Seed phrase backup against natural disaster areas

[_act_]

It is important to backup your seed phrase but some people said the backup is not good online but which is true because we have seen how hackers was able to see some people seed phrase online and steal their coins. But I have been thinking recently that how can people in countries with natural disaster be able to backup their seed phrase offline? An example is the flooding that occured in Pakistan like 2 or 3 years ago that submerged 1/3 of the country under water. Even if you backup your seed phrase offline in many locations, it is possible that kind of flood can lead to permanent loss of your offline seed phrase.

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[Mia Chloe]

The truth is there is no 100% guarantee way of storing your keys and seed phrases but the fact is some are safer than others. I guess in the case of a natural disaster, you should probably have a local drive back up. Some people are even of the idea of encrypting them and probably storing them online.

Anyways here is an old post in same context if you go through the replies you will probably get a suitable answer.
Keeping or recovering seed phrases during or after a natural disaster.

[m2017]

Storing (physical) seed phrases in disaster areas is associated with great risks, therefore, despite the fact that many don't approve of online storage of seed phrases, this method (in this case) seems to me the most rational. Judge for yourself what good it will be if your seed phrase is reliably written on a piece of stainless steel or even titanium, but will drown in a flood, get lost under the rubble of buildings during an earthquake, or burn in the lava of a volcano (substitute any other natural disaster that you prefer)? In such cases, seed phrase will be irretrievably lost and may even turn out worse - someone will randomly find it after a flood or in the rubble of construction debris. Under such circumstances, I consider physical storage of the seed phrase unacceptable.

When storing seed phrases online, a number of precautions should be taken (IMHO):
- divide the seed phrase into several parts;
- don't store the entire seed phrase in one service;
- perhaps the last (or first) 1-4 words should be remembered and not disclosed anywhere;
- take care not to lose access to online services where your seed phrase is stored;
- it is possible to encrypt the words of the seed phrase to complicate (render useless) data leakage.

[ultrloa]

It is important to backup your seed phrase but some people said the backup is not good online but which is true because we have seen how hackers was able to see some people seed phrase online and steal their coins. But I have been thinking recently that how can people in countries with natural disaster be able to backup their seed phrase offline? An example is the flooding that occured in Pakistan like 2 or 3 years ago that submerged 1/3 of the country under water. Even if you backup your seed phrase offline in many locations, it is possible that kind of flood can lead to permanent loss of your offline seed phrase.

Well this is case to case basis and if you know you are living on flood prone area then you should think about more ideal way to store your private key safely.

If you are a whale or just have plenty of balances stored in your wallet then its better to have a vault which is hard to carry and engrave your private key on a metal or anything same like element then put it there for sure you can assure safety whatever calamity comes on your place.

But for sure we can see a lot of interesting ideas from other people here since for sure they have creative ideas about how they can store their private key to avoid such unfortunate loss during on bad situations.

[promise444c5]

Yeah just as @MiaChloe replied , there are no perfect way to store your seed phrase but there's one is more safer than the other which is the cold storage format . Even if you tattooed it it might fade (-off)
About the encryption, if encrypted  then there should  be some combination to decipher which will also need to be saved and boom we are back to the cycle again .....
If we are to look at all possibilities and and factors then there would be no perfect ways but for sure we will always have a method that is supreme over the other

[Apocollapse]

You can use anything that doesn't looks suspicious when you carry on anywhere, example in pencil, you can hide your seed phrase in your drilled pencil. Place it in your bag, so when something bad happen, make sure you remember to carry your bag.

I don't think any criminal or someone can make a guess if your pencil has something that you hide.


https://www.instructables.com/Hidden-moneypaper-compartment-in-pencil-With-stuff/

[lovesmayfamilis]

It would be wise to store your seed phrase on the Internet if you first encrypt it with one of the programs like VeraCrypt or TrueCrypt. You can create an encrypted file container that will contain a file with a phrase. There are many instructions on the Internet for creating such a section. If we assume that the file is found by someone on the Internet, then decrypting this file can take a very long time for very experienced hackers, but as history says, it is almost impossible to decrypt it.

[Davidvictorson]

It is important to backup your seed phrase but some people said the backup is not good online but which is true because we have seen how hackers was able to see some people seed phrase online and steal their coins. But I have been thinking recently that how can people in countries with natural disaster be able to backup their seed phrase offline? An example is the flooding that occured in Pakistan like 2 or 3 years ago that submerged 1/3 of the country under water. Even if you backup your seed phrase offline in many locations, it is possible that kind of flood can lead to permanent loss of your offline seed phrase.

In the case of natural disasters use titanium washers or if you can't afford it due to budgetary constraints then use Stainless Steel Washers. Not just any Stainless Steel Washers but grade 316 stainless. Titanium may not be readily available because they are generally more expensive but Stainless Steel Washers but grade 316 are likely to provide better overall protection due to their superior corrosion resistance, availability, and cost-effectiveness.  Whichever the individual chooses, they should go ahead to create multiple copies of the seed phrase backup and store them in secure locations. They are very trusted locations that these copies can be spread across to minimize the risk of all backups being destroyed by a single disaster like flooding or earthquake.

