1 / 6
shred-001
It's tax season, and you know what that means: It's time to shred everything.
Shredders appear to be pretty simple machines -- they just destroy paper, turning sensitive information or incriminating documents into hamster bedding. But there's a host of things that can go wrong when you're destroying documents. Paper clips and staples can jam the blades, too many pages can gum up the works, and even the toughest shredder can get overheated if you keep it running too long.
We took five of the best shredders we could find, from burly commercial beasts to a demure handheld specimen, and we ran them into the ground, checking out speed, capacity, toughness, and noisiness. We also assessed their paper-destruction capabilities and found out which ones are best for making sure your Social Security number and credit card info stay out of the wrong hands.
All photos: Ariel Zambelich/Wired 
