The threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) strike on this country is a very well documented one, I have written about the threat in the past and have used information from the EMP Commission report which was published in 2004 in several of my articles. Most recently I read an article published over on the Economic Collapse Blog which sums up nicely what impact an EMP strike would have on our country.
An electromagnetic pulse can range from a minor inconvenience to a civilization-killing event. It just depends on how powerful it is. But in the worst case scenario, we could be facing a situation where our electrical grids have been fried, there is no heat for our homes, our computers don’t work, the Internet does not work, our cell phones do not work, there are no more banking records, nobody can use credit cards anymore, hospitals are unable to function, nobody can pump gas, and supermarkets cannot operate because there is no power and no refrigeration. Basically, we would witness the complete and total collapse of the economy.
So what actions should you take immediately following an EMP strike? Remember that time will be critical, the first few hours (days at most) will enable you to get a jump on everyone else and set the stage for your success. You will immediately know that an EMP, be it from a nuclear weapon or massive solar flare, will have struck your area. Your car will no longer work, your cell phone won’t work, the power will be out everywhere, planes will have fallen from the sky. You will know it was an EMP but the vast majority of the public will not, they will be quite literally sitting around waiting for someone to tell them what to do. You won’t know how large the scope of the strike is but you will have to assume the worst, which would be a nationwide outage.
First things first, if you are at work, get home. Your boss no longer has authority over you, your co-workers no longer are a priority. They will be trying to restart a computer that will never again work, trying to restart their smartphone, sitting in the break room trying to call 911 and saying things like: “This is ridiculous, I’m going to miss my 3pm sales call!” You on the other hand will go to you car and change into the extra set of clothes and shoes you keep in the trunk. You will don your “get home bag” and start walking, hopefully your walk will not take more than a day.
Once home it is time to start implementing your plan. Remember time is absolutely critical and you only have a small window of it in order to set yourself up for success. During these initial hours and days people will still have faith that some sort of government agency will come in to make everything better. They will expect to see the power come back on any minute because someone will surely do something. They will tell each other to sit tight, just hold on for a day or so because eventually the HMMWV’s will roll in loaded with supplies and some military officer or government official will explain that this is merely a temporary problem, nothing to worry about, sorry for the inconvenience. You know better because you realize just how devastating an EMP strike is and the reality is that it could be months before systems start to come back online. It will only take a week or two (at most) before things start getting really ugly because people start going hungry. With all of that that in mind you take these 7 actions because you were prepared for this to happen.
1- Use your cash. In the first few days after an EMP strike cash will still have value. Take all of your cash and that radio flyer wagon your kids have and walk down to the corner store. Avoid the big retail stores, I suggest finding the corner gas station or local drug store. The owner of the store will no doubt be there, concerned that the items in the store are unprotected during a power outage. Explain to the owner that you are in need of some supplies, can pay cash and do not require change. Tell him/her that you will give them an extra $100 to allow you to “shop” for a few minutes. Load up your wagon with anything you can find to include medication, candy bars, water bottles, pop tarts, lighters, hand sanitizer etc etc. Of course you should be well stocked at home but you might as well get rid of your worthless paper money in exchange for any amount of extra supplies you can get your hands on. In a week (maybe less) most stores will be completely looted so you need to take advantage of this moment.
2- Fill up the tub(s) with water. Hopefully you have a water bob for each bath tub in your home in addition to several other water storage devices and water purification/filtration devices. Remember a down grid means that fresh water will stop flowing to your home very quickly. Fill up your tub as soon as you can, that extra hundred or so gallons could prove invaluable. If you are concerned about the quality of the water remember you can add 8 drops of regular Clorox bleach per gallon to help purify what you have in the tub.
3- Talk to your neighbors. This step is absolutely critical, you have to get out and talk to your close neighbors and explain to them what is going on. They will be in denial for the most part, hopefully you have copies of the EMP report printed off which you can distribute as you go door to door. Explain to them what is going on and that time is critical, let them know a worst case scenario means that there will be no help coming for quite a long time. Additionally mention the following to them.
a. Discuss a neighborhood watch. Tell them that in a few days or weeks things will get dangerous with hungry people roaming the streets. It is essential that you define your neighborhood’s boundaries and set up a neighborhood watch of sorts, assigning people to different shifts.
b. Offer to hold a meeting. Set a time that you will have a meeting at your home, say every day after sunrise in your garage. Tell them they are invited and that every day you will be there passing out information. At first you might not have anyone attend these meetings, in a few days there will be a handful and in a week you might have 50 or more hungry, scared, tired people demanding answers. If you are going to assume the role of a leader, be prepared to do just that.
c. Tell them to use their cash. Much like you should have already done, tell them that their cash will soon be worthless and that they need to get down to the market to spend it. Most people have no cash on hand, so this probably won’t be a real issue.
d. Tell them to inventory their supplies. Most people have 3 to 5 days food on hand in their home. You should mention that they need to start rationing what they have, and taking inventory of everything else.
e. Start identifying those with skills. I wrote about how to organize a survival community as well as what skills will be valuable after T-SHTF in a few recent articles While making the rounds in your neighborhood you should start identifying who has special skills and make note of it. Cops or military personnel could help with security, Doctors have obvious value, and so on and so forth.
4- Start rationing food. Hopefully you have at least a 1 year supply of food for your family, if not more. Start rationing immediately because more than likely you will have to share some of your food with your neighbors. It will be unavoidable, you will need their help to survive as a community and there is absolutely no way that they will starve while watching you and your family live high on the hog. This doesn’t mean that you cannot oversee how some rations are distributed, or seek out other sources of food, but just remember nobody gets through SHTF alone.
5- Hygiene preparations. Consider where you are going to dispose of your human waste, it might be a good time to start digging that pit. Also consider where you will dispose of your trash and if you will bury it or burn it. Remember the trash man won’t be around next Sunday and your toilets will stop flushing very quickly.
6- Listen to your weather radio. Prior to the EMP strike you had a small solar/hand crank weather radio secured in an old microwave in the basement, it still works. You should monitor NOAA Weather Radio frequencies throughout the day in case there is information being published which you can use to stay informed. Maybe the strike only covered 500 square miles and help will be on the way in a week, or maybe there is nothing but static…not a good sign.
