My former teammates used to store multiple local copies on their computers, as a form of version control, and pass bits of code on USBs to share their work.

I gave them a fair warning about the importance of working with git, and then one night, I just stole all of their HDDs, leaving them codeless.

usb sticks have an heat problem.
just an idea.

USB sticks have an everything problem

@AlexDeLarge It was purely for educational purposes.

I once had the code for a program I made in my laptop (pentium 133 with 32mb ram) and a USB stick (16mb and was expensive as shit)
The client didn't pay.
I deleted the code from the laptop and gave the USB (with the binary and backup code) to an uncle to use as a phone book (check my profile for the story)
Client calls two weeks latter because he couldn't do what my program would do.. Joint databases, because I already knew he would have that problem).
Told him I already deleted the code... If i kept it I would ask for 10 times more...
Of course he wouldn't pay anyway but would feel even better

Git wouldn't have saved their code if every hdd were still reachable by some maniac ;)