best $12 I ever spent! (Please note that the price of this item has gone up to $14)

With full credit to Daytimer.

Travel Wallet Deal

There is a luggage outlet store by the border that handles them. It is in that shopping center(Camino De La Plaza) that is just down the street (west) of the last US exit. The shopping center is across the street from the new shopping center under construction. The luggage store is about in the middle of the shopping center.

I thought I once saw a posting where someone mentioned they had bought a belt down in TJ that had a zippered pocket along the inside of it. Does anyone know about that and where it can be purchased?

Conejo,

LL Bean has one of these. I'd guess that the luggage store near the border probably has them, too.

However, the rateros know all about money belts and WILL strip it if you get mugged by the choke hold method. (I recall hearing of two incidents where this happened)

One other caveat on the zippered money belt. If you get one, MAKE SURE that you zip it up. I remember one guy posting about a time when he didn't zip it up, and got 'picked' as he was fighting his way through a packed AB.


Bueno Suerte,

StrikeEagle

www.cabelas.com carries sportsman's travel clothing including money belt and shirts and pants with interior hidden pockets.

Good quality, fair prices. If you do not like you can return merchandise for no reason for a refund.