Recommend an external storage solution that will survive in the mail?

[Raguleader]

So, I'm shipping out for Basic Training with the Air Force in a few weeks (it was originally going to be a few months, but for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, they changed my ship-out date), and I am giving my little brother my old computer, after it gets a good reboot and re-install.

The problem is, I still have a fairly large amount of junk on this thing I'd like to hold onto (yay packrat tendencies), so I need a good way to remove it from the system, then have it mailed to myself after I finish Basic Training so I can copy it over to the computer I plan to buy when I get to my tech school.

There are two solutions I see for doing this: 1) Burn everything to DVD. This sounds great, and I actually plan to do this with my most important stuff (since all of my most important stuff will actually fit on just one or two DVDs), but overall, I've got way too much stuff for this to be very practical (around 200 gigs). Solution 2) is to get an external hard drive, and copy everything over to that. Much easier, but I understand that there is some fair chance that an external hard drive will not cope well with being shipped via the loving caresses of the postal service to where I am.

So basically, are there any external hard drives (or internal drives with enclosures) that would be well suited to having data copied onto them, then put in a box for 6 to 8 weeks before being mailed to me, probably along with a small assortment of other stuff? Are there any military dopers who have experience in dealing with this sort of thing?

[Absolute]

Your best bet is to buy an external enclosure that uses a laptop (2.5") hard drive. Those are smaller, lighter, and designed to be more resistant to shock. Just wrap it in a fluffy sweater or sweatshirt or something, and you should be fine.

Here's one:
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10649

[Common Tater]

Military postal system can be brutal, it's gonna take more than a fluffy sweater. It's nothing malicious, just the nature of the vagaries of "free" mail. Anything worth protecting really needs to be double boxed. Military parcels tend to be large/heavy - smaller stuff will likely get mushed. As I understand it, all of the regular services of the civilian side - certified, registered, insured, etc - are available too. You probably want signature confirmation. Even though they can't guarantee "priority mail" you probably want to use that too.

[Raguleader]

Originally Posted by Common Tater

Military postal system can be brutal, it's gonna take more than a fluffy sweater. It's nothing malicious, just the nature of the vagaries of "free" mail. Anything worth protecting really needs to be double boxed. Military parcels tend to be large/heavy - smaller stuff will likely get mushed. As I understand it, all of the regular services of the civilian side - certified, registered, insured, etc - are available too. You probably want signature confirmation. Even though they can't guarantee "priority mail" you probably want to use that too.

Well, the idea here is that my mom mails the stuff to me after I finish Basic, so I doubt that the box will come near the ugly end of a C-130 during it's voyage. I generally insist on Priority Mail whenever it's available. My current plan is to get a hard drive and an enclosure tonight (or just an external, I still haven't decided... sigh), then once I pack everything up, I'll put the drive back in it's original package, then put that in a bigger box with some other stuff and make sure the box is well padded.

Are there any big differences between a dedicated external and an internal with an enclosure?

[DMark]

200 gigs! Wow...

Be careful of sending DVD's...I sent some to a friend in Germany (just some TV shows and movies I recorded for him) and he told me half of them arrived broken. I had sent them in jewel cases, in bubble wrap, in a thick, padded envelope, first class airmail.

So make sure your discs are packed in about ten sweaters or something, and I would strongly suggest a backup of your backups packed away somewhere safe, no matter what you decide.

[don't ask]

I just bought myself one of these : Portable Media Player to satisfy my desire to watch downloaded DivX files on a big screen TV. It doesn't come with a HD you buy one with it so I got a 500 Gig Seagate. Having loaded the files off my PC I carefully took it to the TV and promptly dropped it 3 feet on to the floor. Did it no harm at all.

When I set it up I made several partitions because I don't need that much storage for TV and movies and will use it to back up my entire system.

For anyone who wants external storage these things are great particularly if your data are media files. You can then take them anywhere plug it in and play them.

[TheLoadedDog]

The general rule for posting something is if it can't survive being dropped six feet onto concrete, don't post it. That's after it's packed, of course, so it's not as bad as it seems.

As others have pointed out, the main problem is having your parcel on the bottom of a container under something heavy. For most disks, USB sticks, etc, a small, sturdy box (very securely taped) with popcorn or foam bead filling is quite adequate. Pack the filling tighter than you instinctively would. Then pack it some more.

- TLD, Postal Worker.

[GomiBoy]

Originally Posted by Raguleader

Well, the idea here is that my mom mails the stuff to me after I finish Basic, so I doubt that the box will come near the ugly end of a C-130 during it's voyage.

