Each of your three seeds needs a backup that survives a house fire, a flood and twenty years in a drawer. Paper doesn’t. Stainless steel or titanium does. There are three main ways to get your words onto metal.
What to look for
- Stainless steel (304 or 316) or titanium. Never aluminum or brass: they melt in a house fire
- Room for 24 words, or at least the first four letters of each
- Something you can check word by word against your device
- Doesn’t look valuable. A plain object is less likely to be taken
Letter tiles: Cryptosteel Capsule and Billfodl
You slide small stainless steel letter tiles into a holder: a tube with a spine for the Cryptosteel Capsule, a flat frame with slots for the Billfodl. Quick to fill in and easy to read back.
The catch: tiles can shift or fall out if the holder is opened or damaged, and a tile in the wrong place gives you the right words in the wrong order. That’s why I add a second, engraved plate in the same box (see step 5).
Cryptosteel Capsule: Buy on Amazon
Billfodl: Buy on Amazon
Punched plates: Blockplate
A steel plate with a printed grid of dots. You mark the letters by punching dots with a center punch and a hammer. Nothing can come loose, and it’s cheap. It takes longer to do and to read back, so check your work carefully.
Blockplate: Buy on Amazon
Center punch: Buy on Amazon
Engraved or stamped plates
A blank stainless steel plate and a set of letter stamps, or a rotary tool with a carbide bit. The cheapest option and the order can never shift. It takes patience and a steady hand. Plan the words out with a marker first.
On Amazon: blank stainless steel plates · letter stamp sets · carbide engraving bits
Whatever you choose
- Check each plate against the device itself, not only against the paper (step 5).
- Never put two seeds in one place that can disappear in the same event.
- No brand names or wallet names on the plate.
Related: where to store three seed backups · why not to cut a seed into pieces · lost the passphrase? · what a full setup costs