How to Destroy an old Hard Drive

A friend's husband is coming round with a sledge hammer on Friday!!

Will an old lady with a hammer do? ???

Chestnut

I was going to suggest leaving it in water for a day or two. Would that do the trick 'railman or would it spring back to life when it dried off?

I have a hard drive and some memory sticks I need to smash. I keep trying to muster the courage to go outside with a hammer, but if water will do it that would be much easier.

I've also considered buying a fire pit and burning them. Might also be useful for old diaries and letters, of which I have a lot.

Chestnut Just to be sure - if you have a garden waste burner, or 'fire pit' that would also do the job well.

Some data can be recovered from dried out drives, so 'drowning' them will work to a degree, but ....

Chestnut - your second photo below looks way more capable of getting the job done than the first pic

Love the old lady with a hammer!

My 3 old hard drives are no more!!! Friend's husband had to work hard with his sledge hammer as he said they were a ** to smash up, but they're done now.