Memory Stick containing Everything

[British Prepper 13]

I want to create a memory stick with a bank of information for survival and culture/society in post shtf. I have ideas but need more. Thanks all

[preparedsurrey]

Hi it think this may have been covered in the past, if not there is a thread with a load of PDF links simewhere that covers most things, try doing a search for resource links or PDF if similar.
It would be worth putting copies if passport, birth certificates, insurance, bank details on there as well in case it's not TEOTWAWKI but you get flooded out or similar.

[sniper 55]

Yes theres a thread on here about downloading the whole of wikipedia onto a pen/zip drive.

[redskies]

Whatever you decide to save, make more than one copy!

[AspieRunner]

Hi,

I have been considering this, few issues though.

While storing a wikipedia copy would be important and useful, it's issue is that it is generic and vague information, more of an abstract of he subject and not the actual technical details, data, research and science journals on the subject etc, hence universities advice students not to reference wikipedia itself too often. We are advised to use wikipedia for it's references to the actual source of information, some of which is bad and some of which is good, it is this good data, research, technical details and science journals etc that is of most use. Typically the information on wikipedia is not sufficient to be used constructively, you could not build a radio from it's information I doubt, without significant background reading, while a simple few page technical document could be used to build a radio. However, your personal offline copy of wikipedia would not contain the sources referenced.

So I suggest storing more practical information as well as a wikipedia, like this data, research, science journals and technical manuals etc.

However, I would not recommend PDF format, it is kind of known as digital obsolescence/technology obsolescence, where your data is obsolescent or inaccessible because you don't have the technology or software to access it. I make this assumption because while EMP may not be the most likely doomsday scenario, power outage would likely be involved in many different doomsday scenarios and while most computers have the ability to view PDF, computers also require more power than most small, handheld or old devices. You may even find yourself having to hack a device to used in a way not intended, for example hacking a console or a mp3 player to view your content, using your mobile phone which while many now support pdf, they don't all come with PDF support pre-installed and not everyone bothers to install it. So in a doomsday event it is likely you will be using someone elses devices, stuff you have found via scavenging etc, and then your probably lack of power would mean you have better chances of using small low powered devices than you do PC's.So I would not have data in PDF format for this reason, but .txt files which is almost universally accessible compared to the more complex formats of PDF and word, while these formats are far more convenient for us right now, they would not be if SHTF. Some people worry about a digital dark age like the previous dark ages, where knowledge was lost through wars, now, so much of our information and knowledge is digital, simply losing power could put us in the dark ages, rendering your PDF's useless. I have accessed .txt files on dedicated mp3 players and tv media centres, but not PDF's.

Then storage mediums have short life spans, another reason why people fear a digital dark age, most storage could be useless in as little as two years, possibly as few as ten years and much data would be inaccessible. Even though in tests they have survived longer, this was based on perfect conditions. For example, the more you access your storage, the more you reduce it's lifespan, what good is all that knowledge if you can't access it risk for destroying it sooner. Also, we often fail to consider how technology suffers outside of out environments, we live in a relatively clean society, our tech is protected from high temps, dust and from being thrown around but depending on your doomsday scenario you could have extremes of cold, extremes of heat, lost of dust from building destruction or simply living outdoors, wet wet weather and being carried on your person. This was demonstrated by a charity that sent many of our second hand tech to third world nations where the tech broke down very quickly as it could not survive in the heat and sandy environment.

I believe a USB would be at risk of EMP due to its circuitry compared to a CD, but devices than run CD's would require more power due to its mechanical parts and also mechanical parts break down quicker than devices with none so both CD and USB have pros and cons requiring the use of both. As stated, you would want multiple copies for personal usage for day to day survival, but also multiple copies on multiple storage mediums kept safe from over use damage so they can be used when society is ready to rebuild.

Then you have to consider the physical protection of this data, what if someone hears you have this knowledge, they will steal it and maybe not treat it with the respect and care than you have, not thinking of societies long term survival but their short term survival, so when you have this information, keep it private, keep it diverse, keep it safe. Conceal it in an innocent object for example.

But then I think you would need to learn as much as you can about tech so that you can learn how to use unexpected device, if you are left with nothing but a mobile phone or hand held gaming device, could you find a way to access the information.

Just some random thoughts on the matter

#AspieRunner

[Deeps]

Hi AspieRunner, thanks for posting, you obviously know your way round the devices. Could you have a look at the 'Welcome' section and post an intro, doesn't have to be fancy, have a look at what others have done. Cheers.

[Bad Wombat]

Books - my collection runs into the hundreds. Mapping - I have open cycle maps and OS maps for the whole of the UK in both 1:50k and 1:25k. Don't forget to backup your important documents (bank account details, passport, driving license, insurance documents, house deeds etc) and family photos. That's going to be a lot of info. How about using an external hard drive instead? Amazon currently have the seagate 2TB drive for under £63!

[AspieRunner]

Hi Bad Wombat,

The only thing with actual HDD is that they are fragile as hell, in computers they are protected as you don't tent to carry them around, but when in external cases that you carry, too much bumping will kill them, I have accidentally destroyed two hard drives via minor impacts, plus, the life span issues mentioned above are far less for HDD than for USB, USB has longer life especially as HDD are mechanical, they are like old record players, they have a arm that moves and reads from a spinning disk, so I would choose USB over HDD.

As stated above though, depending on what you think is the most statistically likely SHTF scenario depends whether you think EMP will be involved, in which case, your USB I believe is more prone than DVD/CD although they have shorter lifespan than USB, which can be as short as two years if well used and in dirty dusty environments or bumped about a lot.

There is s relatively new disc called he magnetic disc, which claims to have a 1000 year life span, untested and unproven in the real world, however, you need to make sure you'd have access of disc playing technology, as stated earlier, due to power shortages which would be true in most SHTF scenarios, you're more likely to have enough power for low powered devices than you are high powered devices and due to the mechanical elements of a disc drive, it would require more energy and is more prone to mechanical failure.

In some respects, the best way is to learn it in advance

[sniper 55]

DVD's are not lightly to be affected by EMP but the computer required to read them will be, magnetic disks are very easily killed by EMP, even a dodgy microwave or radar can kill them.
Memory sticks are lightly to be affected but can easily be shielded as they are small enough to be put into a small tin or wrapped in copper etc.
The problem with all of these is the computer needed to read them after the EMP, I doubt there are many shielded computers in the UK that would be accessable to the public in a SHTF situation.
You can get archival dvds, they are dearer but some claim they last 100+ years. Sadly it's hard to beat a good old fashioned book when it comes to long term (just a PITA to carry around... )

[tc556guy]

I've been doing this for years
I sent a couple versions of my collection over to members of the board at one point or another
My personal choice of thumbdrives to use for prep document collection is the Corsair:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YH ... UTF8&psc=1

It's pretty durable, and while it nom longer contains my entire prep document collection, it holds quite a bit