The PD-5E destroys a hard drive mechanically. A stainless-steel wedge presses the drive together with more than 10 tons of force: the platters bend, the housing cracks, the circuit board breaks and the read/write heads are crushed. A bent platter can no longer spin or be mounted in a laboratory reader.
Garner recommends degaussing a hard drive before destroying it. The PD-5 appears on the NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List for hard drive deformers (October 2026); the NSA requires such a deformer to be used after an EPL-listed degausser such as the TS-1XTE. The combination is available as a package, for example on the Enclosed Destruction Cart.
With the SSD-1E insert the PD-5E also handles SSDs, USB sticks, phones and SSHD controller boards. With IRONCLAD you record the crush depth and a photo of every drive.
