It’s Time To Take An Electromagnetic Pulse Attack Serious By Putting An EMP Protection Plan In Place Today.
As Kim Jong Un continues his North Korean nuclear tests, it’s time to start figuring out how to protect yourself from a massive EMP attack.
- But what would an EMP attack really look like on United States soil?
- How bad could the destruction be?
- What are your EMP protection and survival options?
- What’s the best EMP Emergency Management Plan?
- What the heck is an EMP anyways?
EMP stands for Electrical Magnetic Pulse. Sounds technical; seems complicated.
But at first, it doesn’t really sound all that scary.
Sounds like something you’d hear a boring physics professor talk about. Not a serious national security concern.
And that’s why today I want to educate you – by discussing the following EMP topics:
- Simple Example Of An Electric Magnetic Pulse
- The One Weapon That Can Produce A Massive EMP Attack
- Introducing High Altitude Detonations
- So What Kind Of Damage Are We Talking?
- An EMP Protection Plan To Protect Your Electronics
- Introducing The Faraday Cage
- Massive EMP Strike – The Worst Case Scenario
- Your Two EMP Preparation Options
- The Best EMP Protection Plan
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Simple Example Of An Electric Magnetic Pulse
When a conductor moves through a magnetic field it produces an electrical current. This technology is how generators work at your local power plant.
Likewise, when a moving magnetic field passes a conductor, it creates current. This phenomenon is called Electro-Magnetic Pulse, or EMP for short.
But what happens if the magnetic field produced is much stronger when it passes through a wire?
Perhaps a pulse large enough to damage the wire. A pulse so intense that it could fry the microscopic wiring in small circuitry.
Given a strong enough magnetic field, microelectronics are destroyed by an electrical burst.
By destroyed, I mean entirely burned out.
Destruction of electrical components in this manner is called an EMP attack.
The One Weapon That Can Produce A Massive EMP Attack
The phenomenon is called Electro-Magnetic Pulse, or EMP for short.
One way to create a broad scale EMP pulse is to detonate a nuclear warhead like a hydrogen bomb.
The energy release of a nuclear blast creates a sizeable electromagnetic pulse. This pulse radiates outward in all directions.
Any electrical wiring in the path of the pulse will burn out.
The nuclear explosion does not have to be very large to generate a dangerous EMP. At least one hazardous for our computer friends, not so much for us.
Unlike the radiation from a nuclear explosion, an EMP is not dangerous to people. Unless you have a pacemaker installed.
But it will destroy most unshielded electrical components.
A nuclear EMP pulse is fairly complex and is often broken into three component pulses:
E1 Pulse
An E1 pulse occurs when gamma radiation from a detonation ionizes atoms in the upper atmosphere.
The E1 pulse is the fastest component of nuclear EMP. It’s brief but intense.
As the E1 pulse moves through the earth magnetic field, it creates microwaves. These microwaves strike the surface with an intense surge of power.
It induces high voltages in electrical conductors. Thus causing significant damage by electrical breakdown voltages.
The E1 pulse can destroy computers and communication equipment.
E2 Pulse
The E2 pulse is comparable to the pulse created during lightning strikes.
Fortunately, our national infrastructure is (for the most part) already prepared for an E2 pulse.
E3 Pulse
The E3 component is different from both E1 and E2. E3 is a much slower pulse.
The E3 component has similarities to a geomagnetic storm caused by a solar flare.
Like a solar flare, E3 can produce powerful currents. Intense enough to damage power lines and transformers (i.e., critical infrastructure).
Introducing High Altitude Detonations
An EMP pulse travels line of sight. So it can cover a vast area if the nuclear detonation occurs high in the atmosphere.
Most nuclear military weapons are not intended for high altitude detonations. Because high altitude detonations do little damage to the enemy and less fallout.
However, at high altitudes, the EMP would travel towards everything in its line of sight. Covering thousands of square miles!
It’s true that an EMP diminishes with distance. But it may still be strong enough at thousands of miles to fry most microelectronics.
Making the nuclear EMP a near perfect weapon for a terrorist and rogue nations.
Here’s an interesting question.
If you were a terrorist organization and could only lay your hands on one nuclear weapon. Would you want to blow up one city? Or detonate it high enough to wipe out the electrical systems for thousands of cities?
Aside from nuclear weapons, there are EMP-generating devices. These are called “explosively pumped flux compression generators.”
These use electromagnetic physics to generate large pulses of electromagnetic energy.
The basic idea is to generate an electromagnetic pulse in a coil surrounding a metal core. While at the same time compressing the coil into the core using explosives.
This change in core geometry causes a compression of the electromagnetic field.
EMP’s (whether nuclear or flux compression) has the potential to change the world.
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So What Kind Of Damage Are We Talking?
Any devices not shielded against a large EMP attack is likely to be damaged or destroyed.
We’re talking damage to the following:
- Power Grids
- Laptops
- iPad
- iPod
- Smart Phones
- Cell Phone Towers
- Telephones
- Desktop Computers
- Mainframe Computers
- Routers
- Automobile Engine Management Computers
- Jet Aircraft Systems
- Air Traffic Control Systems
- Banking Systems
- Hospital Diagnostic Machines
- Televisions
- Internet Servers
- Refrigerators
- Thermostats
- Plus Anything Else With A Micro Chip
Which is damn near everything these days.
Can you imagine everyone within a thousand-mile radius losing all power and technology?
How about a city like New York or Los Angeles? We are talking 8-10 million people finding themselves in a pre-industrial world without power!
The only things that still work are mechanical in nature (i.e., guns and bullets).
Near instant anarchy.
An EMP Protection Plan To Protect Your Electronics
There are several ways to protect against an EMP attack.
One EMP protection technique is known as electrical shielding.
If an electrical cable includes a grounded shield, the electromagnetic pulse won’t penetrate the shield.
It will induce a current in the shield and release that current harmlessly into the ground.
This is great for cables, but what about smaller devices, such as microelectronics?
Introducing The Faraday Cage
You can shield entire devices using something known as a Faraday Cage.
Named after Michael Faraday, an early scientist in the field of electromagnetics.