7- Consider your own security plan. Despite all of the actions you are taking, trying to help those within your community by reaching out to organize them, realize that not everything goes to plan. There could be dissenters within your neighborhood or those outside of your community who might choose to take advantage of the situation. Looting will become prevalent very quickly and no neighborhood will be immune. Consider your security plan, this is no time to rely on the charity and goodness of mankind. Remain suspicious of all activity and never walk around unarmed. Never allow your family members to venture out alone and remember to stay in after dark. All of that said I would caution against using deadly force unless absolutely necessary. Protect yourself and your family but remember that there will come a time when the power does come back on and people will be held accountable for their actions.
An EMP strike on our nation will be an absolutely catastrophic event and while I’m sure all of us hope that something like this never happens, hope is never a course of action. Despite our best efforts to prepare for such an event there is a good chance that many will not survive. Some have predicted that within a year of a strike, 9 out of 10 Americans would be dead. In sports success or failure on the field of play is determined months before the actual game by how much dedication the athletes displayed during practice. In much the same way success or failure following an EMP strike will have been determined by how seriously we took our prep strategy in the months or years prior, as well as actions which we take immediately after. Life isn’t fair, plan accordingly.
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PJ,
An EMP is one of my greatest concerns too, so I ran off a copy of the article you wrote and placed it in the emergency manual kit. Since I will probably be at work if this occurs I have been making plans for the family to handle things until I get home. The electronics are in a faraday cage and my oldest son and wife are capable of what to do until I come home. Your priority list will surely help them get their minds right.
If an EMP does occur I hope my family and I are skilled, and wise enough to be part of the survivors. Better yet I hope we never have to find out and we don’t have an EMP.
CM
Author
CM
Agree 100%, I hope it never happens but we still have to be prepared. Thanks for the comment.
PJ
I am considering making my own faraday cage out of the tin shed. It has a cement floor and i was going to put a wire cage down then cover walls, floors and ceiling with layers of cardboard, aluminum alfoil, and plastic wrap taped inbetween together about 3 or 4 layers…then put electrics and batteries, gas suits and my moped stored in there.
You think that will work?
Hello PJ,
Good article, The EMP issue can never be brought up too many times. I would like to add just one thing (although several come to mind). You can never have too much water. You can eat grass as a last resort but there is no substitute for water. In your scenario, you have a few days to react. Lets hope this is true. In the time that would be available water would be at the top of the list. I just increased my water storage capability (not stored water) by 140 gallons for about $30.00 and I am going to do it again this week. This is in addition to what I can put in the tub. Here it is:
http://beforeitsnews.com/self-sufficiency/2013/01/expandable-emergency-water-storage-2450866.html
I just hope there will be some running water for a day. If not I will be going for a little walk with a shopping cart.
Lux
Author
Lux,
I completely agree that water is a top priority, you can never have too much water in storage. Thanks for the link as well.
PJ
I read many Prepper articles each day and this actually is a very good read. I have many items in my faraday cage which I made from metal filing cabinets and grounded them. The only items that aren’t protected are my generator and deep cycle batteries.
I like your idea of taking cash to a gas station or local drug store. I have cash at hand and my plan calls for my wife to go to the drug store and get medications, My adult children go to the food store and we all get gas for our cars.
My younger daughter fills bath tubs and our water containers and I do everything else. LOL
I have water stored but also have water filters that I use when backpacking. I have a neighbor with a pool and one with a pond.
I also like your advice to talk with the neighbors, most will be unprepared and scared to death.
Thank you for the article and Happy New Year!
Author
DD,
Happy New Year to you as well! Sounds like you have a great plan in place already and many of your tasks delegated out which will help save time. I wouldn’t burn any bridges with your neighbor who owns the pool/pond, they will be a valuable companion if T-SHTF. I’m also glad to see you also have the faraday cage sorted, that is a huge bonus.
Thanks for the comment.
PJ
Don’t worry about protecting your battery itself. It’s pretty much immune to EMP because it doesn’t have enough cross-sectional area to have the pulse induce any current. The problem would be the wires connected to it. Keep your wires short and shielded whenever possible.
But cars won’t work, unless you have an older vehicle.
Great article especially your advice to spend cash on hand and go to the small stores. With all the big box stores using upc scanned codes for pricing, with no power you can’t get things very easily. Mom & Pop still put a price tag on individual items. STOCK UP
Author
In the initial days, cash will be king. Very quickly people will come to realize that paper money is worthless, so you gotta spend quick and spend it all!
PJ
Sanitation in a subdivision is a bigger issue than one person. It’s unlikely that most of the neighbors will dig the pit and start using it. Most will likely pour the sewage down a storm sewer: out of sight, out of mind. Multiply the problem by the number of houses in your subdivision, and you probably have a major problem. If the temperature is moderate, flies will find it almost immediately. Serious disease is not far behind. Remember: before WWII, more soldiers died of fly-born diseases than from battlefield wounds. Even then, there are examples of breakdowns in sanitation protocols that were disastrous.
http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/PM4/Ch17-1.htm
The only real solution is to get out of the neighborhood. Military testing of EMP showed that automobiles are more immune (not immune, but more immune) than power delivery infrastructure. The closer the object is to the ground, the more likely it is to survive. Cars are not complete faraday cages,but the metal bodies provide some protection, apparently. There is a chance that your automobile will survive.
The most likely problem from an EMP will be with the car’s computer. Consider getting an older car. Even early models that have a single computer are good candidates. Buy computers and fuses for the car and learn how to replace them. Store the computers and fuses in a protected location, like an ammo can. Store gasoline and keep the tanks full. And try your regular car first. There is a good chance it will still work.
If anything, thinking through solutions to these scenarios emphasize the importance of building a prepping community that will identify needed skills, a BOL, and have the commitment to follow through. You need a place to go, you need people with skills that are dedicated to staying alive.
The only really decent Doomsday Prepper episode (IMHO) made a good point. The prepper stated that you need people. He said that he met groups that say “we have a doctor, we have an electrician, etc. Those are jobs. You need people.”
Amen.