If it goes by military post, it likely will go through the 'ugly' end of a C130 at one time or another. Military post travels 'space-available' on whatever's going that way; might be a C-9 medivac, a C-5, or a C-130. And military post people are far less than gentle - I got stuck 'volunteering' for the base PO when I was stationed in Germany and those truck unloaders were brutal to those poor, innocent packages. Never saw such carnage in all my life

Oh, and good luck in basic - Air Force? Navy? I assume not the Marines or Army because you called it Basic and not Boot It's not nearly as bad as it may seem to be.

My unasked advice, offered free of charge:

• Don't volunteer for anything and try not to stand out; won't get you dick but messed with for trying for it.

• Volunteering for stuff after basic can be cool, but pretty much everything you volunteer for in basic don't amount to a pile of piss in the summer time once you're out of basic and won't make your life any better while you're in.

• When the DI screams at you when you're shaving, try not to jerk the razor or if you do jerk it AWAY from your face. I have a great scar on my chin to this day from SSGT Stewart screaming at me the first night; got to get stitches in the infirmary the first day and not have to shave that spot for 2 weeks which was kinda nice, but also really screwed me in the 'not being noticed' department - being the only 6'4" unshaved idiot in my flight, usually standing front and centre in ranks, meant I was always noticed .

• Oh, and even if you're not religious go to church on Sundays. It's the only place where the DIs can't really mess with you, so it's a welcome break during the week.

• It's tough, and meant to be, but don't take it too gawdawful seriously. Keep in mind everyone is as scared as you are and you're not likely to see all (or even most) of them ever again - basic training classes rarely get back together for renunions and such, and you'll spend a lot more time in your MOS training school than basic. A sense of humour can go a long ways towards making it a lot easier to take, but clearly don't mouth off to the DIs or your element leaders either. That kind of funny just ain't worth it.

Have fun

[Raguleader]

Originally Posted by GomiBoy

If it goes by military post, it likely will go through the 'ugly' end of a C130 at one time or another. Military post travels 'space-available' on whatever's going that way; might be a C-9 medivac, a C-5, or a C-130. And military post people are far less than gentle - I got stuck 'volunteering' for the base PO when I was stationed in Germany and those truck unloaders were brutal to those poor, innocent packages. Never saw such carnage in all my life

Oh, and good luck in basic - Air Force? Navy? I assume not the Marines or Army because you called it Basic and not Boot It's not nearly as bad as it may seem to be.

My unasked advice, offered free of charge:

• Don't volunteer for anything and try not to stand out; won't get you dick but messed with for trying for it.

• Volunteering for stuff after basic can be cool, but pretty much everything you volunteer for in basic don't amount to a pile of piss in the summer time once you're out of basic and won't make your life any better while you're in.

• When the DI screams at you when you're shaving, try not to jerk the razor or if you do jerk it AWAY from your face. I have a great scar on my chin to this day from SSGT Stewart screaming at me the first night; got to get stitches in the infirmary the first day and not have to shave that spot for 2 weeks which was kinda nice, but also really screwed me in the 'not being noticed' department - being the only 6'4" unshaved idiot in my flight, usually standing front and centre in ranks, meant I was always noticed .

• Oh, and even if you're not religious go to church on Sundays. It's the only place where the DIs can't really mess with you, so it's a welcome break during the week.

• It's tough, and meant to be, but don't take it too gawdawful seriously. Keep in mind everyone is as scared as you are and you're not likely to see all (or even most) of them ever again - basic training classes rarely get back together for renunions and such, and you'll spend a lot more time in your MOS training school than basic. A sense of humour can go a long ways towards making it a lot easier to take, but clearly don't mouth off to the DIs or your element leaders either. That kind of funny just ain't worth it.

Have fun

Well, it wouldn't go near a C-9 most likely, the Air Force took those out of service a few years ago when they figured out that anything you can fly in a Douglas airliner, you can fly in a Boeing cargo plane. Though, so as not to make that as bad as it sounds, they apparantly have cargo pallets now that can give a cargo plane airliner style seating, or medevac litter setups with medical equipment, etc.

But it also amuses me that the same guys who brutally throw around packages full of pirated DVDs and cookies also come up with creative ways to drop a couple thousand eggs from a plane without cracking them (for resupplying in places where the plane can't easily land, like Antarctica)

And yeah, all of the advice I've gotten about Basic amounted to "Don't take it personally" and "They issue you camouflage uniforms so you can blend in. Don't stick out." That said, while thinking about Basic, I got a fun idea for doing an Air Force parody of Full Metal Jacket. I think I'll call it "Cool Leather Jacket" or "Goofy Blue Windbreaker" or something like that.

