i’m also i interested! I’d like to know that i have a reliable long-term backup of pictures and other important things.

Have a look at the Sandisk extreme pro solid state usb drive. It is actually an SSD in the thumb drive form factor and should be exactly what you are looking for.

What are you doing to your thumb drives that they don't last a year???? I have several that are 5+ and one or two that are 10+ - and aside from speed differences I've mever had one fail or break that wasn't mishandled (ie I accidentally force it into the plug the wrong way and bent it - these were usb-c and micro-usb). Having said that, I usually use SanDisk, PNY, or Samsung. I have a ruggedized one from Gorilla that I got 2 years ago that I am happy with thus far that is USB-A 3.0.

Thanks so much, I'll take a look

I'm a freakishly large person at over 6 and a half feet tall and 300lbs plus. My wife says I'm like a gorilla in a glass house.

SSD

😂🤣😅 Similar but scaled down at 5'8" and a not entirely soft 250 - when I am shopping in fragile stores with my wife they always ask if I need help - 'nope, I'm just here to keep my hands in my pockets and try not to break stuff'

I'd try the [Gorilla](http://Check this out! https://a.co/d/fuA8L5D) or look for another ruggedized drive. Or maybe a metal 1-piece drive like this - not necessarily this one, just an illustration of what I mean.

How are they failing on you? Do they physically break or do they not work when plugged in and give errors?

If it’s the latter, it’s typically because memory sticks have inferior controllers comparatively to better quality SSD’s, and that said, not all are made equally in terms of quality NAND (memory) and controllers

Long story short, Samsung stuff is a safe bet

If you’re looking for a tough memory stick check out the Samsung BAR usb

Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud. Take your pick. I'd trust Apple before Microsoft, and Microsoft before Google, but that's just me.

Look into the Kingston Data Traveler. They have some all-metal USB drives in that product line that are very tough - I've had the same one on my keys for years.

Example

If you want to store important stuff that you don't want to lose I would recommend a hard drive. When usb stop working is easier to lose that information and never get it back, meanwhile with a hard drive there's more possibilities that you can recover all. Also hard drives have more memory and you could get one of 1tb, that could store everything for many years, for a reasonable price.

but don't rely on any one of those as the only copy

3-2-1 backup rule: 3 copies on at least 2 different medium with 1 copy offsite. As an apple user, storing things on my laptop with periodic time machine backups to an external drive and sync to icloud satisfies that

Head to r/datahoarder, they are the nerds that know this stuff and are paranoid about losing data. Lots of drive life expectancy information. They also have a list of recommended equipment. Pretty sure Seagate is "avoid at all costs!".

This is what I use as well, have had some for a decade, very small by todays' standard, but never had one fail.