Author
Prepdog,
Great suggestions, getting out would be optimal in some cases. Getting out to a predetermined BOL and linking up with a prepper community would be a best case scenario but unfortunately many will not have the capacity to do so. Like you mentioned hygiene (or the lack thereof) will be a huge issue which will have to be confronted early on or it will wreak havoc in the community. Thanks for the comment.
I would like to stress that an old microwave is NOT a valid EMP container. Microwaves and EMP’s do not operate on the same wave lengths and as a result a microwave will do nothing to stop the damage.
You have to have a completely sealed, metal container. Ammo cans, trash cans, paint cans, those big popcorn tins you get at the holidays, your gun safes provided they don’t have a whole for a dehumidifier, these are all valid EMP proof containers. If you’re not 100% sure of the seal on the lid then go by some aluminum ducting tape (not Duct Tape!) and seal the edges with it.
Also if the EMP regardless of source may be followed up by additional EMP’s, the sun doesn’t care about your preperations and following up with one nuclear based EMP a couple of days later to take care of all the things that people get out of their faraday cages, to catch all the vehicles that may have been missed the first time because they were sheltered in parking garages or in government bunkers etc after the first one would be a most excellent way to truly screw a country over.
Author
Good point, a microwave is probably inferior to a dedicated faraday cage. However I am still of the belief that a microwave oven would be able to provide some sort of protection, depending on the construction of the appliance of course. Ammo cans are a great idea too, very cheap and it’s easy to store small electronics inside of them.
PJ
I have looked at this for quite a while and it seems that one of the better solutions is the venerable old galvanized trash can(s) with a tight fitting top. There are you-tube videos out there to show you how to insulate the inside. You can test it by placing a “receiving” transistor radio in the can and putting on the can lid. If you can still hear the radio playing, it isn’t sealed. You could try finding a better fitting can lid, or possibly using steel wool as a seal between the lid and can to create a tight fit. FWIW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfsjRftm9Co
Author
Thanks for the tip and the vid link. Those old trash cans are relatively easy to come by and cheap, and if SHTF never happens they can always be used for backyard wresting moves 🙂
Thanks again.
OK Preppers: I tend to agree with you about the microwave not being a faraday cage. I put a radio inside a microwave and it still played when the door was shut. I also put my phone inside and called it and it rang. I have done alot of reading and I think that the best way to protect yourself is a metal container that is insulated and grounded.
The grounding is still a hotly-debated topic in engineering circles due to the grounding wire introducing a current path that wouldn’t have existed. The safest bet until the debate is settled is to nest your electronics in a cage inside of another cage with a good insulator between and then ground the outside one. I’m still torn on the grounding until I can run the calculations myself though.
The microwave won’t be a perfect faraday cage but it’s convenient and usually available, and will provide some measure of protection. The problem is that your electronics have to be inside. It would be easier to just wrap them in an insulator and then aluminum foil. The foil may not be able to hold up to a large burst but most RF would crawl on the skin right around it. And it’s super convenient.
Hey, safety tip, get a new microwave. Not that big of a deal but a ‘leaky(?)’ microwave is kind of bad when it comes to radiation. Also a question. Why won’t cars work. Will a 1999 rav be old enough. And will an atv work after he blast. Also hypothetically if I could find a way to charge my cell phone would I be able to revive it?
A quick question would be if a gun safe, or any safe, is locked and has an electronic push button key pad will if be able to be opened after an EMP or are the electronics fried?
I especially like that you talked about organizing neighbors. So many times people think prepping is hunkering behind sand bags with your assault rifle and shooting zombies.
I guess what you spend your extra cash on depends on your preps already established. The items on my last minute list are consumables that i already have stock in but will never go to waste or can be used for barter.
1. Toilet paper
2. Kotex
3. OTC medications
4. Dog food
5. Propane cylinders (hopefully the 20 pounders in the swap bins outside)
6. Soap of any kind.
7. Lye
8. Canning jars and lids
9. Pectin, pickling salts, etc
10. Batteries
I have a emp proof vehicle (old truck) so I may have an edge on how much I can haul. I have 1 small grocer about 5 miles on either side of me and know where these items are in those stores. Bring a flashlight.
Author
DH
I am jealous of your EMP proof vehicle, you definitely have the advantage there! Your #1 item is often overlooked and under-prepped. If you don’t have quite a bit of TP, I suggest stocking up on phone books.
PJ
Another prepper here just turned me onto an idea. I used to think having extra toilet paper would be HUGE but its not cheap to say the least. He said why not use a 10$ small 1 gallon hose end sprayer as a “BEDAY” not sure of spelling to spray your A$$ with. To me that would be much more economical on a large scale as you can twist the wand around.
I would also suggest learning to grow things and saving seeds. Its amazing how hard farming is and most people think they can just go out throw some seeds in the ground and then can the fresh produce.
Hope that helps a little bit. Security will be paramount I think…what good is having stuff if people come in and take it? I have metal bars on all my windows, thick brick walls, and steel doors 🙂 I am in the process of building a cinder block faraday hidden pantry storm shelter inside the house.
That truck or auto that runs will be like having a big target on your back if you are out tooling around. I would say don’t use it if you don’t have to. But after a time of months to a year it will be very valuable indeed.
You do know that the earth actually absorbs a good bit of EMP, as well as concrete, so if your vehicles are inside of a huge mall garage, on the lowest floor, even below ground, then it has a huge chance of surviving.
You can also do that at your own home, just dig and fill it up with clay or something, roll it in, and the chance your vehicle will survive has increased by 20-30%!
I use Montana rancher most of the time
This is true about going shopping. After Katrina me and mother in law went shoping at a local gas station. It was flooded and there was quite a line, but we were able to get supplies that were gone by the end of the day. Alcohol, gas and cigarettes were the first to go and I was happy to pay double price for those items. It can be dangerous on outings so they should be done immediately. As always, cash is king in any situation. Good write
Author
Jennifer,
Thanks for the first hand account and validation of my theory. It’s interesting that water would not be on that list of items which were first to go, especially in a situation where flood waters would taint the local supply. Thanks again for the comment.
PJ
Another thing to think about is to make a good communication plan for your family that doesn’t involve electronics. There are many ways to do that but you have to set things up beforehand and try them out.