Faraday discovered electromagnetic fields won’t penetrate a container made out of certain metals.
Instead, the field impinges on the exterior of the cage. Since all sides of the cage are electrically connected, there’s no induced electrical current.
For current to flow, there must be a differential in electrical potential.
It’s as if there is a short-circuit before the current even begins to flow.
Devices held inside the cage are then protected from damaging currents.
Nested EMP Faraday cages are even better for EMP protection. Essentially, nesting is a cage within a cage.
You can build a simple Faraday cage by covering a box in aluminum foil. If you want to protect your devices, wrap them in a layer of aluminum foil.
But take care, they must be completely covered with no gaps in the foil.
Also, if you wish to use multiple layers of foil, place a layer of insulation between them. Insulation is any material that won’t conduct electricity – like cardboard.
Adding the extra layers of thickness to the foil means nothing. The only reason to double wrap is to prevent gaps in the foil.
Or use both foil and a trash can. Just put your electronics inside a foil-lined cardboard box and place the box inside a trash can.
Ensuring the trash can lid closes entirely and creates a perfect seal.
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Massive EMP Strike – The Aftermath
Now that you have all your devices protected when the terrorist EMP event strikes you’ll be ready. Assuming you knew in advance an attack was coming and took these defense precautions.
So let’s say you did.
The “Event” Happens, And The Lights Go Out
You quickly retrieve your fully functional cell phone from your foil lined trash can, a.k.a. Faraday Cage.
And presto, you have one of the very few functioning cell phones in the Northern Hemisphere. Congratulations!
- Did your EMP protection plan pay off? Yes and no…
- How many bars do you have? None?
- Can you hear me now? No?
- You pull out your protected laptop or IPad and boot up. Internet connection? Nope.
You’ve got a four-hour charge on the device, great.
Now, where are you going to plug in your charger (because you remembered to add a charger to your Faraday cage, right)?
- No sweat. I’ve got a home generator – nope – it’s fried by EMP.
- Oh, but I have home solar panels – nope – fried by EMP.
- I installed a windmill – nope – the inverter is fried.
Bottom line: The power is out, and it’s going to stay out for a very long time (maybe even years).
- The utility distribution system has been fried.
- Cell phone towers are fried.
- The water company’s filtration and pumping systems are fried.
Food will quickly begin to spoil, and we just lost a war without firing a single bullet.
Your Two EMP Preparation Options
So the way I see it, you have 2 EMP protection options:
EMP Preparation Option 1
Plan for an Amish future.
Plan to revert to an 1860 agrarian society. One with same survival skills our great-great-grandparents lived by.
The sort of skills our modern society has long since forgotten.
EMP Preparation Option 2
Store a disassembled home electrical power generation system inside a huge Faraday Cage.
Solar and wind are your best bet – since you won’t be able to get gasoline or natural gas.
So those are your two options, but most people will end up choosing option two.
Why? Because most people can’t afford to drop $10,000-25,000 on a home generation system.
Especially a system that you won’t immediately use and will remain in storage.
Most people don’t have funds for a grid-independent electrical system today. Let alone one kept stored in Faraday Cages!
However, if you do end up going with EMP Preparedness Option #2, you’d better be ready to defend it.
You’ll likely be the only one on your block (maybe your town) with any electrical power.
By the way, you Option #2 guys, I would wait until long after the attack before assembling your system.
Any good terrorist will be smart enough to allow time install backup systems. Then pop us again to destroy the rest of it.
An EMP blast from a single nuclear device at 20 miles altitude will cover a significant portion of the US with an EMP.
An enemy doesn’t have to destroy the entire nation to destroy its society. It only needs to kill off large portions of the population!
Even the US Government admits as many 9 of 10 Americans could die within one year of an EMP attack on our homeland!
There are too many people, with too few survival skills. The majority of the US population would quickly perish with no power for a year.
Looting, rioting, and murder will be rampant – everywhere. Epic chaos.
That’s why it’s time to take EMP protection seriously and learn some real survival skills.
The Best EMP Protection Plan
EMP Protection is like most other long-term emergency disaster preps in many ways.
You need to have a massive stockpile of prepper food and lots of water. And the self-reliance survival skills to continually replenish your stocks.
Throw in some defense skills as well – to protect your resources and some basic medical supplies.
Food, water, and medicine.
Yes, it’s really as simple as that, but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.
The best way to describe the survival skills you need to learn to prepare for an EMP attack is this:
The skills our great-great-grandparents called everyday life we now call survival and prepping.
So look backward in time for inspiration via The Lost Ways.
That’s how you prepare for life without power long term.
Prepare, Adapt and Overcome,
Just In Case Jack
P.s. Do you know where the closest nuclear bunker is from your home?
There are a lot of natural nuclear shelters in the US that are absolutely free. And one of them is near your home.
Click here to see the Closest Natural Nuclear Bunker to Your Home?
Click on the image above to find out where you need to take shelter.
Photo Credit Circuit Board / Garbage Cans
I understand That after a E.M.P. That the internet will be gone, But My computer can download many survival ideas before a E.M.P.. All of the downloads will be stored in my computer I can remove the battery (charged) from my laptop an store the laptop along with all my other electronics in a FARADAY cage. Solar battery chargers included. At present , all my downloads are also printed an stored in a 3 ring binder, Just in case my faraday cage fails me.
Good point Cyrus.
A working computer with valuable
pre-downloaded
survival information is a good idea to store in a Faraday Cage. Add in a solar battery charger and you can continue having access to it.
However, online use of your computer to communicate or research will be useless.
– Just In Case Jack
What about large AC Generator and electric drive motors. Should they be caged to?
If you want to ensure they survive an EMP blast, yes. Anything that has electrical wires and electrical components are susceptible to permanent damage due to a large electrical magnetic pulse.
The dumber your back up is the better, one without any bells & whistles, LED readout etc. the better chance it will work. just like an old non computerized car stands a chance of working, a new car POOF. Grandpa’s old am/fm radio is better than new micro circuitry. etc.
New smart gun, no one ever uses it again!
