I have just learned that lots of people put their important papers in a zip-loc bag and throw them in the deep freeze.
I have also been asked to make a briefcase sized box to replace the baggie with a bit more class ( and durability). Has anyone already made such a box? Is there a shape or size perhaps more suitable than the standard briefcase?
I will finish with a waterproof resin but how concerned should I be with making the lid a watertight seal? Do you think a lock is necessary?
Thanks in advance, I know your answers will be erudite,enlightening,and entertaining!
Replies
I wouldn't worry about waterproof - I'd still put the papers in the zip-loc then inside the box - -
rather than something elegant, I would go for subtrefuge - - make it look like a box of frozen food - - seeing how 'everybody' knows this trick...
Dave, Bad idea
What if your wife throws out the outdated food?
What if the freezer fails while you're away on vacation?
What if the thief reads this post? What if your wife has YOU thrown out? Your teen age kid cooks it in the micro?
What if you lose the keys? Freeze the lock?Termites? STEIN.
Hey Steinmetz,
What if you have to thaw out the papers!?
Those daring young men in their flying machines!
What? You have never had your assets frozen before?Yes,I made it. No,not hard. Yes, a long time.
Let's see, uhm, assets! I've had freezer burn, does that count! I was watching The Peoples Court on tv a few months back, seems a lady was suing an ex boyfriend over something I can't remember, but she accused him of stealing $2,000 in cash she had stashed in her freezer! Judge Marilyn Milian couldn't understand why the lady was using her freezer instead of a bank.
Those daring young men in their flying machines!
Subterfuge - I like that , quite often things I make do not look like what they are anyway. So long as I make the package look like something that's not too tastey ; my spinster aunt's wedding cake from '87 should do it.Yes,I made it. No,not hard. Yes, a long time.
Friend,
Looks like moisture would get into the papers. Then some papers use ink and could blot-out.
Moisture is not good for papers. They could rot with time, just as meat and other produce yield to time in the freezer. Remember paper is organic and quite fragile, and that there's bacteria in the freezer that would like to work on the paper, if not while frozen, when thawed.
As mentioned, also, the freezer could fail, or there be a power failure, and wet those things beyond repair.
Hadn't heard of this practice before. You might want to check further on its validity.
Good luck.
-mbl-
Edited 7/10/2004 9:15 pm ET by mbl
Yes , a completely watertight container is called for and therein lies the challenge.
The primary reason I was given for doing this was protection from fire so everything does melt but does not burn inside the freezer.Yes,I made it. No,not hard. Yes, a long time.
Refrigerators and freezers will stand up to a relatively small rise in temperature but will certainly not withstand the temperatures generated by a major house fire. Only a fire-rated safe will do that with any degree of success. I recently bought an old fire safe that's slightly smaller than my fridge for $450, delivered. It weighs in excess of 1,200 pounds and has walls and door about 6 inches thick. I feel much more confident it will adequately protect irreplaceable items that I would if I stored them in a freezer.
Sprucegum,
Nope! Can't be done...impossible to build a box for the freezer that does not look like something interesting might be inside...muffins, hamburgs, mini-pizza. Much better to hide them in the kitchen utility draw..where nothing can ever be found...or my daughters bedroom closet...where no one ever goes....lol
I guess those people have a different definition of important than mine. Maybe they are the same people who keep their computer backup tapes on top of the CPU case, as some of my coworkers did until I asked what they were going to do after the fire.
Off site is the best way to go. A small box is $25/yr. Seems to be about the cheapest insurance one can get.
Lets look at the freezer. Kept in the basement? I'd hate to see what my freezer would look like after the 2-1/2 burning stories above it collapsed. A freezer is thin steel case filled with likely very flammable foam and plastic. It works well at normal temps, but when that case is blasted with 1000 degree housefire heat, the foam will melt away (probably a significant structural component) and then it is only a matter of time before the contents heat up.
Fireproof safes are made of fairly rigid steel, and the insulation is often sheetrock, whose characteristics don't change with temperature. For additional fire protection, I know several people who put gallon milk containers full of water in the safe. These will boil off when heat in the safe gets above 212, thus adding to the protection time. For a standard gunsafe, one can buy a small sentry safe to store in the gunsafe to keep the papers even safer.
When it gets really cold in Alaska, you can hear the trees popping or making noises like a .22 caliber rifle. I wonder if that is a concern with wood going in the freezer? Along those lines, making sure the moisture content of the wood used is low would be good. I imagine that movement in the wood would be a consideration as well, so joints would have to be constructed in such a way as to not fall prey to movement.
It sounds like an interesting project. Good luck with it. mike
Spruce -
The reason people store important papers in the freezer is so they will be easily found in the case of said persons' demise. Not to keep them safe from fire or theft. The thing most likely to be done if the owners of such papers were to pass simultaneously is to clean out the freezer. Thus things like wills and insurance papers are more easily located.
At least that's our reason.
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
" my spinster aunt's wedding cake from '87 should do it. "
i thought 'spinster' meant unmarried, as in never married- or am i confusing the term with something else? (how's that for going off on a tangent?)
m
She had high hopes when she made the cake and held on to it through several hopefuls after.Yes,I made it. No,not hard. Yes, a long time.
The reason people store important papers in the freezer is so they will be easily found in the case of said persons' demise. Not to keep them safe from fire or theft. The thing most likely to be done if the owners of such papers were to pass simultaneously is to clean out the freezer. Thus things like wills and insurance papers are more easily located.
Dennis,
Instead of a box to hold your important papers, why not make a box to hold the keys and directions to your safe deposit box?
I guess mine is not to reason why
But to make the box and keep it dry.
I have decided to keep it utilitarian ; plywood painted white and sealed, with a latched down lid not locked.Yes,I made it. No,not hard. Yes, a long time.
I'm not sure I would use a freezer for important papers, but if you must I think I would use some kind of plastic container with a sealable lid (Tupperware?)
If you do something in wood, post back in a year and let us know how it held up after a year in 0* temps.
I think it has already been done it is called " Tupperware".
Augie,
You said,"Instead of a box to hold your important papers, why not make a box to hold the keys and directions to your safe deposit box? "
My Dad just passed away. In going thru his desk, my brother and I found a copy (not signed) of his will, and the key to his safe deposit box, with a note saying that the original is in the box. The bank will not give us access to the box, (as his executors) without a signed will. We're hoping that his attorney has a signed copy in her office, otherwise... Just something to be aware of.
Regards,
Ray
The freezer is one of the first places a thief will look for valuables, right after they find the key in a fake rock.
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