I'll get to writing that AFTER I finish Basic, of course.

[Papermache Prince]

If your tech school is in the United States, you might consider renting a post office box temporarily. Once you've received the hard drive, you would no longer need it - not sure if it has to be rented for a minimum number of months, though. Then your package doesn't go through military hands at all.

If I had 200 GBs I had to save, I'd buy 2 200 GB external drives. Both would contain identical files. One would be mailed - if it arrived safely, I'd have one spare 200 GB drive to keep, give to my brother, or sell. If it arrived in pieces, I'd leave the other one at home until it could be carried by hand to me, or I return on leave to pick it up.

[GomiBoy]

Originally Posted by Raguleader

Well, it wouldn't go near a C-9 most likely, the Air Force took those out of service a few years ago when they figured out that anything you can fly in a Douglas airliner, you can fly in a Boeing cargo plane. Though, so as not to make that as bad as it sounds, they apparantly have cargo pallets now that can give a cargo plane airliner style seating, or medevac litter setups with medical equipment, etc.

But it also amuses me that the same guys who brutally throw around packages full of pirated DVDs and cookies also come up with creative ways to drop a couple thousand eggs from a plane without cracking them (for resupplying in places where the plane can't easily land, like Antarctica)

And yeah, all of the advice I've gotten about Basic amounted to "Don't take it personally" and "They issue you camouflage uniforms so you can blend in. Don't stick out." That said, while thinking about Basic, I got a fun idea for doing an Air Force parody of Full Metal Jacket. I think I'll call it "Cool Leather Jacket" or "Goofy Blue Windbreaker" or something like that.

I'll get to writing that AFTER I finish Basic, of course.

Air drop is a complete 'nother thing from a bunch of guys, most of whom can't give a rats arse about what they're shifting around, throwing mail bags off of trucks in the back of a base PO at some ungodly hour of the morning. Also, the Army transport guys delivered the mail trucks to us, and you know how they feel about Zoomies.

You're right about the pallets for C-130s and such; I had forgotten the decommed the C-9s as well. But be warned - the "Comfort Pallet" as they called it, with the "airline" seats, seemed to me to be a reject from Aeroflot designed by Torquemada to get confessions out of unbelievers. And because we had a 'comfort pallet' we just stayed in the air even longer. One time I stayed in the air for 22 hours - absolutely farking miserable. Not that the nylon jump seats were any better. My only advice if you join a fighter squadron and end up deploying is try to get on the plane with the kit - trucks and pallets and such. Then you can actually stretch out and sleep, which is damn nice.

The advice above is sound. One other I would give - the only thing (and I am non-religious) is to volunteer to be Chapel Guide. Means you basically get to take every sunday off, away from your flight, away from your DIs - I was fantastically jealous of our Chapel Guide even though the guy probably was pretty devout

What's your AFSC? Do you know where you're going to tech school yet?

[Raguleader]

Originally Posted by GomiBoy

What's your AFSC? Do you know where you're going to tech school yet?

If I ship out in a few weeks, Crypto-Linguist, if they stick with the June date, Integrated Avionics, so Monterey or Biloxi, depending.

[ZipperJJ]

LaCie has this line of "rugged" drives but they only go up to 120GB and are quite expensive...

Fujitsu just made a new "automotive-class" drive that supposedly has super-human strength, but it's only 40GB max, isn't out until April, and will probably be expensive (especially if they are marketing to the automotive makers).

[Absolute]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

LaCie has this line of "rugged" drives but they only go up to 120GB and are quite expensive...

Fujitsu just made a new "automotive-class" drive that supposedly has super-human strength, but it's only 40GB max, isn't out until April, and will probably be expensive (especially if they are marketing to the automotive makers).

That press release is over a year old - the prices have come down a lot since then.

[GomiBoy]

Originally Posted by Raguleader

If I ship out in a few weeks, Crypto-Linguist, if they stick with the June date, Integrated Avionics, so Monterey or Biloxi, depending.

Well enjoy Great Lakes to start off with then, and I've heard Biloxi in the summer time is just lovely

[Raguleader]

Originally Posted by GomiBoy

Well enjoy Great Lakes to start off with then, and I've heard Biloxi in the summer time is just lovely

Well, to enjoy Great Lakes, I'd have to join the Navy instead of the Air Force. Air Force trains in the pleasantly mild summer climate (yaknow, only 99 degrees or so) of Lackland AFB, in San Antonio, Texas.