Author
I agree, redundancy is key and if there simply are no electronics one still needs to be able to communicate. Thanks for the comment.
One of the items in everyone’s cage should be a 40 channel handheld CB radio with 110v and 12v power adapters. Portable, local access and battery powered. The bands cant be closed or seized by the government. It may be the only way to communicate other than a high-priced HAM rig. Also, Coleman makes a hand-crank lantern with FM radio and a USB port to hand-crank charge a cellphone. StormBeam™ Dynamo Deluxe Crank Lantern with Chargers (4346-707)
Very good article, I several old microwave’s in my basement with thumb drives and CD’s store in them
Author
While I agree with other sentiments that the microwave is not the best storage device, it sure beats nothing if in the basement and sealed up tight.
How about this to protect you electronics:
https://www.prepper-resources.com/how-to-stylish-two-drawer-faraday-cage/
I don’t know for a fact if this is true or not but in theory a car could act like a capaciter and store a charge from the EMP blast. I would hate to reach for the door handle and have it discharge through you and kill you. Want to bet your life on it. Just saying till we know for sure I plan to discharge my car before I touch it.
An old style TV will hold enough charge to kill you even after being turned off for a month.
Author
Interesting thoughts, I guess we won’t know until the time comes. Thanks for the comment!
how do U discharge a car?
It’s expensive but, a 4ft. 8ft. 1/16 in. lead sheet will protect your electronics and even your brain should it need be. An EMP strong enough can also fry a humans brain and you can stand there afterwords as dumb as a stick weed.
Thanks but, the main thing should be to protect your body because, an EMP can effect the human nerve system including your brain, I would hope that people would think smart about a lead shield of some sort. Lead sheets can be bought from supplyers from almost any thickness.
In a couple of months from now, there will be a asteroid going to hit the surface of the sun. this “might” cause a cosmic solar flare from the sun. if that comes to earth, it might wipe out half or more of the worlds technology. so its good to be prepared now before it might happen. if electricity goes out the government wont be able to communicate or respond same as state officials. even if they can, it would be on a vary small scale and that would be to contain the people “not help the people, but to control them” (3 bullets vs to 100 pounds of supply’s per person. which would be easier for the government??) don’t count on the government or trust them!!
Author
John,
thanks for the info and indeed the fallout would be catastrophic. Do you have any more information on this event?
You bunch of diluted psychopath fools!! As if there would ever be a EMP blast, you have been watching too much syfy! Better be careful the zombie apocalypse is just around the corner! MORONS!! I am so sick of you doomsday nut jobs screaming the sky is falling like chicken little and of course nothing happens. One reason why I quit listening to Glenn Beck and his over sensationalized ideology of constant gloom and doom. GET A LIFE PEOPLE!! I bet all you dooms day monkeys thought the world was ending when the year 2000 hit and stocked up on a bunch of bull crap like the dumb morons you are! I am sick of people scaring everyone to death with talks of FEMA camps and world economic collapse, which wasn’t that supposed to happen like six months ago? Find better uses with your time and money. IDIOTS!! Oh no lets hide in a bunker, the world is ending! the world is ending! the world is ending! NOT!!
Author
I’m going to reply to this comment for the benefit of others who might come along and read this exchange, as I’m quite sure the original author probably won’t be back to continue the dialogue. I really can’t offer a concrete statement or paragraph to counter everything mentioned, I would only wonder why Aaron seems to be so disgruntled at what everyone else does with their time and money? If the end of society as we know it never happens, if the markets don’t crash, if in 50 years our world is more prosperous than ever before and I pass away with tons of extra supplies in my basement: life is good.
What Aaron fails to understand is that there is a wide spectrum of those in the prepper/survivalist community. There are those who think martial law and 1984 are right around the corner, and there are those on the other end of the scale who have 2 extra cans of beans and a pistol which they never fire “just in case.” Should we be discussing and preparing for a potential EMP strike (or solar flare which will act like an EMP strike)? Why not? Unless Aaron can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt it is scientifically impossible and that we have no enemies who could pull it off…I’ll continue to prepare.
He mentions “getting a life.” I think most of us do have quite fulfilling lives, ones that we have chosen to incorporate prepping into. I don’t stay up at night polishing my tin foil hat, but neither do I have my head firmly planted in the sand believing everything is ok and if something should happen “the gubmint will take care of us.”
Appreciate the comment, always good for a chuckle. 🙂
LMAO. Been called a lot of things in my life but “psychopath” and “Glenn Beck listener” hasn’t been among them, until now… I suppose it is typical, most attack what they do not understand out of frustration.
Aaron suffers from what has been termed “Normalcy Syndrome”. It is the attitude that Frank Zappa wrote about in the song “It can’t happen here”… the nearly religious belief that everything will always be the way it has been. Unfortunately, history ALWAYS gives us a different lesson, and civilizations collapse when Normalcy Syndrome deludes peoples into believing that their lives will never be affected for the worse, and so they are caught unawares by catastrophe, whether it be Ash from Mt. Vesuvius, or locust swarms, or invasions by barbarians, or Dust Bowls, or Great Depressions, or Civil Wars, or the “Final Solution” of the Third Reich, or most recently, the collapse of the World Trade Center by a few jihadist pilots. After all, EMP preparation is just specialized Catastrophe Preparation. It is usually an event that occurs every 30 years or so… but you will never know what Catastrophe is coming our way or when… how many people anticipated the jihadist attack? I will bet this… Aaron will be one of the first to attack and hope to steal a prepper’s goods in the belief that the prepper should not be allowed to hoard what he has stored.
One more thing…Normalcy Syndrome was epidemic among the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.. it is a great study. They believed, at every development, that it would be temporary and things would return to “normal”…They held on to Normalcy Syndrome all the way to the gas chambers.
Author
Alan,
Great points, thanks for sharing. First I’ve heard of “normalcy syndrome.”
@ Aaron its deluded not “diluted” learn to spell before ranting on at others.
Furthermore peoples opinions are theirs to have, not for you to judge and seeing as your on here reading information you apparently despise just to ridicule others would suggest your the one needing to get a life
Dear Aaron,
An EMP is a legitimate concern. An EMP doesn’t always imply a weapon such as a nuclear bomb or ICBM, but rather an ElectroMagnetic Pulse. In other words, if the sun spits out a big enough storm that hits the Earth, it literally has the potential to fry any exposed electronics.
