Topic: Keeping or recovering seed phrases during or after a natural disaster. - page 3. (Read 675 times)

Even if you'll store it on cloud encrypted, that's still not a choice for me. The key here is to have multiple back ups, whether they're fire proof, water proof and something that you can bring wherever you are as much as handy as it is. I think in that case, a very handy accessory where you can store your keys without knowing other people that it is a seed phrase of yours. You'll have to make it look stylish that it won't be getting that much attention in the public but you know what it is and can bring it anywhere since you've got one somewhere in your house. I guess all of us have their own ways of keeping it but great that you've mentioned that ones that should be slash for one's choice.

So far,i didnt luckily experience these unfortunate stuffs when it comes to natural disaster on which the fact i did have those assumptions on the time that i do stored up my keys on a flash drive which i do think about that sudden house fire which would really be completely that be burning on everything into ashes this is why i have decided on having that 3 copies on which one is kept on the house, one is kept in the car and one is kept in my own sling bag on which i do bring out most of the time. All of these things would really be at huge risks on the time that natural disaster would really happen on which it do makes you unprepared and this is why some people would really be considering on having those cloud storages or saving it up online just to remove that kind of probability even though its risky but it is really that somewhat safer when stored in the cloud
but we arent that dumb not to know on whats the cons on using up cloud storage which it would really be that prone to hackers and possible exploits on which it would really be causing out that kind of breach.

One more option that hasn't been mentioned yet.

One could encrypt their SEED phrase and (using an OP_RETURN script) include it in their transaction  The SEED kept on blockchain is guaranteed to survive any natural disaster, no matter how severe it is.

The encryption can be done with the assistance of physical security token that can be carried at any time and any moment including the natural disaster time.

During a natural disaster, the banks are not safe either. Flooding could have the building submerged and the notes where the seed phrase is written could be torn off, also if it is earthquake, the piece of paper may not survive it but the metallic steel plate could but still be part of the rubbles.

Never you store your seed phrase on Google drive, a computer or phone connected to the internet.

This is actually an unexpected reply but it makes a lot of sense. One could stuff one in his wallet and carry it everywhere he goes but the only drawback is that one could be rubbed or lost the wallet and if it gets into the hands of a crypto thief we know what will happen. I also think it would be wise to omit and memorize one or two of the words.

My point is that securing your phrase with friends and family is a huge risk, huge.  Sure keep it somewhere, but only the owner (you) knows, don't make it desirable by talking about.  Just recently a crypto mogul got dismembered, I got a feeling someone was looking for something no?  It's not just physical security but how you manage yourself. Don't make yourself a mark no matter how you choose to store your seed.

I think you have taken the wrong meaning of the OP's post, he is concerned about natural disasters that could lead to the destruction of seed phrases saved in physical form. And you are talking about relationships. I understood your Point of view but that's not what we are talking about here. Because that's another discussion to talk about. And the answer to that discussion is so simple which is to never trust anybody else with your private keys or seed phrase. Just trust yourselves.

You have taken the discussion to another level, Like why did you bring up the affair of a wife with a friend who wanted to go for a trip using the money that (someone) has shared the Key with you?  That seems a little bit confusing. But, ignoring it and coming to the main query.

I can say, we should prefer to save the seed phrase in some form of necklace and or in any type of form that remains near to us, like a necklace or a band. And that band or necklace should be waterproof. Because in the fire of Hawaii, people jump into the sea to save their lives. So, if unfortunately, someone got stuck in such situation then he/she could save their life by jumping into the see.

You have started an interesting topic, and it's the humble heart of you, that you think of it as it represents in the post. Because most people like me, ignore the idea of thinking about a solution to do something about saving seed phrases in physical form. Because, we think, we are safe and nothing to be worried about now. But yeah, who knows what might come to you. Or, we don't save seed phrases in physical form instead we save them in online form or on devices, and that's why we don't care about such disasters.

The best solution that came to my mind is, that we can use AWS storage services to store the seed phrase, I know those services will cost us but, still, the security levels and durability levels are so high in there.

You almost shared every topic related to saving the seed phrase in secure physical form but as the OP said, what if the fire got you then most of the solutions have used the metal components. Then that metal component might melt down and the overall seed phrase written on it will be gone too. We have to think of a metal that is melt-proof.

Of course, my dear we're talking about safeguarding seed phrase here, If it's about safeguarding our lives I have a whole day telling you what precautionary measures we are taking, I never mentioned banks here it is about places I'm good on it you have your ways and means and I have mine so we'll keep it what best for our seed phrase.

Thank you dear for asking about safeguarding our lives I hope you will too, disasters can really happen when you least expect it.

Well dear, if there are so many natural disasters in your country, have you taken steps to safe guard your life first ? You can store your seed phrases to multiple places, but if there is no life then there is no use of all these phrases and money. I hope people give same attention to their lives as well.

Keeping seed phrases at many places may give you redundancy but at the same time, it gives more exposure to your seed phrase. For example, if you store it in bank , give it to some trustworthy person to store at another location and your home. Now if the bank gets robbed, or your relatives misuses the phrases then ?

We can also consider storing them in keychain USB sticks which is not a recommended procedure but it what the best possible way to have access keys in a few seconds of the time frame. We already have USB sticks smaller than 1 inch on Amazon and also something in form of jewelry which is waterproof so we can wear it with us always so we don't even need to look for the keys at that emergency situation just focus on saving the lives first.

But this is not as secure so we can allocate some emergency savings if someone is from the geolocation where natural calamities may occur at any time and save the life savings in the most secure ways like air-gapped/cold storage.

