First Time Moving Bitcoin into Cold Storage, Need Help Verifying my Plan

[BusyBeaverHP]

Hi all, recent adopter here.

I have Bitcoin Core 0.9.0, with an encrypted wallet containing 1.1 BTC. My personal policy for now, is to have no more than 1 BTC per wallet. I'm no whale, but that amount of money is significant to me.

I'm going to move that wallet into cold storage for the first time, and I want to go over the steps I'm taking with everyone, just to be absolutely safe:

1. Close down Bitcoin Core.
2. Back up wallet.dat into an encrypted zip file.
3. Copy and store the zipped wallet.dat on multiple flash drives and other media.
4. Delete wallet.dat in Bitcoin folder.
5. Boot up Bitcoin Core, which then creates another wallet.

I think that's all the steps I need to take in order to cold storage my 1.1 BTC, and start collecting another BTC onto a fresh, new wallet. Am I missing any other steps?

Thanks ahead of time.

[TwinWinNerD]

Well, your way would work too. But I think the best way to do cold storage is to use a completely new address/wallet.

1. Go to bitaddress.org
2. Cut the internet connection
3. Create a Paperwallet with BIP38 encryption.
4. Print that wallet.
5. Delete everything about that wallet. Also the printer chache (paranoid much?)
6. Open Bitcoin QT and send the Bitcoins you want to store to the Paperwallet.


Redeem:
Open a fresh wallet at blockchain.info to redeem the paperwallet. Always send all BTC out of the address you are redeeming!

[BookLover]

1. Install linux on two computers (one is online, the other is air gapped).
2. Load bitaddress.org on the online computer and save it to a flash drive.
3. Open bitaddress.org on the offline computer using the flash drive.
3. Create a Paperwallet with BIP38 encryption on the offline computer.
4. Print that wallet.  (make sure you use a printer without wireless capabillities and which is physically hooked up to the offline computer and nothing else)
5. Destroy both hardrives, the flash drive, the motherboards, the RAM, the printer chache, and go ahead and have a bonfire with the computers and printer for good measure. (extremely paranoid much?)
6. Open Bitcoin QT or another wallet on a third computer and send the Bitcoins you want to store to the Paperwallet.

It all depends on how far you want to go, this method is virtually unhackable once complete* (assuming the offline computer is actually air gapped).  The only way to get your private keys would be if they got your paper wallet.


*@ everyone: If you can find any errors in this statement please point them out.