Fire Testing the Hodlr Disk

Once the tamper evident sticker is applied, the Hodlr Disks is ready for storage. But what happens if the place it's being stored catches on fire? I wanted to find out and Hodlr Swiss wanted to find out too, so in this next video I demonstrate bringing the Hodlr Disk up to white-hot melting temperatures and then evaluate the ability to restore the seed entirely afterwards. This video has been time-lapsed but the actual elapsed time was 15 minutes. Stainless steel has a melting point of roughly 2,500 °F, which is the point I brought it to.

How it started, how it's going:

After heating up metal moving parts like that, it is normal for them to be difficult to take apart. The threaded cap was not able to be removed by hand after this heat stress test. I tried using a punch & hammer and the set-screw hole as a spanner point, but the distortion from nearly melting was too bad and the pieces would not spin apart. I ended up using a cutting disc on a grinder to split the outer ring into two pieces.

Once the outer ring was removed, the 24 disks inside were seemingly fused together. I took a small chisel and had to individually pry the disks apart. After the 12th disk either the pressure was so great on the rivet or the wear & tear got to it and the rivet broke. This was a good thing because it made getting the remaining disks apart easier.

Once all the disks were taken apart I found that every single stamped letter on every single disk was still identifiable. In other words, I could restore my wallet.

Even under extreme environmental conditions, the Hodlr Disks did their job. The seed words were recoverable. These are a less labor-intensive alternative to some of the other metal backup options. If you do choose to use the Hodlr Disks, you can use multiple units to create different types recovery schemes. There is also a heavy duty magnet in the back plate so that the disks can be stacked together or stuck to a metal surface.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article and it got you thinking about the different kinds of secure backup options out there, the Hodlr Disks definitely do the trick. Securing your Bitcoin backup and taking the necessary steps to self-custody is easy. Products like the Hodlr Disks take some of the work out of it for you and make it even easier. Considering the recent FinCEN Travel Rule changes, the best time to start taking self-custody seriously is right now. If you value permissionless money and the ability to transact without being censored then self-custody your bitcoin and get it out of third party control. Make sure your backup is as secure as possible with a metal backup like the Hodlr Disks.