You could also buy a survival book now to have in case a EMP happens.
There is an assumption that the Faraday Cage will work,most people cannot test it to Government specifications.Therefor it could be a crap shoot
This is a fact, not conjecture. Nine of ten people will be dead within 30 days. Reason: CONTAMINATED WATER. Within 24 hours after an EMP, if not sooner, virtually every household in America will be without water. Most have no reserve water at all. When the spigots stop producing, which is immediately after the attack, people will begin to drink water from the ditches, lakes, streams, rivers, and any other source they can find. Typhoid and a host of other diseases will then take their tolls. Thirst will drive a person mad! I’ve seen it first hand. Storing water and having dozens of life Straws cannot be overstated. .
Thanks for sharing. I couldn’t have said it better.
Here’s some additional information for those who need to work on their water storage plan.
Survival Water Storage: Don’t Pray For A Rainy Day
LifeStraw Review: Skilled Survival’s LifeStraw Field Test
– Just In Case Jack
What about digging a hole near a pond or a lake? The ground acts as a natural filter.
And after the EMP is over, how about putting out a tarp to catch rain, or some plastic
to catch the morning dew into a bottle?
Sure, if that’s your only option but I prefer to filter and purify any natural water source with my survival gear if possible.
Also, rainwater is not always pure. It can be full of air pollutants – depending on where you’re located.
So the only way you 100% know any natural water is safe to consume is by filtering it and purifying it first.
You might have high confidence its safe, and you’ll be right most of the time but if your wrong you can get severely sick.
You are so right. Another thing a lot of people will forget is most water heaters are 55 gallons pure drinking water, ready to drink in their homes. people will panic and leave their homes in search of water and food. some will not come back, there will be some extra water for those who know. Just have to unscrew one of the flex pipes on top of water heater to vent and open the bottom valve. Just a little info for those that dont know, because there will be a lot of empty houses.
Excellent point Mike. I’ve always had my own water heater in the back of my mind, but for whatever reason, I’ve never thought about taking the water heater water from vacant homes. Great tip.
-Jack
Actually, a large number of water systems are gravity fed, thus the large water towers. However, they will not have the power to refill them. Best thing you can do is to immediately fill your tub and sinks and anything else with water because it will disappear shortly. If the city doesn’t shut it off via a valve immediately.
Here’s a AquaPod Kit. You hook it up to your faucet in an emergency and fill. Your tube then becomes a large water storage tank.
We purchased a Water Bob to fill up water in our bathtub before the H20 stops flowing.
Where have you seen privation 1st hand?
Truth is I’ve been a prepper since Y-2k, truth is most don’t know ? about prepping. I’ve given this allot of thought over many years, and in truth no one knows what will take place. Who knows, might be all these years I’ve built up these stock pile’s and God will they are for nothing. However i might get over ran by zombies, or some crazy group of hungry countrymen who just take. But i will say this , when the bad things do go down people band together and this country is strongest in turmoil. I think preppings great, but worry kills just as fast. Take care fellow preppers it might be bad, maybe as bad as you all think, but I’ve seen pooer countrys then this survive just fine, and some people in those countrys do fine. Fuel for thought. But prepare for the worst hope for the best
My first thought about not having water is to disagree. At least people that live over the ogallala aquifer which cover many states can have water by driving a 1-1/2′ pipe into the ground and attach a $35 dollar hand pump, My dad used an electric pump to water the lawn.. The ground water is 6 feet down in some cases. I use to dig holes in the back yard as a kid and had to stop when I hit water. People who live in rural areas have water wells. These same people are the kind of folks that would share it. I have a well with a pump handle that can also be hooked up to a 24 volt solar pump. Get out of the cities for your own safety!
Perhaps a budget-friendly variation on your Option #2 would be having a spare circuit board (or two?) for a portable generator. You wouldn’t have to have a complete duplicate disassembled and in a cage. The gasoline motor itself isn’t vulnerable, and the heavy copper windings in the generator itself don’t seem fragile enough to fry.
Sure, a 2000w portable wouldn’t run your whole house, but is that really needed? Mix in a bit of Option 1 lifestyle and your energy “needs” go way down. Do you really need to stay up until midnight, the house fully lit, watching movies? Do you really need to run several big-wattage appliances at the same time?
A small genset runs longer on stored fuel. Not forever, sure, but for a long time, you’d have fridge and battery-recharge capabilities. Time enough to sort out alternatives.
A little bit of Option 2 with a whole lot of Option 1. No argument here.
Definitely a setup I’ll be thinking about some more…
Thanks for the comment.
– Just In Case Jack
The EMP would induce a voltage in the generator coils that would arc right through the insulation, effectively shorting out and destroying the coils. Spending effort on electronic trinkets would be a waste of energy that will need to be applied to survival.
Question? Would an 55 gallon metal drun with removable lid make a good Faraday container? I am thinking of something to put my generator inside of.
Thanks for the question.
As long as its 100% metal and 100% sealed it should work.
Watch the video provided in this post where they use a radio to test/prove their faraday cage. Just do the same radio test and if the radio goes silent when the metal drum is sealed then you should be good to go.
– Just In Case Jack
There’s an app now for testing faraday bags and faraday enclosures. It’s very nice. It’s called, “MD Faraday Bags Tester” I recommend using it to test your faraday enclosures to make sure they are working properly. It tests Wifi, cell, and bluetooth. Use it close to a Wifi Router to get the most power out of your router and the closest test to an EMP possilble.
Not just an EMP attack but a Solar Storm too!!!
I would think any Faraday cage should be grounded. Grounded by a large wire attached to at least its own ground rod but NOT connected to a house or system ground. Maybe ground your car with the same jumper cables used for emergency starts attached to the frame and its own separate ground post…?
You mention that solar panels will be gone? The only thing I lnow of that will be gone on a solar panel is the diodes.
Do you know of anything else on the panels that will be affected by an emp?
I know all the charge controllers, inverters etc will go.
Just wondering 🙂
Frank,
Thanks for the comment and question.