Ever hear of a blackout? Typically, a blackout happens because of an EMP! Unless your power grid has failed from human error, any and all damages to that grid come from nothing other than an electromagnetic pulse. As defined, an electromagnetic pulse is the oversaturation of an environment with electromagnetic radiation.
Stop calling people “diluted” (which means that a substance in a mixture has been lessened in percentage – you meant deluded probably) psychopaths and begin learning why people who are reading and posting are even talking at all.
Also, I think that the chances for this are SO MUCH higher than a zombie apocalypse. Not just because a zombie apocalypse is almost a nil value, but because EMP events have happened in the past. Many times. Google “blackouts due to solar storms”. The EMP “weapon” that most people fear is the Sun. It’s just that we’ve never had a solar storm big enough to destroy a large portion of electronics.
You may think “if it hasn’t happened yet it isn’t going to happen”. Microcircuits, microprocessors, and “complex circuitry” haven’t even been around for a century, just barely more than a half of a century. The sun rolls in 11 (or 22, depending on how you look at it) year cycles in which solar activity spikes and declines. If the sun’s magneto sphere twists up and the magnetic bands /just so happen/ to snap right in our direction at the peak of a solar cycle, we’re probably fucked. Every blackout we had from the sun wasn’t a DIRECT blast of ionized particles, but more of an indirect blast.
Tl;Dr
Please, please don’t jinx humanity
Aaron your a complete idiot!!!!! and when the EMP does happen at some point I’m going to have you on my BBQ grill, cause stupid ignorant people like yourself will of coarse be the first to DIE because of your IGNORANCE!!
There is nothing wrong with having a few extra supplies put back, I have guns and ammo, I hunt, I fish, I hate the liberal left and I think Obama is a joke along with the rest of his cronies out to destroy this country! What I am sick of is this constant conspiratorial B.S. from lunatics constantly screaming the world is ending like back in 2000. A year ago all that was heard was the the economy was going to crash in april 2013, we will be like Greece, so be ready! BULL!! Nothing! All this hype for nothing, you blow a bunch of money on MRE’s thinking something bad is going to happen and then you are out all that money for nothing. People in constant fear because of you conspiracy freaks and it is pathetic! Martial law and the ramblings of a book 1984 is going to happen, really?! C’mon!! I know many of the people are like sheep, but I think for the most part people of this nation would never stand for such things. Oh and trust me, I can survive great on my own, I don’t need to come to your pathetic little bunker to try and take your crap food! I am sure you morons think zombies are real too!LOL! Blah! Blah! Blah! Get over it already, nothing is going to happen, hey if you want to blow your hard earned money on crap for an imaginary even that will never happen thinking life is like the movies, knock yourself out! I am going concentrate on the business of living, not living in fear!
So… go forth and prosper then. Happy trails, best wishes, peace be with you, etc, etc…
Author
I would take more time to reply, but I need to finish stocking my bunker with MRE’s!
Author
Here you go Aaron, enjoy!
http://washingtonexaminer.com/massive-solar-flare-narrowly-misses-earth-emp-disaster-barely-avoided/article/2533727
Aaron Good Morning. Let me see if I can provide some input. First I am a retired fire captain,and worked helping save lives and families in all kinds of disasters. We live in a very balanced society in the USA MANY things we take for granted and in our souls we have thankfulness. . Today people on the planet face dangers that were not thought about 50 years ago.
Back when I was a child it was DUCK AND COVER in school halls in case NUCLEAR BOMBS would hit as a child in the third grade I thought What happened if it did happen no more families and I felt so sad cause we could have lost everything we know of. . Many cities had underground Civil Defense systems and shelters setup for people which are still in use today. Today we have terrorists that want to kill every person that have different beliefs and will die trying to wipe out countries. We have no idea what these nut jobs will do, But I do know if no one is prepared they die from disease,starvation,medical problems,and other things that could happen. There are millions of ways things could happen.
As to the people prepping and helping others, All are basically awareness and ways to keep on going if things fall apart. Crooks Robbing people Dis honesty will rein after some type of event,and everything people talk about are good things to know and to have HOPE. See you camp fish have guns, you might have to use them in life to live and save your self. I wish no harm to come to you and we as humans can go on and make every day better for others. You have skills which MANY do not know how to use cause they never had the chance in life to do your a super hero,use your knowledge to help other people like I do mine. The overall world is a very unstable place with the things going on today and feel that people helping others,is mans best destiny. I have done things here in case of the things that could happen as well as others. But to downgrade people as to what they think is not right. Use what we know to help others to prepare in life thanks for reading and give people tips about the things you are good at Mark
Damn Bub…why your panties in a WAD? There’s a BIG diff between being “afraid” and being “prepared.” Better to be prepared for ANYTHING. So if you are such a “badass” then good for you; you will be fine just like the rest of that are “prepared”….keep your dickheaded-ness to yourself.
Aaron, why the heck are you reading articles on a website called “Prepper-Resources.com” ? why are you even here wasting 15 minutes of your time commenting? If you don’t believe this is a real threat, its only because you’ve never looked into it or read up on the subject… and that’s fine. Go enjoy your flatscreen and Xbox and stop trolling websites that you completely disagree with. I’m truly perplexed at you… That would be like me going to a steam tractor website and telling them how stupid and old-fashioned their tractors are and telling them they should buy a John Deere… Why are you here, haha.
Guys, as you know there will always be smartasses like Aaron who refuse to consider that tomorrow may not be like today. I’d suggest that he read my piece on Pesky Truth titled “Forecast: Millions Dead Within a Year.” It is just information gathered from articles and blogs (including this one) that I’ve verified and researched and believe the info to be accurate. Mainly, it just brings together the kind of data that each of you would find if you did your own research and summarized it into a single location. The post(s) (four parts) covers solar and nuclear EMPs and comments from professional sources and covers those who would do us harm (like North Korea and Iran). I just don’t believe that anyone who reads all of that information can take the stance that Aaron has taken – he just hasn’t done any research.
