Re: anyone have a grinder suitable for destroying some old tapes?

[matthew sporleder <msporleder%gmail.com@localhost>]

On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Perry E. Metzger 
<perry%piermont.com@localhost> wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:18:49 +0900 Curt Sampson <cjs%netbsd.org@localhost>
> wrote:
>> On 2011-11-28 16:06 -0500 (Mon), Metzger, Perry E. wrote:
>>
>> > I have a bunch of old backup tapes. I want to get rid of them but
>> > I worry about what data might be on them....
>> > Failing that, does anyone have any other good ideas on how to
>> > dispose of the things? Breaking the cartridges by hand etc. is a
>> > non-starter, there are too many of them.
>>
>> Hand-held tape degaussers are made specifically for the purpose of
>> erasing tapes for re-use. They were pretty common in the audio and
>> video recording worlds a couple of decades ago, and I do seem to
>> recall having seen ones for computer backup tapes as well.
>
> Modern ones capable of dealing with vaguely recent media cost in the
> thousands of dollars -- far more I'm willing to pay for this purpose.
>
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/Tape-Degaussers-Erasers/N/4268019507
>

A professional shredding company can usually handle that kind of stuff
on-site with a special truck.

I saw one a few months ago with a monitor on the side where you could
watch your documents being destroyed.