[Charles-Tim]

In the case of natural disasters use titanium washers or if you can't afford it due to budgetary constraints then use Stainless Steel Washers. Not just any Stainless Steel Washers but grade 316 stainless. Titanium may not be readily available because they are generally more expensive but Stainless Steel Washers but grade 316 are likely to provide better overall protection due to their superior corrosion resistance, availability, and cost-effectiveness.  Whichever the individual chooses, they should go ahead to create multiple copies of the seed phrase backup and store them in secure locations. They are very trusted locations that these copies can be spread across to minimize the risk of all backups being destroyed by a single disaster like flooding or earthquake.

Titanium or stainless steel or steel or any good metallic storage is also not 100% safe because flood can move the storage from your location you store the backup to a very far place like a place that another person will be the one to see it on maybe the flood can move it to a river a place that people can not get to it. Also the disaster can be worse like earthquake that destroyed a building in a way that nothing can be seen again.

[mk4]

You can etch or stamp your backups on a steel sheet. The materials needed should be fairly accessible in local hardware stores.

Alternatively, Ledger has this capsule thing that you can easily hide wherever, but of course buying the materials individually yourself is cheaper by a wide margin: https://shop.ledger.com/products/cryptosteel-capsule-solo

[Kelward]

Online should have been the best place to backup seed phrase because it won't get lost, stolen or be lost during natural or man-made disasters, but because of the criminal activities of hackers we have to forgo the convenience of online storage. Encrypting in a file online can be another method to storing seed phrase, but I personally avoid anything online that regards my private keys, we don't have any natural disasters in my country, so I feel safe to hide my seed phrase in different locations. For people who live in countries that natural disasters occurs, in addition to finding the best methods to saving their seed phrase, they can memorize their seed phrase and be reharsing it periodically, the process can be tiring but it's worth securing their hard earned cryptos.

[Davidvictorson]

Titanium or stainless steel or steel or any good metallic storage is also not 100% safe because flood can move the storage from your location you store the backup to a very far place like a place that another person will be the one to see it on maybe the flood can move it to a river a place that people can not get to it. Also the disaster can be worse like earthquake that destroyed a building in a way that nothing can be seen again.

I agree that Titanium or stainless steel or steel storage methods for seed phrases doesn't offer 100% guarantee. No storage method does. Here's my point, these metals are designed to withstand flooding and remain intact even in the event of earthquakes or building collapses. Secondly, in the event that the flood moves it away from its location, there are identification markers or tracking systems that can be use on the storage can which can aid in their recovery. Therefore, if we live in areas that are prone to such disasters, we should live with disaster preparedness and recovery plans in mind. These plans should include measures for securing and protecting backup storage locations which have already been stated, as well as procedures for data retrieval and restoration in the event of a disaster. Lastly, because these disasters do not happen simultaneously across a whole country, we should secure them in multiple storage locations.

[Doan9269]

It is important to backup your seed phrase but some people said the backup is not good online but which is true because we have seen how hackers was able to see some people seed phrase online and steal their coins.

Its a very bad idea to use any online means to save our seed for backup, they are centralized and anyone can spy into their server and fish out users informations and sensitive data against them, this will be the only means i can refer someone to use in saving his seeds for backup as already discussed on several occasions by some forum members.

Storing seed phrase with washers
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5389446.0

Seeds backup tools
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5263482.0

Additional security to your seed phrase
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5230920.0

But I have been thinking recently that how can people in countries with natural disaster be able to backup their seed phrase offline?

I want to believe that not all countries are being affected and for the ones affected, such is prone on specific areas, most importantly, we have to consider an alternative means to using any storage means, that is, we should have at least two means where we have our seeds backed up, but using online storage is not a recommendation to consider.

[Crypt0Gore]

Natural disasters are very common in some parts of the world but luckily I am from a country where such things don't happen since I was born I have never seen a real Tornado that tears things apart like in other countries, any earthquake and others either.

The worst that can happen here is a fire outbreak and in this case, I am always cautious with fire, still, anything can happen, and the safest option that I know of is stainless steel.

I carved my recovery seeds on a stainless steel and I keep it where I can quickly reach if anything bad happens, my fear here is just fire and nothing else.

[Upgrade00]

Two backups in two different locations will protect against natural disasters. The chances of a disaster striking in both places simultaneously is very low, if one gets destroyed you use the other backup to duplicate it.

You can try to back it up on disaster resistant materials, but the aftermath of a flood, fire or earthquake is unpredictable and there's no guarantee you will find the back up or be allowed to check for it.

If you're scared of keeping your backup in another location, include an additional passphrase and don't write that down with the other words.