Here’s my quick thoughts on your question:
Let’s just say that your solar panels do survive and EMP attack and only your inverter fries. The good news is you can pull out your spare faraday caged inverter and boom…your solar panel power is back in business. The bad news? All your indirect home circuit based systems that you didn’t have stored in faraday cages got fried (refrigerators, microwaves, heating units, radios, lighting, dishwashers, modern vehicles, cell phones, etc.) so you still cannot use your solar panels for anything useful. Unless you keep spares of all these modern appliances in faraday cages.
That’s what makes a massive EMP’s potential so deadly. The systems that generate power are in danger but so are all the technologies that harness this power.
– Just In Case Jack
My research lends me to believe that the only parts of the solar system that require being put in a faraday cage are the invertor and the charge controller. The batteries and panels should be fine – assuming they are disconnected/unwired.
That said, if you were worried about the panels these come in boxes. Keep the boxes and re-package the panels in them then cover in 8-10 layers of foil taped up with aluminim duct tape.
While many things in the home will be “fried” you will be able to do many things with solar. For example – plug in clocks, lamps, fans and of course all the electronics you store in a ‘cage’ – laptops, mp3 players, dvd player, radio (ham and otherwise), computer monitor (in lieu of a TV – much less power draw), battery chargers, etc etc).
You might want to download then hard copy how to build a solar panel. Just incase it doesn’t completely fry the entire thing . You may be able to rebuild them if you managed to protect a charge controller and all the other equipment. And it may be helpful to learn how to bring back to life a dead battery. there should be plenty of them to be had since very few cars will be running.
Reconditioning batteries is an excellent skill to learn, especially in preparation for an EMP. Here’s a battery reconditioning info product worth checking out if it’s of interest to anyone.
I have a 1989 jeep Comanche Pickup what parts would I have to replace on it to get it to run after a EMP attack thank you
I’m not very familiar with that make and model vehicle so I cannot say for certain.
However, the amount of damage any device or appliance or electrical system takes is dependent on how large the EMP strike is and how close you are to it.
1989 was the last year for non-computer run/managed vehicles. A spare computer chip, plug wires and alternator/generator will fix you up if you don’t have anti-lock brakes and an electronic dashboard. the computer chip can easily be had these days. The rest of the car accessories may or may not work though. a good supply of fuses too. Most current cars and trucks wont run even with a new engine computer-too many electronic accessories.
And you would have the only car in town and soon it would be taken from you by armed gangs. If you buy a horse people will kill you so they can get it for food. A bicycle would be faster transportation than walking, but someone may try to steal that from you too. Get in shape now. Get off all meds you can cuz they wont be available then. Get comfortable shoes and walk as much as you can.
If you have an RV, then all of the appliances, and furnace, will run off of either 12V or Propane. Having a set of solar panels, to charge your batteries, would be an excellent idea! As would having an extra thermostat and solar panel charge controller. If you are running LED lights, it may be a good idea to throw some of those in your faraday cage also.
Nice article. I have wrapped all electronics I can (tucked inside their original packing material) in multiple layers of heavy aluminum foil (not one continuous roll several times), then wrapped in heavy wrapping paper (think UPS store), then placed inside galvanized steel trash cans.
Contents include LED flashlights, battery tester, watches, smoke/CO2 detector, outside motion detectors, Goal Zero solar generator set, Goal Zero Light-a-Life, multi-band radio receiver, multiple Baofeng handheld HAM radios, old laptop, inexpensive DVD player, among other things. The only electronics I couldn’t fit inside are my 30W solar panels, but they are wrapped multiple times in heavy foil and secured to prevent tearing. At least I was able to wrap and place inside one small 20W solar panel.
I learned this technique from “The Survival Mom” who tested radios in various types of wrapping/storage and moved them under a cluster of radio towers emitting a combined 9 million watts of radio signal. The radios placed inside the galvanized can and wrapped in foil appeared to no longer receive any signal. Don’t know if that’s the most scientific method of testing, but your suggestion and hers are similar. Like your blog site.
Thanks for sharing Mountain Man.
Nice detailed list of what you’re protecting and how.
Yup, the radio signal cut off is a simple but effective test to ensure you’ve got it right.
Jack
Radio antenna on towers are directional. Directly under is the worst signal strength possible.
This is very important: Purchase a gravity filter (around $50) and get a couple of five gallon buckets and a spignot. You can find instructions online on how to assemble this basically inexpenstive water purification system that will last quite a while. Water is a huge concern and this will help you deal with that immediate problem. That being said, some lifestraws and other small purification systems will help you on the go. Think of this as an alternative life insurance policy that you hope you never need. Passing it on is the best gift you can give, for many reasons. Also, there are many videos, especially on this site, that can teach basic survival skills. If anything, it is comforting to know this stuff. One last thing- a couple of books on edible plants is also a good idea.
I have several LuminAid lights that are charged by solar light. Would an EMP attack ruin them if not in aluminum foil or galvanized can ?
Honestly, I can’t say for certain without more research. However, I like to use the philosophy of “when in doubt, assume the worst” so I would suggest you take precautions with anything that uses electrical circuitry so that you know your gear is safe.
LuminAid lights appear to be powered by solar cells. Solar cells are semiconductor diodes and therefore most likely would be destroyed by an EMP.
Do you think that storing all components in a steel shipping container will work as a fareway ?
Probably. As long as the container it sealed with not gaps. On way to test, would be to take a portable radio, turn it on, and walk into the container and close it. If the radio signal gets cut off while you’re in the container, you should be good to go.
Shipping containers do not have a solid metal bottom, and have a questionable door seal, so I would suggest rethinking their use as a Faraday cage.
Thanks for jumping in Gary. I assumed they would work if sealed properly but if the bottom is not solid metal that might be a problem. You could line the inside of the container to improve the seal if you could find enough material to line it with.
There are many companies out that have material that is designed just for this type of problem…
so,uh, me being a quadriplegic (meaning I’m paralyzed from the neck down. And on a breathing respirator that either plugged in or on battery backup, and I die without it) . Why should I be preparing to live after a EMP attack Without a working generator or batteries and someone to take care of me. I’m done for in the next four hours.
Just a thought.