Author
Garnet, thanks for sharing. Here is the link to the article you mentioned for anyone who needs it. Again we must consider these threats as plausible and take appropriate action. Does that mean hiding in a bunker daily? Of course not, but you don’t need to do that in order to be prepared.
I always laughed at my father who was a product of the Great Depression. His pantry was one to be envious of. I told him all my life that there wasn’t going to be another Depression. Now, 7 years after he is gone….I laugh at myself in the mirror. The world is such a pleasant place to be right now. Honey dripped grilled peaches with ice cream melting over them….Monopoly money being used to pump $85 billion a month into our economy. 100 million on some sort of gummit subsidy. Amerika can’t pay its own bills without borrowing funds from the Red Army. Bout to have another 15 million Dream Act democratic voters that will require assistance. Even if only 10% of Muslims hate us and want our destruction – that’s about 100 million…we’ve been battling these idiots a lot longer than since 2001. We’ve set up little Mogadishu’s with imported Somalis all over the US. We still allow questionable characters to attend flight school. We approved the funding for a border fence – aint done yet. China just purchased our largest pork producer along with other infrastructure projects. They will eventually have a middle class that is 300-500 million strong (wonder who will have priority in bacon?) The Fed will eventually stop printing $$, interest rates will rise along with gas and food prices and there will be an awakening of sort with reality. So, its fairly simple to acquire 1 years worth of beans, rice, flour…store some water, have some bulk supplies of all kinds on hand just in case. If you think this path we’re on is sustainable, then by all means don’t prepare. If you are a husband and father who is responsible for the well being of your family and community then get some insurance as stated above. Disasters come in all flavors. Be prepared on your own with a small group of trusted friends or depend on the alphabet federal agencies for your families survival. No need to bust chops on any group of people preparing for worst case scenarios. By the way, if you’ve ever experienced people with no food, water, or off their meds or drugs for 5 days, they are zombie like and desperate and will not hesitate to attempt to take whatever it is they think you have.
Welcome Brother thanks for your service. myself USAF x 7 Yrs Markww
One main thing seems to be missing. When the EMP strikes, EMP preppers, aka EMP Survivalists, have lost their job, their income, their paper equity and retirement. They have also lost all their lifestyle.
How to recover your lost lifestyle? Or never lose it in the first place? Visit http://www.emp-safeguard.com and select an option to ensure you have electric light plus one of the many protected lifestyle choices.
All the best,
Don White, CEO
EMP Protection Solutions
http://www.emp-safeguard.com
Crazy stuff, man. Just wrap everything in aluminum foil. And don’t forget yo make a hat while you are at it. Cuckoo!
Can I use my galvanized metal trash can to protect electronics from EMP? Is it ok to have it in the house, do I have to ground that, and how would I do that ?
Just a word to stimulate some conversation. I have heard that after the Cold War the Soviet Union did an inventory of their nukes and came up 107 short, ie. missing. Just wondering where they are? Also can we predict when an enemy might try to hit us with an EMP? I would say when it would be the most disruptive to the US. That would be when the most people are at work away from their homes and families to increase the stress factor, as if it won’t be high enough. After 9 am Pacific time and before 3 pm Eastern time on a school day. Kids would still be at school and parents at work. Now what time of the year. To inflict the most pain, at the beginning of winter. And to cause the greatest confusion just before a national election or just before a new President is sworn in. Will it happen? With both N Korea and Iran being able or close to being able to put a satellite in orbit and both having or being close to having nukes it won’t be long. What are your thoughts?
Author
Steve,
Definitely worth considering and many in our gov’t actually agree this is a very real threat. All we can do is prepare if it goes down…you got what you got.
Iran sending a “helicopter ship” (actually a barge) and a frigate to the maritime boundary off the U.S. East coast should have the politicians crapping their pants. Of course, the standard line has been “those things are rust buckets and pose no real military threat” or “Coast Guard cutters have more firepower”. Essentially, the threat is being dismissed, kind of like the threat of EMP. When I first heard this story, it bothered me for many reasons and when you lay it all out there, I would say it increases the chance of an EMP.
1. Iran is developing nuclear weapons (they may already possess some that could have been acquired from Russia or North Korea).
2. They have the capability to put a barge off the coast of the U.S. negating the arguments made by politicians that “they do not have the long range capability to deliver nuclear warheads to the U.S.”. Well, duh, do they really need it if they can park a barge right next door?
3. EMP levels the playing field for them.
4. Wildcard is North Korea could easily do the same on the West Coast.
Couple all of that with the cyber threats and actual “terrorist” attack on a power substation out west a few months back and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the electric grid is a real target in this country.
Author
Reminds me on One Second After (the novel). The fwd was actually written by Newt Gingrich.
In case you’re unaware, there is now a sequel to One Second After called “One Year After”, recently released.
Awesome followup to the original nail biter!
Cheers
Author
Awesome! Thanks much
Former USAF, my shop among other things, maintained EMP shielded comm rooms. They are not easily maintained, we had techs who received special training to ensure they were fully capable of doing their advertised service. The AF knows this is a VERY real threat. To those who poo poo this, well, it is like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, we will always have those types.
To Aaron, I understand your feelings. You can not stop living your life because
you fear something will happen. I bought myself 3 shelves for $200. I spent $500 stocking them up with canned and dry food(rice and pasta) toilet paper and personal care products. These products I bought are the very same ones my family uses in every day living. My only possible loss is the money for the shelves and for my water filter. I spent $1200 on a 26000 gallon water filter. I went the extre mile because clean water will become ones of our most valuable resources. So altogether my greatest loss will be $1400 (shelves and water filter) which to me is just a one time insurance policy payment for a lifetime of protection. My concern, it will cost the Government 3 billion to shield the major power grids of our Country against an EMP but yet after attempts in Congress to get it done as of 2014 we our still unprotected.
If an airburst weapon were used to create this EMP, would fallout from the initial blast contaminate streams, rivers, ponds and other exposed surfaces as it settled to the ground?
Would we need to take that into account and not collect rainwater for drinking or watering plants until the fallout has washed to the ground?
