Critical Document Backup
The topic of storing copies of important documents comes up in prepper circles from time to time. It is generally not the most thrilling topic and doesn’t often get the attention it deserves. As we go through life we accumulate documents that are important to some aspect of our lives. Many of these are difficult or impossible to replace. As an example, my high school had a fire long after I graduated. Many records were destroyed, and then the building was repaired and converted into a middle school. Imagine if I had to prove I had graduated from high school and did not have a copy of my diploma! We need to protect these documents from any disaster from a house fire to TEOTWAWKI.
Here is a list of critical documents you might possess that comes off the top of my head:
- Birth Certificate
- Identification:
- Passport
- Driver’s License
- Social Security Card
- Immigration/Naturalization Documents
- Military Service Documents
- Other Identification
- Marriage and Divorce Documents
- Medical Records, Dental Records, Disability Records & Caregiver Documents
- Contact Information
- Ownership Documents
- Deeds
- Car Titles & Registration
- Firearm Ownership Documents
- Art and Other valuables
- Financial Accounts
- Other Ownership Documents
- Credit Documents
- Mortgage
- Home Equity
- Car Loans
- Credit Cards
- Utilities and other recurring bills
- Other
- Insurance Policies
- Diplomas & Other Education Records
- Licenses
- Firearm carry permits and proof of ownership documents
- Wills and Other Estate documents, Living Will
- Contracts
- Business Documents
- Three Years Tax Returns
- Prepper Inventory
- Prepper Plans
Your personal history may include other documents that you would want to add to this list. One of the benefits of making backup copies of all of your critical documents is it will force you to organize them.
Form of Storage
Once you have the documents for your family assembled and organized you need to produce copies. I recommend that you have at least one set of paper copies and that they be stored outside your home but in a safe location. Acid free paper should be used rather than typical copy paper to insure longer life for the paper copies.
Thumb drive!
Next, you will need to scan copies so you have an electronic copy. If you don’t have a scanner at home, you can get scanning done at most office supply stores, e.g. Staples. Make sure you bring a thumb drive or be prepared to purchase one. Once you have a scanned image of each document, the electronic copies can be easily copied onto CDs or more thumb drives. The copies can be placed in multiple locations. I do not recommend using Cloud storage for these, in order to secure them against being hacked.
Do keep multiple copies, so you can have copies that are secure, as well as copies that are accessible.
Cost of Storage
Fortunately, backing up your documents is one of the least expensive things you’ll do as a prepper. The cost consists of some paper, and a few thumb drives or CDs. Your time is worth more, but this is a difficult task to leave to someone else, so you should to do it yourself.
Depending on where you store the copies you may spend a small amount, such as for a safe deposit box, or you might simply place copies with a relative and offer to store theirs in return. This is also an opportunity to open a dialog on prepping and possibly serving as mutual BOLs.
Summary
Reconstructing your critical documents can be a monumental task in normal times, so even if you aren’t a prepper, copying them is a worthwhile precaution. Your cost to protect yourself in this fashion is minimal, but you will need to be sufficiently organized to get the job done and occasionally update your backups with new documents over time.