And no matter what I have drilled into her mind over the past 30 years. She still thinks of nothing but unicorns and puppy dogs
Well, seems like you’d be one of the 9 out of 10 Americans as would anyone woth a pacemaker or other internal electronics. It sucks to think about, but at that point, we’d revert back to pure Darwinism with survival of the fittest. Even with all this preparation, most people are going to die. Especially if those people live in a heavily populated area. Furthermore, unless you’re prepared to defend to the death, all these stored electronics will just put a target on your back. The strong will rule again, and the weak will become prey. Just like animals in nature.
Working on building a room in my house with Copper mesh on all walls ceiling and floor all connected together and the door will have a hanging curtain. I am working on a way to cover and ground my solar system with the same mesh to protect it. as you said above as long as any wiring is shielded and grounded an EMP should have little affect on it. I only wish there was a way to protect antennas but really it’s not the antenna I am worried about as it is basic, but the radio that is attached to it may suffer some damage. so I am looking into a few old tube type short wave radios to minimize the issue. To finish off my comment I thank you and people like you that have information out like this to assist people who wish to be prepared.
folks, thank you for shareing your knowledge. QQ. blind man here. totaly since ’06. family is spread out. have health issues. fixed income. any hope for a fella like me and my bf; sparky is my guide dog. great youthful gray male lab..
If i am understanding this, my 1958 chevy truck would be safe from an EMP ?I am also taking a gas engine and a truck alternator, to make a small generator. Something else to consider is a wood gasifier. during WWII , People in Europe used this system to power their vehicles because gas was rationed.
You said anything with a microchip would be destroyed by EMP. Does this include our pets who are chipped?! Please email me the answer!
My guess is that the microchip will fail but your pet will be fine. An EMP won’t cause the microchip to explode, an EMP will just fry the internal electrical connections. So you’ll lose the function of the microchip to track your pet but they shouldn’t be harmed. It’s sort of like a wrist watch, it will likely stop working but it won’t harm you personally.
Can a electical disconnect switch be added to my vehicle’s positive cable wire and simply turned off when not in use to protect its electrical system, and would an emp toast say an aa, or d,cell battery if it’s still in the packaging and not installed in a device???
My understanding is an EMP will damage electrical components and circuits regardless of whether they are turned ON or OFF. If the pulse is large enough, the energy blast will pass through the turned OFF electrical components and will still compromise these wires and components. So I don’t believe that installing an electrical disconnect to your vehicle’s positive cable wire will protect its electrical system from a large EMP blast.
As far as batteries go, they don’t have any electrical components. They are the power for electrical components. They are made of chemicals and metals (no wires) so they won’t be affected by an EMP blast at all.
Dig an outhouse hole the first day and a shelter around it . . . maybe a family camping tent for privacy until a wooden shelter can be made. “Wash your hands before returning to work”, as the public restrooms remind us. Most rivers will soon be contaminated with sewer outflow and industrial waste, so avoid river water. If a neighbor has a well, your portable generator would help a lot of people with their water needs. A little simple rewiring would be necessary. Everyone is forgetting about the second word in EMP. Whenever an electron shower passes by any metal, some amount of magnetic field is generated and only three elements can protect against this huge magnetic damage: iron, nickel and cobalt. A garbage can made of sheet metal may be enough to deflect the magnetic field if the distance is great enough from the pulse, itself, but it maybe not. Iron can become “saturated” with magnetism. The thicker the iron, the better. Point two: Along with the electron shower will be a neutron shower from the atomic blast. Most people won’t even feel it and may not have problems with it for an extended amount of time. However, when metals are in a neutron shower, x-rays are released. Very high energy x-rays are also released and these are called gamma rays. These are very damaging, so steps need to be taken to protect the living from this secondary exposure. Why is no one discussing it?
According to electrical engineers I have spoken with. Smaller items like watches and small radios would survive. An emp will do more damage with larger conductive surfaces like power lines etc… The EMP commission in 2002 tested cars and trucks and concluded 10% of vehicles would permanently undeliverable. The commission applied 50kv per square meter of energy. This is a moot point because gas pumps would not function. A lot of people take the book one second after as gospel,however, it represents a scenario that is on the extreme of the probability scale.
Great article. I keep many survival references on an old original kindle. I chose this over a newer Kindle Fire or a tablet computer because the original Kindle can be used for as long as two weeks between charges and can be charged with a 1 amp charger (better than most newer smart phones. I keep this kindle, multiple chargers (both solar and not (charged and checked monthly)), a Goal Zero solar panel, a pair of high power FRS/GMRS walkies and a Baofeng ham walkie in cardboard insulated ammo cans, within a lockable office file cabinet (the kind with flanges around the drawers). I am expecting this to do the trick. If all else fails, I have paper versions of many manuals and I’ll just have to learn to live without commo gear.
For my post SHTF news, I saw on the internet a gentleman was talking about his little radio, a T508. What’s really neat is this little radio gets AM/FM. It also has a slot for a micro SD card so you can listen to your music. It can be charged with a solar charger and also hooked up to a little speaker for better sound. On Ebay it costs about $11.00. I got a generic which didn’t have a SD card limit, the T508 says the limit is 8 GB. What I have to store my SHTF info is I have several 3 ring binders that I keep the info in protected by document protectors. Hesperian.org has medical information you can copy and paste such as “where there is no doctor”, “where there is no midwife”, and “where there is no dentist” and others. Ebay has medical supplies such as sutures and surgical blades, you might have to look into the “for veterinary use only” labelling to avoid the red tape. Sorry for getting off topic, stay safe everyone.
Excellent information! I have a 10 year old Type 1 Diabetic who wears a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and an Insulin pump. We have extras of this DME equipment. Do you think the galvanized trash can would be acceptable for storing/protecting these? I’ve heard gun safes are also excellent. What are your thoughts?
Thank you,
Peggy
Yes, a completely sealed galvanized trash can will work. The key is to make certain there are absolutely no gaps in the trash can.Add a second layer of foil around the outside or around the inside as necessary to get the complete seal.
