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Ask Slashdot: Storing Items In a Sealed Chest For 25 Years?

Posted by timothy on from the termites-not-encouraged dept.

New submitter accet87 writes "We are celebrating the Silver Jubilee of our graduation next month and have come up with an idea where we will build an air-tight chest in which each of us will deposit something and will open the chest only on our Golden Jubilee, i.e. after another 25 years. I want to understand what kind of items can be safely stored for 25 years and what kind of precautions are required to be taken. I am sure things like paper, non-ferrous metallic objects, wood, etc., will hold up well. What about data storage electronically? I don't think CD/DVDs, etc., will be usable. Even if the data is retained, reading it in 2037 may be a challenge."

8 of 434 comments (clear)

  1. Lesson from school by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    On my first day of class of Junior High school, my Mother packed a lunch for me, which include a Thermos full of milk.

    I promptly threw it in my locker and forgot about it.

    On my last day of class, I was cleaning out the locker and found the abandoned Thermos. I brought it home unopened.

    My Mother made me take it out to the far end of the lot and open and empty it out there, which I did.

    The moral of the story: Don't put milk in your sealed chest!

    1. Re:Lesson from school by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'd also like to add do not put a frozen turkey in your sealed chest.

      In my final year of high school, I took one from my parents freezer and placed it in a garbage bag. My friends and I found a locker which was bolted shut in an unused section of school and let it sit for a few weeks. Just before final exams, we carefully cut the bag open just before final exams. The smell was unbearable, and it permeated throughout the school so well that it took a few days for someone to locate it.

      For the love of god, don't put a frozen turkey in your chest!

  2. Macbook Pro (retina) by busyqth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just load all of your photos, videos, data, etc onto a retina macbook pro and toss it in the case.
    Maybe by 2037 someone will have figured out how to change the battery.
    If so, you've got your data and you're good to go.

  3. "reading it in 2037 may be a challenge." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No worries man, end of epoch isn't until 2038.

  4. Oil Barrel by BlackPignouf · · Score: 5, Funny

    What about an oil barrel?
    You'll need it in 2037!
    Plus, you could sell it for a few thousand dollars and buy vintage stuff from 2012 :D

  5. Traditional English Fruitcake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The cake should last edible for a 100 years, if it's made correctly.

  6. Jubilee by glodime · · Score: 1, Funny

    You should write down the definition of Jubilee and put it in the container.

  7. Re:Put stuff in sealed plastic cases? by Tough+Love · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft Windows prior to 95 and NT4 was complete garbage.

    As opposed to what after that? Incomplete garbage?

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.