I recently read in a tech blog that the writer was improving their emergency ‘go bag’.
While I don’t live in an area with high risk of wildfire or flooding, I thought about our situation and realized I could be better prepared, and maybe the early part of each year is the time to do it, as many records are changed then ie tax returns, property tax and so on.
One of the ideas is having a rugged, waterproof USB stick with digital versions of key documents. I searched online and a top rated usb drive has only a USB-A connector.
Just wondering if anyone here has researched this further and has pointers, product recommendations, keywords to share.
Or maybe that small SSDs like the Samsung T or Novus Helix series are already pretty rugged and thinking about a USB stick is just making extra work for myself when I could just normally have such a thing doing full Data Volume backups instead of just ‘essential’ documents.
Caveat: I’m not and won’t be a Cloud user, I prefer my data as local as possible, so I’m visualising something I could literally grab and stick in a rucksack or duffle with other stuff. Beats hauling a fireproof safe full of documents!
Or maybe that small SSDs like the Samsung T or Novus Helix series are already pretty rugged and thinking about a USB stick is just making extra work for myself when I could just normally have such a thing doing full Data Volume backups instead of just ‘essential’ documents.
SSD’s are the way to go for sure. They’re tiny, truly inexpensive for what you get, and you’re backing up all of your user data.
Dave
My two go-bags each hold a standard, major brand USB stick containing encrypted copies of my critical documents and macOS Keychains. I rewrite the data to the sticks once or twice a year or after major additions or updates to the stored information.
I already have redundant full backups of my Mac so my aim for my go-bags is to keep things simple and compact. One thing I might do now, after reading your post, is put the sticks into plastic bags. I don’t think I would go out of my way to buy hardened or mil-spec sticks, though.
Great question, looking forward to responses.
Since I have successfully used Quicken for many years ever since MacMoney died I tried Quicken’s LifeHub offering described as…
The smarter way to organize, protect, & share life’s essential information
LifeHub is built with Quicken’s 256-bit encryption & multi-factor authentication to help keep your info safe from fire, flood, corrupted files, hackers, and more.
It isn’t a mature product but I have found it at least adequate for a lazy man who doesn’t run from helpful subscription software and is willing to (more or less) trust 256-bit encryption. YMMV.
Ideally, when the need to evacuate arises, you can collect your go bag and take it with you. But what if you’re not at home and can’t safely return it or have someone else bring it to you? What do you do then?
That’s why it’s essential to store a version of your system off-site and a recent backup of your most active, essential data either with you or in the cloud, not in your go-bag.
I use two SSDs as part of my Time Machine strategy. One stays in the car. The other is in my go-bag. On a roughly weekly basis I plug them into the Mac. Time Machine then updates them automatically and I return them to the car/bag.
The car pack also has 50Gb blu-ray disks with really critical data such as my Mail Steward backup of decades of emails.
Excellent point, thanks!
Initial thoughts bring me back to a USB stick in that case. I carry on my pants belt a modified leather key pouch with tiny things that get damaged in pockets with keys, like a photo gray card, small pen, pince-nez, small note paper. I could put a stick in there and it would be with me whenever I leave the house.
If I had a slightly larger belt pouch, like for old compact cameras, I could have all that plus the SSD. Hm…
I used to carry a USB stick on my person at all times, back when I was working from an office and often needed to transport files between there and home.
I found that all were pretty compatible, but the cheap ones would come in plastic cases that break over time, especially when you’re carrying it in a pocket all the time.
I’ve found two that have been very durable. They’re no longer made, but perhaps you can find similar ones.
One, my favorite, is actually the oldest one I own. A 512 MB SanDisk Cruzer:
This has the drive sealed within a rubber-like enclosure and has a slip-cover for additional protection. Virtually indestructible. Sadly, it is very small and later model Cruzer drives have a much cheaper plastic enclosure that cracks under stress.
The other I like, which is still available, is the Kingston DataTraveler DTSE9. These have a solid metal enclosure that seems to hold up very well when carried in a pocket for years. I’d easily recommend buying a current version of one of these.
Of course, these are not SSDs, so they won’t be particularly fast, but they should work fine if you just need to transport a few critical files from place to place.