You will be basically making a simple faraday cage. Gun safes may work as well, but again the key is for the box, can, shipping container, whatever to be 100% sealed by metal. That way, an EMP wave cannot reach your electronics because it’s sealed inside the metal box.
Actually there’s new wind water systems coming out. They go 6 feet deep and maybe 3-6 ft out. The wind pushes air vapor down into the ground where it condenses and you can pump it out. Up to 11 gallons per day and it’s supposedly only going to cost $170 each
I have a metal building 26 by 30 can it be sealed up and used as a faraday cage
Royal Backes
All cell towers are fried,why would I want to retrieve my cell phone(or actually put it in there to begin with?
It all depends on how confident you are that and EMP will cause total, long-term cell tower loss. In a worst case scenario, you may very well be right. In such a scenario, the cell phone turns into an expensive paperweight regardless of whether it gets fried or not. However, I personally have no idea how bad it will be. Maybe a few cell towers will be repaired in a few months time…
Or maybe the cell towers are fried but you have a backup power system and you can turn on your WiFi. I make them majority of my calls over a WiFi connection nowadays…
Lots to think about. Lots of contingencies to plan for.
could I just use my passport, leave the country, and go somewhere with fresh water until the dust settles?
The planes dont work in USA so you cant.
If an emp fries the after market electronic ignition on one of my 1955 model cars, I could just replace the fried one with another new one, including plug wires.
I hear in a lot of posts,we really(the average person)who builds a Faraday Cage,the jury is still out on it’s effectiveness.Be it from the su or a foreign power,Some scientist’s/physicist’s believe if a foreign power launches one it(possibly)might not do any good.Who really knows.God forbid it happens(not trying to discourage anyone from building one)I just hope mine does work.Even some modern vehicles might still function,even if it’s for a short time.The bottom line(in my opinion)common sense/knowledge and mostly luck will probably play the most important part.
I know I’m coming in way late on this conversation by like two years but I see folks are still giving replies so I’ll make a comment.
EMP will be the last thing to worry about if they start using nukes in any way. Even if the first use was only high altitude pulse attack it would be quickly followed by massive ground strikes that will assure absolute destruction of the northern hemisphere and the end of life as we know it here… I know there are other methods of EMP production but these will be very localized and not a nationwide problem. The only one we really should be concerned with is a solar EMP event that could fry our sensitive devices. Keeping some spare communications and computer gear in a Faraday cage is not a bad idea. Talking about thermonuclear EMP is a moot point since we will be arguing from the ashes of human existence…
That’s assuming the attacking party has the capacity for massive ground strikes. North Korea has the prior but not the former capacity. Unless China gets angry at the U.S. for pre-empting N.Korea, they might only have a couple that would squeek through but not enough to annihilate the entire North American continent.
That rolly-polly dictator in North Korea doesn’t care about his people. And like many dictators in the past that start wars, they have a place, preferably in another country,
to hide.
So…the perfect senario would be to make a deal with China for a hiding place. Then send
an EMP over the U.S. The U.S. will destroy North Koriea but at the same time use all
the armed forces to stop the riots in the U.S.
Eventually the U.S. will go into an economic collapse. And guess who wins? China who
has been storing Gold! And the little crazy rolly-polly dictator will return to his country
to rebuild it with the help of China!
And all he would need is one or two EMPs!
I just purchased a solar panel and components that have emp covers. I am not technically inclined. Please give some suggestions to protect the plugs, connections, etc. to electrical panel, refrigerator,microwave, lights. So that they may work after an emp.
Honestly, that’s the problem. I know of no easy, cheap way to protect all your home’s electrical circuitry and components. You’re best option is to buy a backup of each of them and put them in a large Faraday cage. Or stash spares of the electrical components in a Faraday Cage of everything so you can swap out the fried electrical with the spares…
Either way, a massive EMP that fries all these electrical components would be a nightmare for most.
A nuclear event is far less likely than the one everyone seems to forget about. A CME(coronal mass ejection) massive enough could fry the entire planet. At that point estimates say that 77% of the worlds population would be killed in the first 90 days due to societal break down and lack of resources. Not to mention people who are too dependant on technology. We call that “technological shock” a definition being that people will die from shock of not having technology to use. Always handy to have some preparation in case of this kind of thing. Do not live your life in fear of something like this but rather have a conscious mind that it can happen. It did after all happen in the 1800’s.
Regarding water: Purchase a number of large plastic containers that have lids. I have a number of such, each holding 10 gallons of water. Always boil water you use for cooking, drinking, washing your face or hair or brushing your teeth. A small portable gas-powered camping stove should handle boiling the water.
Regarding food: Purchase dehydrated food that has been nitrogen flushed to preserve the food for years. Chicken and beef would be good protein sources, vegetables too, unless you wanted to stock up on a goodly number of canned vegetables, etc.
All the above will get you by for maybe a couple of months, depending on the quantity you have stored; however, societal breakdown will be a major concern as you weather the storm. Unless you are in a uniquely secluded area, you will be visited by those who will take any food or water you may have, and kill you in the process if necessary. To delay this outcome, firearms would be necessary, but then again, as time passes you may at some point be overwhelmed with those who are hell-bent on taking from you any way they can.
Those lucky individuals living on large, remote tracks of land may survive…especially if they have grouped with others in advance and are prepared.
I’m working on an EMP kit myself, and one thing I didn’t see anyone else suggesting. I took an older laptop (but that happens to have a new battery) and put Xowa on it. What’s Xowa? It takes a little technical know-how but it’s a way to have an entire offline Wikipedia dump including scaled down images. So I’ve got that laptop I will put in my kit along with a charger and a power inverter. Probably some smaller solar panels as well.
Other items I haven’t seen on here that are on my list:
Family radios with plenty of batteries
Wristwatch (simply to tell time)
Shortwave radio
Scanner (the radio kind, not the document/photo kind)
Older iPhone (why? I dunno, have a pile of them at work, might as well)
Hard disk with a copy of important data
So I am sure there will be no city water safe or otherwise .. that being said having a large supply of water goes with out saying … my question is about the sewers .. would they likely BACKUP into your house .. if so I wonder if a manual shut off valve [ like what is used in a RV} would be advantageous to prevent such a complication ??
