Way OT I need a new shredder.

[ucodegen]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]Svelte: Reminds me of my days in the Army. We’d use a confetti shredder for all of our Classified and Secret docs and then the confetti went into a burn bag.

You can talk lots of shit about the gubment, but at least they’re thorough…[/quote]Defense companies are required to use the same techniques.. The shredder or should I say particlizer would make pieces of around 3/32 by 3/32 out of the paper.

One thing that surprised me though, was handling of DVDs.. which was the same as CDs — using an embosser on both sides. The problem is that a DVD’s recording layer is in the center of two plastic disks.. The embosser would not get into the recording layer.. so it was possible to carefully refinish the surface and get at the data of a DVD after embossing. A CD’s recording layer is just under the lacquer on one side – so the embosser is able to cut into it. I usually ended up embossing DVDs to make the base security weenies happy.. and then breaking the DVD up by hand to make myself happy – good stress reliever too.

[ucodegen]

I use an old Aurora AS1512X that I bought nearly 8 years ago (one of the few of the more reasonably priced crosscuts at the time that would also do CDs/DVDs and credit cards as well as 15sheets at a time). One thing to remember is that they do need periodic cleaning and oiling, depending upon how much shredding you do. Only weakness that I found was weight (cutting head is very heavy) and the wheels on the base are mounted weakly (broke two of the mountings – don’t roll it on carpet, only hard floor). Power rating on this one is about 400Watts +/-. – unfortunately it is no longer available. The one from the same maker that looks the closest on specs is AU1217XB.

NOTE: I know that it says it will take paperclips and staples, but I avoid feeding it these so as to keep it healthy. Paperclips can bend and get caught in the followers that strip the cut paper off of the blades. These followers are not as sturdy as the blades on almost all shredders.

[ucodegen]

[quote=no_such_reality]Same way I know the postal carrier isn’t stealing my stuff….Any of the numerous banks didn’t steal my stuff.[/quote]
I have actually had these happen..

A postal carrier did steal stuff checks I sent, tried to bleach out the ‘to’ without changing the amount so it would be harder for me to detect. I used archival permanent ink when writing the check, so he was SOL. This guy was eventually busted.

I have had a bank ‘misplace’ a deposit of over $2000. It was my burden of proof that I did do the deposit. I had kept all of my transaction receipts, which surprised the bank.. and helped them track it.. the money had been, a-hem, deposited into the wrong account. Kind of hard to do since it was done @ the bank’s ATM which records the account that the deposit is to.

A brokerage had ‘mis-placed’ a large block of stock I owned. They ‘mis-placed’ it in the process of merging two different systems (on broker bought out another). This stock had a very large short position where the shorts were ‘trapped’. I had gone round-and-round with the support and gotten no-where.. same BS, no action. I ended up tracking down and calling their Corporate Legal Department. Gave them succinct accurate info. They had it resolved in about 24 hours. (I suspect that someone, a broker, had ‘moved’ the stock out of my account to cover their ass while the systems were being merged.).

These problems do happen, and I have found that being prepared helps as well as finding that a good old ounce of prevention is better than one pound of cure.. A lot of those ‘credit protection’ companies are almost worthless and clearing identity theft is quite painful.

PS: A secret to shredding personal/sensitive info, is to shred some stuff that is not important too.. and mix it all together. If anyone is crazy enough to try to piece together shredded stuff.. shredding useless paper and junkmail(w/o personal info) ends up frustrating dumpster divers who might spend a lot of effort and reassemble something completely worthless to them.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=ucodegen]
PS: A secret to shredding personal/sensitive info, is to shred some stuff that is not important too.. and mix it all together. If anyone is crazy enough to try to piece together shredded stuff.. shredding useless paper and junkmail(w/o personal info) ends up frustrating dumpster divers who might spend a lot of effort and reassemble something completely worthless to them.[/quote]

Uco: Or purchase a good quality cross-cut shredder, which eliminates said problem entirely. Unlike strip shredders, a good cross-cut will completely shred (meaning both vertically and horizontally), thus preventing anyone from re-assembling the output.

I agree with your “better safe than sorry” approach, too. Too many shitbirds out there and having a good plan in place will save a lot of heartache.

“Just cuz you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you!”

[ucodegen]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]Uco: Or purchase a good quality cross-cut shredder, which eliminates said problem entirely.[/quote] Actually it doesn’t. That is why the burn order on mil docs. True Mil type cross cuts, cut to a strip width of 1.5mm, length of about 10mm (roughly 1/16 x 1/2). Most good quality cross cuts that you can get w/out sacrificing an arm and a leg are significantly larger. The Aurora I have is a 5/32 x 1 1/4 cross-cut, which is better than most 8 years ago – I was comparing cut sizes when I bought it. I can reconstruct docs from this shredder in somewhat reasonable time, if I limit the selection of shredded paper that I am working with. If I start mixing irrelevant, similar type paper – it becomes a real chore. I have also found that many shredder manufacturers understate the size of pieces the shredder makes(smaller is better). I measured mine before I bought it.

To Salesman:

Oh, thats a sales brochure you are handing me.. let me see..

over to shredder.. RRRRRRRR.. opening basket and looking in.
To Salesman:

No, I need smaller pieces. Do you have another brochure?

On the other hand, strip cut is completely worthless.

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]I agree with your “better safe than sorry” approach, too. Too many shitbirds out there and having a good plan in place will save a lot of heartache.

“Just cuz you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you!”[/quote] Or maybe just cautious and having an understanding of what can happen.. and why.

[Hatfield]

I think there needs to be a measure of reasonableness here. If I shred a couple dozen documents and dump them in the recycle bin, I think at this point we’re below the threshold of the other identity theft risks previously mentioned (bank employees, HR folks, the mailman, etc).

Using a $60 crosscut shredder to shred old finance documents and credit card solicitations seems like reasonable security for me. I’m not going to lose any sleep worrying about someone digging through my trash and pasting those little bits back together. They’re just going to go down the alley to find the guy who doesn’t shred his documents.

[Anonymous]

I want something that will be able to shred a bank or credit card statement without having to take it out of the envelope.
I got this site

[Author]

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