Review| Billfodl Recovery Seed

What is it?

BillFodl is a specialized product designed to keep your recovery seeds safe and secure. The demand for these devices slowly increases as more and more people start to realize the importance of a safely stored recovery seed. It is meant to replace the little paper that Hardware/Software wallet issuers tell you to write the 12–24 letter seed on and make it secure as possible. There are many types of these devices. We have already reviewed the CryptoTag in the past which is similar. However, CryptoTag comes along with a little satisfactory hard labor. If you want to find out more about it — read the review here. The Billfodl has taken a completely different approach to storing your recovery seed and here it is…

First impressions?

When I first received the package, I was surprised about the weird sound of screws jumping inside. My first thought was — “Oh God, please don’t tell me I will have to assemble device on my own”. When I opened the packaging, first I actually saw screws in front of me, so I actually thought for a second that I’ll have to do it, but those screws actually were for the plastic socket mount. This socket mount is meant for extra security measures. It turns out, as some of my friends were pointing out — that you can put the BillFodl metal device in it, and mount it to a secret wall, painting or anywhere else you can think of.

Is it easy to use?

So about the product itself. It took me about 5–10 minutes and eventually the video instruction as well on how to use it. This is all because I never had held such a device in my hands and got a little bit confused on how to use it. Along with the device came a separate box where all the letters and numbers were put in alphabetical order on small little metal tiles. I remember I was looking at the box and thinking to myself — “Should I really break up the box and see what’s inside or this is meant to make screw noises as an accessory…?” Eventually, I tore the little letter boxes apart and found the small tiles. Then the whole picture became much brighter to me and I understood how the whole device works.

The application process is kind of time-consuming. One of the main reasons being that I am a person with quite large hands and fingers, so I struggled in getting those tiny tiles out of their socket. Also, another quite confusing side of the seed application process is the fact that you only need the first four letters of a seed word. That seemed a little odd, because, at first, I thought — how in the right mind am I going to remember which exact word was the right one for my seed. But later, going through the BillFodl FAQ, I quickly realized that there is an exact amount of seed words available and that there simply cannot be such a situation where there are two different words with the same first four letters.

From the pictures you can see that there are a lot of letters, most of which will remain unused at the end. The problem with this, is that as you can see from the pictures, I had to tear the paper pockets that the letters were held in…so what do I do with all the extra letters now…where do I store them? Ideally I would throw them out, I don’t need them… but the device is reusable, I can take the letters out of the Billfodl and place other ones in the future but if I throw the letters out I can’t…

Alright, back to the seed application process. So when I finished assembling my recovery seed words, I locked the small lever and started playing with the device. I closed it, I opened it. I closed it again and opened it once again. Then I realized that if somebody got hold of my BillFodl device, it wouldn’t take him even a minute to realize how to open it. Of course, later, those exact friends who gave me advice about the mounting plastic, told that the upper hole in the device itself can be used as a place for a locked. Ok, that seems fair, but again — I have to purchase the locker. And the locker itself as well isn’t quite the security, as you can easily cut it.

Also, another thing — when you put the device in the plastic socket, the socket reveals almost 15% of the device, so once found, it is clear that something worthy is inside.

What’s good about the device?

• It works as a fidget spinner-The device itself feels like an iPhone without a case. You know you like to shuffle your iPhone in your hands and you could do it all day if you could. Well with BillFodl it’s quite the same. The device is very satisfactory to hold and to mingle in your hands. The sharp edges and the stainless steel heavy body feels like I’m actually holding a little version of my own bank in my hands.
• It’s Fireproof-There have been stories of people recovery seed papers get burnt in a situation when your house, car, desk or anything else experience an unexpected fire.
• It’s Waterproof-The device could be placed outside, where rain can get to it, and it’ll be fine. It is composed of the highest quality marine grade 316 stainless steel. That means that the device is completely rust-proof and as BillFodl themselves describe this feature — you could hold your device in the bottom of the ocean and nothing would happen to it.
• It’s Shockproof-This means that it can handle millions of volts of electricity. Whether those are solar spots, a nuclear strike, or a microwave bomb. I cannot imagine a situation like that near me in the upcoming years or even decades, but it is great that BillFodl has put in some extra thought about the occurrences that could potentially happen with our devices.

Conclusion

The demand for such devices will only increase as the level of fear rises along with the amount of funds you keep in your cold storage. The more money you have, the more you are going to consider different security measures. And a piece of paper definitely won’t do the job. Some might say — “If you feel like you could lose your piece of paper, why not tattoo it on your body, that way you’ll never lose it”, I say — God no! For just as little as $100, you can secure your recovery seed in BillFodl’s device and all your problems will fade away. Of course, the seed is quite easily accessible once found by a potential thief — but that doesn’t mean that your funds might get stolen. The thief has to figure out which wallet service do you use and go through a pretty harsh process to actually identify what that is and what for it is. Of course, if the thief is not a cryptocurrency enthusiast. Then it’s different. All-in-all, a very cool looking, purposeful device which will help you to take care of your funds as if you were the actual bank for yourself.

Rating: 7/10

By Janis Rijnieks the newest CryptoAuthorityLad!