Every municipality is different when it comes to their specific sewer systems. However, I don’t know of any situations that don’t use gravity to move the liquid/solids through pipes to a sewage treatment plant.
That’s why most sewage treatment plants are located in low lying areas. If the power goes out, gravity still works. So the sewage from homes will still flow to the treatment plant, however, the plant will not have the ability to treat the water.
So the treatment plan has two options.
1) Let the sewage enter the holding tanks and then flood over the tanks. In this case the sewage won’t backup into your home. I believe this is the most likely scenario.
2) Or if the treatment plant decides that it doesn’t want to flood, it likely has a main shut off value entering into the plant. IF they shut this down, then it’s possible for the sewage to backup but it will only backup to the point of least resistance. The point of least resistance will be the the first home (or set of homes) that are closest in elevation to the plant.
So if you’re not the closest home (or homes) in elevation to the sewage plant, you’re probably safe. However, if you are closest or live in an area where there’s little to no elevation changes, then you might consider a adding a main sewage shut off or check valve.
Hope that helps.
how much earth would be required over a inground shelter with a tight steel door to be considered a proper faraday cage. having several generators i need a larger area for storage. also is there any merit to grounding a small cage system such as the trashcan. being a ham and an electronic tech. for many years i have several tube type radios and many extra tubes for each radio. my concern is there may be very few commercial radio stations able to transmit after such an event. for the people with electronic experience i would recommend storing several pm. motors in a cage and assemble a generator system when things cool down. regulator systems would be simple if your parts stock is stored in a safe place. i would suggest people get as many things as they can that will run on 12 volts as mains voltage is harder to produce quickly after a major emp. i don’t think i saw any mention of the use of a micro oven for a cage for small devices. the other wise purchase is some deep cycle batteries if you are planning to try and have any power after such events.
As far as the earth required, it’s hard to say for certain. If you’re going through the trouble of building an underground bunker, why not also put the electronics into a faraday cage as well. Anyways here’s a forum thread where this question was asked with some answers to consider.
well… last night north korea just tested a nucular equipt intercontenantal missile aimed at the US….. so….. possibilities are quickly becomming probabilities.
I have a 30′ by 40′ pole building with metal roof and metal siding. Will this building act as a faraday cage or would I need to need special grounding?
The building would need to be 100% metal sealed. No gaps. Any gaps and you no longer have a faraday cage.
Can you get a good radio signal outside of the building? If so, then take the same radio inside – do you lose the signal? If so, you might very well have yourself a large Faraday cage.
So, what if we just expanded the ‘trash can’ a bit? Wrapping my car in tin-foil seems a bit impossible, but I could still protect it, along with my neighbor’s. In theory, could we use a full-metal shipping container? Most will not have access to one, nor the space on their property, but wouldn’t that work as a supreme EMP/BOB? Just asking? thanx ~ Robert
Yes, the Faraday Cage concept works at larger scales. It’s just harder to ensure you have a 100% metal sealed container. With shipping containers, you need to figure a way to have a 100% metal seal at the door gaps. When it’s closed it needs to be a complete metal box (no cracks, no gaps).
somehow or other this showed up on my facebook page, and as I have been thinking along the lines of surviving some kind of apocolyptic event, I have never heard of this. So I have scrolled through all the posts. This is what I think. Yes, going back to basics, as do the amish. Not a great problem for the older generation, of which I am one. However, and I think about this continually: a) what’s the point? I have moved out of the city, have a few acres, a few miles out of a small rural town At this point I have a few$, so I could invest in all said faraday cages, and solar panels etc. and even make it for a while after the event. Could have another well drilled with a hand pump. Stock up on Kerosene, or diesel for my oil lamps. Already have plans for stock piling dry goods , and freeze dried veggies etc…….but if a bunch of arseholes show up on my land ( and I will be armed) There will only be 2 old ladies here to defend what we have. We would not have a chance. One of my options I have thought about is stock piling a bunch of meds, so when “they”(whomever ‘they’ are) come for my food….just opt out, in a fairly pleasant demise. What is the point of fighting till you’re overcome anyhow?? Choose your exit. I can do without all the mod cons. I have quite a big library (real books) on how to do just about anything. I can do just about anything if I have instructions, but my life is on the downhill run anyhow. I really don’t know if I could shoot anyone, never being in that position so far. Why is it so bad just to opt out if something horrendous like all the things that have been talked about here on all these posts????
Survival in such a scenario will be a major struggle – it’s not for the faint of heart.
As an older person (70) and a Stoic, I see your point. We all have the right to choose when we exit this world.
But you owe it to yourselves to be positive and try to fight as long as you can. As an older person you understand living with only basics. It won’t be easy for anyone.
I’d focus on several things:
1. I wouldn’t put my money into a Faraday cage. People lived 100 years ago fine without electricity. Not as convenient, but they lived. If you have a fireplace, that’ll work great for heating and cooking. Wood stove is better.
2. Do you have family or really good friends who may be younger and live close to you? Get a very small group for your network. I can speak from experience, most people think survivalists are a little strange.
3. In the beginning, it’s all about the water. Drill a well and put in a hand pump. I remember as a little boy using one.
4. If you are older and not comfortable with hunting or fishing, purchase some fish and small game enclosure traps. I have about 15. If the SHTF, I’ll put them out. You don’t have to hunt or make noise shooting. Don’t worry about killing the animal, once hungry, it’ll be easy.
5. I have a lot of freeze dried food, garden seeds, fishing equipment, sleeping bags, fire starters (including magnifying glasses from Walmart for a dollar), first aid kits, water purification devices, and lots of canned goods (don’t worry about expiration dates unless the can is swollen or smells bad when opened. Canned goods can last 10+ years beyond the date on the can if kept in a relatively cool place. And yes, guns and ammo.
6. Don’t be overly concerned with roving gangs taking your stuff. Without transportation, they probably can’t get to you. It’ll be your nice and friendly neighbors you’ll have to be concerned with. Hunger, especially when parents see their children hungry, will make your neighbor your worst enemy. There’s nothing we won’t do for our families. Nothing.