It's a big concern if you only have one copy of your seed phrase, Our country has a lot of disasters, we have typhoons, floods, fires, and earthquakes and we have in our location what our experts call the Big One which happens every 100 years and it could happen anytime.

So I'm preparing for this I have three copies of my seed phrase stored on our farms and our ancestral home It is well kept and it's coded in case there is intrusion he'll have a hard time figuring it all out, having two or three secured and well-kept copies in different places is important you just never know when calamities and disaster happens.

Everything has a risk, saving a seed phrase has a risk of losing access to your wallet, while saving in online or centralized exchange has a risk of bankrupt or compromised, so pick which risk you able to deal with it.

Of course saving oneself is the most important thing, but the current generations are don't care about other people even their own family, they can backstabbed someone who close with them in order to get money.

There are so many things in human history that have been preserved for years, in fact thousands of years and they are still there, it's not that you need a museum to take care of your things: sentimental value, art, jewelry...ah, yes, the private keys or phrases, etc.

In the distant past, based on the existing technology of each era it could be done, because it cannot be done today with so many technologies available, hardware and software provide the best way to protect things better than at any time in history, Just a little information and common sense.

There are very detailed compendiums of how you can protect a phrase or seed, that is "the fishing rod", it is up to each person to adapt it.

First of all, sorry to hear about that disaster. Yes, it could be life-taking events so at the time we can not think about anything but just to save ourselves and our loved ones. These are the times when nothing matters, neither our bank accounts, jobs, important documents in the house or secret keys in case of crypto. We would just run away from the life-threatening boundary to the safe zone.

So I think having keys stored in the private space online can be a good idea. I am talking about more secure like AWS or Google One space. Off course only a few private companies can be trusted when storing the data online. I think having a deep hidden folder in let us say iCloud, Google one or AWS servers can be a great escape.

This is the very reason big companies have two servers one the running server and the second the disaster management server. We can have one too with private subscribed spaces like the ones mentioned above to keep the data very safe.

The biggest security is keeping your mouth shut and not becoming a target. The larger amount the bigger the target followed by the company you keep. If you have a good amount of money have multiple hardware wallet of different architecture in different places. Maybe even have a sacrificial one to be found.

I'm 52yo and have seen a lot of shady stuff go down. Best friends and family smell money (blood in the water) will screw you over in a jiffy.

Things seem great until you find out your wife is screwing your best friend you trusted with something such a seed phrase and cleans you out for a European vacations with your wife.

I guess my point is, however you do it is up to you and security risk you can tolerate. My biggest risk is losing the phrase, I don't enough money to be very interesting or would be terrible loss. I hope to have that problem someday

In an environment where everything online is at risk, people generally think that physically storing passwords is safe. But as you said, many disasters can happen and we may lose our passwords.

Here are some of the ideas that came to my mind for this.
- After writing down our passwords somewhere, we can give them to someone we trust in another city or to someone who is not very familiar with the internet for safekeeping. For example, to an elderly relative.
- We can keep our passwords in a small safe.

After taking all the precautions, sometimes it is necessary to let things go.

These natural disasters and artificial humanitarian crises such as wars will give companies like Ledger Recover more demand. As I said in the past, this service will find demand due to either people’s lack of interest in being your own bank or their lack of trust and fear of losing the private key.
I do not recommend this service or any similar service here, but the risk assessment strategy requires you to be prepared if anything happens.

I made this topic when 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake happen Is Metal Seed Storage Safe in an Earthquake?

Don't do this, it is totally unrecommended no matter where you are living and all you get by doing this is a false sense of security. This 'solution' of yours means you are going to carry your seed phrase anywhere you go with your phone, you are closer to losing your phone, your seed phrase and funds in this way faster than you are ever going to be affected by a natural disaster.
A very bad advice, don't store your seed phrase online for any reason, anything stored online is prone to hacking and you will lose your funds even before an earthquake happens, that's if it ever affects you.

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I have read a lot of bad advises so far in this thread, too many of what a lot of you are recommending will make you lose your seed phrase faster than you'll ever be affected by a natural disaster. Take note that there is no security in obscurity and trying to go overboard to mitigate instances like natural disasters can make you lock yourself out of your funds, without ever being affected by one of those disasters. Just do it the traditional way, write your seed phrase down or engrave it in steel; make multiple backups of it in different locations, and if you are ever affected by a natural disaster, take it as life; if you survive a natural disaster, you may not be so sad that you lost money, but it'll be a sad event if you use unrecommended solutions to mitigate disasters, but lose your funds because of that without ever being affected by one.

Condolences to all the citizens of the country who have been mentioned who have experienced the disaster. Hopefully they will remain strong in accepting everything that has happened and can become food for thought for all behind the disaster that befell our brothers.
Natural disasters and other events that can result in damage to buildings and so on cannot be avoided. However, as humans we must protect and take good care of this nature.

For the time being, storing the seed phrase by making it in water-resistant and fire-resistant metal at least with the estimated time of arrival of the extinguishing unit is the best in my opinion. Of course, by estimating the storage location in a place that can be taken when the building collapses to the ground and is not carried away by large water currents.
If you store it in a place that has internet access, it is very risky.

This made me think for a while but for now my best solution is to engrave it on steel plate and store it in multiple locations like in your house and one on your parents house though it is still debatable that it could possibly get swept away by a flood or even the house got destroyed because of the wild fire. The best part is that you have 2 or 3 copies of it or others made song lyrics about its seed phrase, which is time-consuming but kind of encrypted with hidden meaning.

I am lucky that I am not in a flood-prone area and there are no wildfires here only earthquakes which I am still able to recover my seed phrase if ever my house gets broken as it will still stay where I've put it.