Yes, I’m a prepper and I believe an EMP is eminent. Do I have enough. . .never. I have no idea who I might have to take care of in our families. One thing I’ve noticed that is never mentioned is stove pipes. I know we can use one up in one winter heating with wood so I plan to get several and try to store them. Any suggestions on best way to store them to prevent as much rust as possible?
PJ, As a former SERE Instructor in the military, a private emergency preparedness consultant, and Best Selling Author on the subject I must respectfully, yet strongly disagree with this article. I appreciate your website and enjoy reading your articles, but I feel this one is extremely dangerous to preppers, probably deadly. I also believe that the greatest threat to this country is the long term loss of the electric grid whether by EMP, CME, Cyber or Physical attack. The theme of this article is the typical “Lights Out” philosophy by David Crawford of fortifying your suburban neighborhood into a mini community. In my honest opinion, 99% of the “preppers” that go this route will be dead within a month. This is a philosophy put forth to ease the minds of people not able to afford a fully off grid rural retreat. But your not helping them by making them feel secure in their community. Most of your recommendations are good, but like other experts that subscribe to this theory, you are underestimating one thing… Starving and desperate people who haven’t eaten in a week and will kill you for a can of peaches when they are watching their 3 year old die of starvation. A ONE YEAR FOOD SUPPLY CAN NOT FEED 50 PEOPLE!!!! end of story! Your family’s 1 year rations won’t last a month feeding that many people. If you go this route, yes, you may become leader for a time. But when everyone else starts to starve, THEY WILL GANG UP ON YOUR FAMILY AND TAKE YOUR FOOD BY FORCE. I don’t care how John Rambo you think you are, you will never, ever be able to defend your home 24/7 from 50 people. You will either give over your food or die defending it. If you share it, again, it won’t last a month. At that point, you starve to death through the first winter just like everyone else in your little community. That’s assuming your neighborhood hasn’t been over run by a larger force of looters because you stayed too close to a big city. The one exception to this rule is if you’ve put away 50 years worth of food storage to feed everyone… but at that point you can afford a rural cabin to bug out to. I realize that this makes people feel helpless because they can’t afford a full off grid retreat, which is why this philosophy is so popular. The other reason is that most “experts” have never been to a 3rd world refugee camp and grossly underestimate the how psycho the average Joe will become when they haven’t eaten in a week or more. YOU MUST GET FAR AWAY FROM THE STARVING MASSES! Fortifying your suburban home, apartment, or neighborhood is an absolute death sentence! You’d be better off storing your food and supplies in a rural storage unit 50 – 100 miles out of town and trying to attach yourself to an elderly farmer and trading room and board for your family’s help securing the farm and growing food by hand the following spring. I realize hat this is a very risky and uncomfortable situation for most people, but at least you have a chance. I did not write this article to attack PJ personally and I’m not trying to hoc my books… its just that I keep seeing this “fortify your neighborhood” philosophy floating around on most survival blogs and its seriously going to get people killed.
Author
Thanks for the tips Jon! Always nice to read dissenting opinions. 🙂
So, let me get this straight. In your opinion, post EMP everyone should just start walking 50 to 100 miles to a storage locker, because more than likely their car is not going to be running? Then, they are supposed to latch onto an elderly farmer and trade work for room and board? Neither are going to be very realistic options for most.
While I do agree with you that leaving the city behind and bugging out to a very rural, off grid retreat would be the best option for almost anyone. The simple fact of life is, there are many more that cannot afford even part of this option and their only option may be to stay in place. I admit, it may not even be close to ideal but being prepared to bug in is going to put anyone who does it in a better situation than throwing up their hands and doing nothing.
Author
I guess he was one and done, that’s too bad. 🙂
I do agree with the “bug-in” drawbacks. Most homes over concealment, not cover. Sheetrock cannot protect you. Even if you fortify the exterior, they can eventually just burn you out. Saying you can’t afford it isn’t the answer. Find something remote and where people don’t go now, and get creative in staging essentials. At least have a plan to withdraw to for when you begin to lose control.
To Mr. Hollerman, I basically agree with you. How about a farm 1/4 mile from a development. Is it just a big target. Do we have to go literally ” In the Woods” or 2 miles down a dirt road?
Great article. However, I think staying in a neighborhood full of non-preppers is unfeasible. Eventually they will begin to suffer the consequences of non-prep, and more and more you’ll have defend what you have against their desperation. I and a few friends have a remote location we use for our pre-staging area. After the SHTF, we just have to walk there with out families. The few days after this will be invaluable for getting out of dodge very early.
Couple of good suggestions. Water is key. A very cheap way to pre-stage some is to buy a cheap intex above ground pool. It’s impressive how much water they’ll hold. Even a small 15′ pool will hold around 4,500 gallons. If you go up to the 24′ ones, they’ll hold almost 15,000 gallons. That is impressive. Couple that with a life straw or other sanitation methods and that is a literal life saver.
Another thing. If possible, carry a mountain bike with you. I have a truck and have a cheap bike that I carry around. It will make that trip home from work or wherever a LOT quicker.
Boots. If the cars aren’t working, you’ll have to walk a lot. Modern shoes are not designed to last very long. They are geared toward aesthetics, not durability. Invest in some good rugged work or military boots now and you’ll be glad you did.
I pray whatever is coming is not an EMP. If it is, the author was not joking about those first few days. It will take a few days or up to a week for most people to realize things have changed, possibly forever. Many people will never wake up. They are suited for this world, not the one that is coming. That said, the criminals will be the first to wake up. Once they realize no cops are coming, they’ll strike out quickly. I only say this as a precaution to not be too comfortable in your “headstart”. I imagine they’ll hit mainly soft targets at first, so you’ll want to be elsewhere when their boldness and hunger intersect.
Good luck, and thanks for the article.
*OUR families 🙂
Author
Gpost
Great points on the boots and the bicycle. One can cover quite the distance with a bike vs on foot, and if you do have leg it…you’ll want to have some solid shoes/boots on your feet.
Aaron’s take on this subject is interesting to me. It’s reactions like like his that keep me from talking about prepping in real life.
I’m a liberal in most areas (however I grew up with firearms and own several as an adult). I’m a “middle of the road” prepper I suppose. I try to pick up an extra case of water at the store and keep to my personal commitment of grabbing one prepping item (big or small) per pay check. Over time our basement stash is looking pretty nice.
