There was a thread...somewhere here...and somebody mentioned about keeping a USB flash/jump drive with important doc's in it...IMHO, this is a GREAT idea.  I have spent the last few days gathering various inportant papers to scan and add to the "Master Data List" as I call it.  I'm trying to list all that I've come up with so far...anybody think of other things that should be included?

So far for my family...

list of "what's on this" jump drive
scans of...(front and back if applicable)
all credit cards
SS cards
birth certificates
drivers license's
medical records-many are available on CD from hospitals/Dr's...other paper copies are scanned if important...I even have ultrasound images from my gallstone...
medical insurance cards
CW permits
homeowners insurance
vehicle insurance
health/life/other insurance
banking information
internet/email/websites passwords & logins
PDF maps of the world, the USA, my state, county, and all surrounding counties
PDF terrain maps
GPS data for many locations I've been to
PDF files/manuals/diagrams on as many of my firearms as possible...so far I've found all online with no problems
PDF owners manuals on all com gear/FRS radios in BOB
serial #'s for firearms, tools and PC equipment
a typed "contact" list with name/address/phone/email of everybody
many field medical files..."where there is no doctor/dentist/womans doctor...etc
common Rx dosage/admin info
many "TEOTWAWKI" doc's/PDF's...from NBC to EMP to digging water wells
radio frequencies for national/state/local
a short video walkthrough of house/contents
marriage license (wife insisted I add that... )
my reloading data files
a couple hundred "through the years" pictures
vet records for pets
food storage data for BIL/BOL
contact lens / glasses Rx data
electric/cable/phone bill account info




So far, I've used about 5 gig of an 8 gig jump drive.  All data is encrypted with truecrypt.  What else would you put in it?

if there is no more important data to upload, I'd use the rest for pictures of family

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=18&t=619648

ar-jedi

Definitely use Ironkey and encryption - otherwise the jump drive is an identity thief's wet dream.

Consider adding some printed photos of family for ID purposes - think about having to walk around a shelter saying "have you seen ths person".  I have a bunch of each for posting on bulletin boards, etc.

Consider paper backup of IDs and similar high-necessity documents.  You can't be sure you will have the ability to access what is on the drive.

My neighbor's house burned down one night.  He called me for help, and I ran over and helped him get all of his files out tof the house.  He's an ex sub skipper, so he was very well organized.  We made several trips in and out of the burning house with arm loads of paperwork.  Armed with his files, he was able to get all of his insurance issues settled in under two weeks, and he had all of the necessary paperwork to carry on without trauma.  If he had it all on a jump drive it would have only taken seconds to evacuate.  Lesson learned:  documents are your best friend in SHTF.  They prove who you are and what you had, and help you get it back.  I bought a jump drive the following week.

Yep...got the pictures already...mailing a backup is a good idea as well.!

USB jump drives are convenient, but they should not be relied upon 100%, because they do fail, and often with no warning or reason.  Flash memory is outstandingly cheap.  Personally I keep 2 flash drives, one in the PC and one in the safe.  Every time I make an addition, I swap drives.  I also keep a pair of SD cards with all of the vital stuff on them....because SD cards have a hardware lock on them.  This allows me to use them in otherwise questionable machines [in a pinch] without fear of corrupting my data.  [load SD read only, run virus scan, then access my data.  If I want to modify anything, I have to consciously unlock the drive.  Thus no inadvertant corruption.  Truecrypt is a godsend and should always be used.  I also keep backup Cd's / DVD's in a lockbox at a buddy's house

if it's unimportant, keep 2 copies....  If it's important, keep 5 copies in 3 places....

good idea.  You might also consider putting your will on it if you have one.

Data on it MUST be encrypted.

PGP or whatever should be used.

Losing it and having it fall into the wrong hands could be a nightmare come true.

this is all covered in the link i posted above.

ar-jedi

Definitly dont loose it.

bzzzt –– on the contrary, you should *plan* for it to get lost, stolen, destroyed, wet, whatever.  

this is why (1) you should simply make a TrueCrypt container that you can copy to multiple places –– hard drive, CD's, jump drives, web space, and so on; and (2) you should not waste your money on expensive "encrypted jump drives" ––  generic Walmart USB jump drives are all you need.  

2 is 1, 1 is none.

all of this is covered in the third post in this thread.

ar-jedi

Anyone know where I can get some survval PDFs to add to my kit?  I just found this:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=18&t=619648
and I was thinking that these would be great to add.  
- SHTF planning documents
- PDF survival guides, desert/blizzard/shelter building/etc
- 14 part PDF survival document from WHO
> 1 - Cleaning and disinfecting wells.pdf
> 2 - Cleaning and disinfecting boreholes.pdf
> 3 - Cleaning and disinfecting water storage tanks.pdf
> 4 - Rehabilitating small-scale water distributions systems.pdf
> 5 - Emergency treatment of drinking water.pdf
> 6 - Rehabilitating water treatment works.pdf
> 7 - Solid waste management in emergencies.pdf
> 8 - Disposal of dead bodies.pdf
> 9 - Minimum water quantity.pdf
> 10 - Essential hygiene messages.pdf
> 11 - How to measure chlorine residual.pdf
> 12 - Delivering safe water.pdf
> 13 - Emergency sanitation - planning.pdf
> 14 - Emergency sanitation - technical.pdf