Bitcoin Forum

Its a bit long winded but thats because i approached it from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about bitcoin.  If you do not already have your coins in cold storage, please do so.  Only leave in online wallets what you need to transact for the day with.  It looks complicated, but after you do it once, you can do it no problem.  Print off lots of paper wallets at a time so you don't have to do it again for a long time.  Be safe out there!

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1u5yn6/easy_to_use_guide_how_to_get_bitcoin_safely_store/

Can't you just keep your wallet in an encrypted container and then disconnect your laptop from WiFi after storing a back up wallet on a flash drive ? :)

n00bie wins.

Good post...I think this can be helpful for a lot of people...

"How to import(bring back into an online wallet) offline bitcoin for use in commerce:
IMPORTANT: WHEN IMPORTING FROM A PAPER OFFLINE WALLET, YOU MUST IMPORT THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF THE OFFLINE WALLET. IMPORTING A FRACTION OF IT WILL CAUSE THE REMAINING BALANCE TO BE LOST FOREVER."

cant stress this enough.

That link is very helpful for newbie like me.

Into bitcoin-qt.

Fortunately other clients (including blockchain.info) have a more sensible implementation. But to stress - read and understand how your client works.

In any case, you should import the full amount because it's not paper anymore once the private key hits an online system.

Not easy at all, in fact there are still no way to secure the coin for noobs. All these require certain kind of IT competence and from time to time they still lose their coin/password

There is a similar approach described here

http://falkvinge.net/2014/02/10/placing-your-crypto-wealth-in-cold-storage-installing-armory-on-ubuntu/

Best method is to use an offline computer and bitaddress.org then use a punch and a piece of metal to stamp the generated private and public keys onto the metal. Make two copies, one in a bank safe or similar and one in your own safe. Keys can be encrypted for added security but dont forget the password.

Why do I need a brand new USB drive that has been never used before!?

I think offline Armory on a live Ubuntu USB is the easiest, most secure, and most convenient solution right now. 

This is only necessary for the crazy wicked extremely paranoid.  You'll probably do fine by just reformatting an old one 17 times before using it.  

The OP doesn't consider the fact that the new USB may have been prepared with a bitcoin stealing virus by the guy who sold it at Radio Shack.  New USBs are also not safe.  The only true way to be safe is to go to the beach and get some sand and make a USB drive and use that one.  Be sure not to let anyone near the sand before you form it into a USB drive.

rawdog - is that you from youtube ???

Now I have a good reason to go to the beach!

maybe use various ways of keeping coins - eggs and baskets...

like use a tapewriter to print an Electrum seed on a plastic strip, and drop it into a clear block of resin to make it a paperweight type thing...

you could also upload the seed to the cloud...

keep it in different forms

I like the Piper:  http://piperwallet.com

If you never connect it to a network, then all the paper wallets you print have to be safe.  It prints on thermal paper so I just use a my multi purpose printer/scanner to make a copy.

If you only want to secure a few hundred dollars of BTC this may be too much, but if you are going to secure more then its worth every penny.

if you have more than 2BTC ... you can use a laptop ONLY for bitcoin-QT (without anything like flash, java or other non-installed tool).