7. The best advice is to get prepared, even a little at a time. Most importantly, if you’re prepared, and something happens, DON’T PANIC. Take a deep breath, collect your thoughts, and follow your plan. Always remember, humanity lived like this since we evolved. Only in the last couple of generations have we been blessed with technology and the so-called good life.
8. I don’t have a bug-out retreat – I have a walkable bug-out location in mind. I figure I can go just about anywhere after a few months. Sadly, the majority of the people will not survive this long.
It has cost me very little to prepare. The peace of mind it has given me has been rewarding in itself. I sleep better.
Good luck.
Does. a EMP effect battery’s.?
The general rule is batteries are not susceptible to an EMP. Batteries are energy storage devices without small electronic components. Commercial batteries store energy via chemicals. But any wires and devices connected to a battery system can be damaged by a large EMP.
I am deaf and wear Cochlear implants to hear. Will an EMP fry my brain or just the electronics? Is there a device I could put on my head to protect my internal components( which includes a magnet)?
This one is out of my area of expertise so I’ll refer you to a forum post on this topic for further information http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=364197
So, let’s talk about a plan for how to get to your kids if it occurs when they are not at the house. My fears are all about wanting to get to them. How do you prepare for the first 2 hours? I imagined my kids being at their dad’s house 20 miles away and me walking there. Is that feasible? I live in DFW so it is all city miles between us. This is what keeps me up at night.
We discuss Family Rally Plans in this post: When SHTF And You’re Away From Family At Work.
I put handheld GMRS radios, I double wrapped in aluminum foil, in my two kids school backpacks for this purpose. Along with instructing them how to use them, which GMRS channel we should talk and listen on, and under which circumstances they should ignore the school authorities instructions about staying at the school and instead walk home. I tested the alum foil wrapping to determine attenuation and estimated I got 50 dB of attenuation. This is at the 462 Mhz frequency of gmrs radios, but I believe that it is a good indicator of overall EMP protection. GMRS is basically limited to line of site because of the frequency range, and I get no more than a half mile range from our handheld radios. Perfect, no! A plan, yes.
Can someone also speak to water in swimming pools? Assuming your neighbors didn’t kill you first, could you keep chemicals around to keep the water drinkable? If you took water out of the pool the day it happened and filled up every container you had, would the water be ok 3 weeks later?
Check out our post on Water Storage – 9 Best Water Storage Solutions and Mistakes To Avoid
Ali, it is not so bad to opt out. I won’t because of my daughter. I am much more concerned about people hurting us than surviving without power. I can figure that out. The question is how to find a local community? I want to be prepared, have useful skills, but don’t really trust that we’ll find the right group. 20 minutes by car turns into a day walking. So there goes our plans. Any ideas?
Here’s our post on finding and building a survival coalition – Survival Coalition: Who Can You REALLY Trust When SHTF
We have enough water and food for 2 or 3 months, but how much water and food might we really need? We live in CA with no natural water sources around.
Is the government have any plans to protect our grids from an EMP attack?
2 or 3 months of food and water will cover you for all but the worst-case disasters. So it comes down to how likely you think a worst-case disaster is…
If you think it’s likely, then you should continue to stockpile more, if not, then you’re good – its a personal decision.
And if you think we’re headed to an “end of the world” lawless society you might want to learn some self-reliance skills like growing your own food, seed saving, rainwater harvesting, etc., etc.
I highly doubt the government has any formal plans to protect our grids from EMP and there’s too much grid to protect anyways. Plus, there’s no way to protect the grid, it’s out in the open, it’s powerlines and substations. If an EMP blast is large enough, much of the grid is a sitting duck.
I have a question maybe somebody can answer can you use those popcorn tin cans I don’t know if they are tin or not but those big cans that are metal or maybe aluminum I’m not sure can you use those to store your devices to keep them safe.
I can’t see why one of those large popcorn tins wouldn’t work if you set it up correctly. It’s a metal enclosure with a tight lid.
You still need to line it with cardboard tho. You can’t have your electronics touching any of the Faraday cage metal. If it does, the EMP will travel through your electronics and not around them. Cardboard is the easiest item to use to create the insulation barrier between the metal can and your electronics.
If everyone wants a good scenario on what happens after an EMP attack, pick up a copy of “One Second After”. I’m not a big book reader, but I can’t put it down. I’m only through the first 5 days and life as we know it has morphed into chaos!!!
Thanks for this site! I has great ideas!
I have read all 3 of the books in that series. All 3 are amazing. There was only one thing I didn’t see when reading them and that is, with the stream in town, why did no one do any fishing? Be sure to read “One Year After” and “The Final Day” when you finish One Second After. You won’t be disappointed. I THINK THEY SHOULD MAKE A MOVIE OUT OF THESE BOOKS BECAUSE IF PEOPLE SAW IT, THEY WOULD BE MORE INCLINED TO PREPARE THEMSELVES. Enjoy! Rena
Lol, as I was reading your post, it dawned on me that I HAVE THAT BOOK! I had ordered it and never read it. I am going to read it now.
Another problem is your household wiring will become a massive antenna and will start your house on fire. You should have fire extinguishers ready. Utility pole transformers and substation transformers will explode from excessive overload currents. also breaking out fires. Many people are driving shallow well points for water with a hand pump. It is also noted cars with points and condensers will work. You also may want a stick shift so you can pop the clutch to start the car. I’m not sure what effect and EMP will have on lead acid storage batteries.
According to Sol ark testing, unconnected solar panels should survive.
Silly question maybe.. we live in the burbs… little money but have some things ready… should i put up boards on my windows first thing while i wait for my husband to gt here… after water of course… sounds dumb but is it better to look like we are gone.. boarded up or will that look like we are “fortified”…
There is a way to protect electronic devices plugged into you electrical panel from an EMP strike with a whole house EMP Shield. This product has been tested to military specification. Lots of information on EMP strikes also. http://www.myempshield.com/
would a 1983 bronco with a 302 longblock survive a emp attack?