When a hardware wallet fails, the first document you reach for is often not the device manual but your own handwriting. If that handwriting lacks dates, you cannot tell whether a passphrase note reflects your current rotation or a setup you abandoned three years ago.
The problem with timeless notes
Clients bring us registers where every page looks equally authoritative. A crossed-out derivation path sits beside a current one with no indication of sequence. During stress, the brain defaults to the most legible entry—not necessarily the correct one.
A convention that survives succession
We teach a three-part amendment line:
- Date in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD) in the margin
- Initials of the person making the change
- One-line reason — “rotated backup,” “new co-signer,” “moved pouch”
Never erase. Strike through with a single line, date the strike, and write the replacement on the next available line or amendment insert.
Amendment inserts
Our bound registers include numbered amendment pages at the rear. When a section grows crowded, insert a fresh page rather than shrinking your handwriting. Reference the insert from the original section: “See Amendment 4, 2025-03-18.”
Practice drill
Once a year, open your register cold—no wallet software—and read aloud the storage map section. If any sentence makes you pause, that pause is an undated ambiguity waiting for an emergency. Schedule an annual review or add a dated amendment the same day.
Paper discipline is boring until the day it saves an afternoon. That is the day we prepare for.