[Yamane_Keto]

I created a similar topic a year ago when Türkiye earthquake happened. Is Metal Seed Storage Safe in an Earthquake?
Metal Seed Storage with a passphrase stored in a separate place is good for fires, floods, and natural disasters, but if the disaster is like an earthquake or something that could make it impossible to recover, I think it is better to use a multi-signature wallet where you can distribute the signatures to several countries. The distribution of keys for these wallets varies according to your capabilities.

[Hatchy]

You can use anything that doesn't looks suspicious when you carry on anywhere, example in pencil, you can hide your seed phrase in your drilled pencil. Place it in your bag, so when something bad happen, make sure you remember to carry your bag.
I don't think any criminal or someone can make a guess if your pencil has something that you hide.

Don't you think that you are neglecting the fact that in situations like natural disasters or any unplanned event, the first thing you would think about is your safety? You least concern would be on how you will manage to escape that scenario and run to a safe zone. So how they would you worry about taking your bag along? If we are being realistic, the idea of natural disasters stands again as a threat to the security of our funds. How then do we minimize these risk? Over the years, alot of people had suggested different methods to use in saving your seedphrase though most of them have proven themselves worthy but there's no 100% safest method of storing your seedphrase.

The worst way to every consider is online because most online storage are close source and how then are you sure that there isn't a back door to access your seed? Yes it might be a very big problem, consider the events of natural disasters but storing seeds online is still far more risky that the old ways we are now considering. I ones read somewhere that using of passphrase would be a manageable suggestion if one is considering storing his seed online. This way, if an attack trys to access your funds using your seed, he would only be able to access a mirror wallet will your seed+passphrase wallets holds your real funds. So I think this would do for situations like this. Just store your seedphrase in an online services which you think and know is safe just in case and the add a passphrase to store your funds instead. And !Ake sure not to forget it at all cost.

[Cookdata]

It is important to backup your seed phrase but some people said the backup is not good online but which is true because we have seen how hackers was able to see some people seed phrase online and steal their coins. But I have been thinking recently that how can people in countries with natural disaster be able to backup their seed phrase offline? An example is the flooding that occured in Pakistan like 2 or 3 years ago that submerged 1/3 of the country under water. Even if you backup your seed phrase offline in many locations, it is possible that kind of flood can lead to permanent loss of your offline seed phrase.

This is a very smart question but I think when you buy a hardware wallet or an airgap device for storage or your coins, the reason for backing up of your wallet is not to discard the hardware wallet right, the back up is just a preventive measures and caution should incase you loss access to your wallet. In a situation like this, proper care of your hardware wallet should be a priority to keep your coins safe, make sure your hardware wallet is in good condition and be ready to access quickly when you need it and not just the seed phrase back up alone.

As for the seed phrase, online storage system is very unsafe, the moment your documents touches the internet, just know that it's not longer safe and that's why offline storage remain the best way. If you are coming from a place where natural disaster happen a lot, I think storing your coins in another country is not bad. If you have thousands and millions worth of Bitcoin, you will do anything to protect it right!

I still remember in one of Vitalik Buterin interview how he got rid of Shiba that was sent to his wallet address. Shiba was airdrop to him and was worth Billions of dollars but he didn't have access to that wallet address as it also contain some ether in the wallet. It was a cold wallet that was key divided, half of key was with him and the remaining was with his family in Canada, he has to put calls through to get the half of the keys before he was able to send out these coins and donanted it to India for relief fund for Covid.

In a situation like this, I will go far to make sure that my Seed phrase is hidden in different locations, it's better than keeping it in a risky environment.

[Porfirii]

The truth is there is no 100% guarantee way of storing your keys and seed phrases but the fact is some are safer than others. I guess in the case of a natural disaster, you should probably have a local drive back up. Some people are even of the idea of encrypting them and probably storing them online.

Anyways here is an old post in same context if you go through the replies you will probably get a suitable answer.
Keeping or recovering seed phrases during or after a natural disaster.

I have gone through the old thread you mentioned and some of the proposed solutions (not only about physically protecting your seeds, but other threats too) are very interesting.

Apart from keeping the seed into a safe, it would be a good idea also to store it in hermetic, fireproof envelopes, just in case (fire or floods can ruin it otherwise).

[Truthlovecoins]

The truth is there is no 100% guarantee way of storing your keys and seed phrases but the fact is some are safer than others. I guess in the case of a natural disaster, you should probably have a local drive back up. Some people are even of the idea of encrypting them and probably storing them online.

Anyways here is an old post in same context if you go through the replies you will probably get a suitable answer.
Keeping or recovering seed phrases during or after a natural disaster.

I have gone through the old thread you mentioned and some of the proposed solutions (not only about physically protecting your seeds, but other threats too) are very interesting.

Apart from keeping the seed into a safe, it would be a good idea also to store it in hermetic, fireproof envelopes, just in case (fire or floods can ruin it otherwise).

I have also seen a luxury watch online that was designed to save ones key phrases. I know it might sound very expensive because it actually is, it would not be easily missing incase such unpredictable disaster do happen.
I think the idea of scribbling the key phrases on a pendant or dogtags or titanium plate might be nice since another person may not easily decode what links such words.