It’s not that we all think the world IS going to end or claim to know how. Many of us simply believe that in our lifetime we could see SOMETHING happen that shifts society.
I will admit the EMP scenario seems incredibly possible to me and something that would really through people into the frying pan.
I guess it’s just nice to know that there are people who are like minded when it comes to preparedness. When I broach the subject with friends I get “the look”.
I guess that was my long-winded way of saying thanks for this article! Practical and informative.
I agree with most of what Hollerman said but I think looking for an ‘Old farmer’ to trade labor for room and board for is unrealistic at best. They’ll probably have family that suddenly ‘wants to help out’ and will be much higher on the list than you will be! Also, that farm will be just as likely (if not more so) to be overrun by hordes of looters! When the stores are all empty, wouldn’t the next target be farms? Personally, I think that reinforcing your main dwelling in non-obvious ways such as placing a layer of sandbags (after EMP strike of course) along your walls up to the bottom of your windows will provide some protection from small arms fire. And replacing your roof with a metal (non-combustable) one to make it more difficult to use fire as a weapon against you. Since most house windows are designed with maximum view (read easy entry) and if you have some carpentry skills, you could pre-build some internal frame work to reduce the size of the glass panes down to a size that a person couldn’t squeeze through, also, smaller panes don’t break as easy. Laminating the glass panes (inside and out) will make them much securer and help keep broken glass from littering your floors. Planting un-friendly plants like Yucca at the base of your windows will also discourage unwanted visitors. To the comment about water storage in a above-ground swimming pool, wouldn’t that make you a tempting target as well? And one well-placed shooter could deny you access to that water! HIDE your preps inside as much as possible, and then in small unmarked caches, like in 5-gallon buckets about a foot underground scattered at seemingly random locations! Good Luck and Happy Prepping! (GLAHP)
How bad do you want to live ? thats what it comes down to all the goodie goodie ,please ,excuse me and thank yous ,go right out the window, there are people in this world who dont care .in my neighbro hood this would be the scene rape murder torture. the young are open season the old are kindling for the fire first a band of roving killers with a big truck or what ever they can steal , meth will run there insane bodies or what ever drug they choose to influence their actions they will kick in doors fire bomb houses shoot people as they run out on fire laugh and drink of their blood as they rape and kill men woman and children infants and have a hell of a good time doing it and all the things you prep aint going to do you a bit of good when you are on fire and your whole block is a blaze 50 60 70 100 roving groups that are all ready of one mind living all around you not enough ammo or hand guns will protect you against the un thinkable everyone in a uniform will be imeaditaly terrminated any uniform good or bad will be wanted dead .as the powres that be disarme all the good people you will be left on your own to be slautered by the law makers and inforcers while the sit in their posh mansions guarded by armys of finatics,, i hope this never happens but if i can think of it it is possible,and why am i going to die on a freeway trying to get out of town ,it wont happen at a perfect itm of convience what you got on you and what you got in your pockets right now is what you will have available to you , and how far from home will you be 5miles 10 miles what about a 10 earthquake what then kaos. dont mean to be so dark or hurt any ones feelings of reality,just sayen ,please thankyou ,have a nice day
P,S all you need is water and bbqsauce why would i starve when all you good people have provided me with all the meat i could dream of and all you prepped is ALL MINE,,,,, COULD YOU PREP SOME OF THOSE LITTLE COOKIES WITH THE CHOCOLATE STRIPES THOSE ARE MY FORVORAte. SEE YOU IN THE FURNACE god is not going to stop me, the way i see it is iam doing his work he told me so he said its ok he really did honest ..you dont know who your dealing with their is no sign hanging around the neck alerting you th the fact that this one is crazy this one is ok ,just sompthing you might have over looked peace
It all sounds good, but is not possible to do it all. Do ALL you can afford, keep calm, keep quiet about what you have, be smart, and pray a lot, seriously.
Some of the worst advice I have read.
Stay put in the city? Really?
Good luck with that plan.
I bugged out 14 months ago and now live in the Pac NW near water on my own acres of land. I grow animals and food. I have a giant emp box with eveything in it. I have quadruple backups for everything. I have years of supplies.
Author
I thought my other post was the worst advice you have read? Cmon man, make up your mind. Please also post the link to your blog where you offer sage wisdom to all of us. Or maybe you are just a troll?
Good for you, I’m glad you could afford to do that. I guess the rest of us who live near the city are just gonna be toast. Especially if we have 5 kids and some elderly parents who depend on us. God save us. I know how to knit and sew, and can garden and can and dehydrate. But I can’t afford to move. God save us all.
This reply is not for you but for the author… I had to place this in a ‘reply’ area from someone… to see if it will send…
All you are saying sounds great… but even these actions and provisions will be of no use after a while… and all food and water will be consumed… especially if shared with neighbors. At the moment of an EMP you and your family should meet at home then go by bike to a near by… but far enough from the city… country retreat cabin or tent with water well… or stream… including a garden, fruit trees and root cellar for storing food without needing electricity. Also learn beforehand about wild edible plants you can start eating immediately. Live like the American Indians off the land. Get a book with pictures of all the wild edibles in your area which will greatly help.
When you reach your EMP refuse home… you have made it. Only share this information with those you would like to join you if they have no place to go but ask them not to tell others about it… for this could definitely endanger the life of your family.
Start reading up now on how to live successfully in the Country. If you have neighbors that seem friendly and trustworthy eventually get to know them. Bartering will be a way of survival too. For example… you could trade a bag of new socks for a bag of seed or oil or what ever need you may have. Any material thing could be traded… if you could spare it… if not then keep it.
Take the trip to the country on your bikes… a few times just to experience it. This will help if the this horrible thing ever happens. Hope not. But you never know. This way you will not panic but you will have a plan. Then all you do is just do it.
Also make sure you have enough ways to store food and keep it cool… like having a root cellar. There are books and videos on how to build one. If you have near a stream or lake… take fishing equipment.
It may take about a year to plan, build, stock and prepare a place of refuge… so get started as soon as you can. First talk with your family. Everyone must be on board… and must help by doing their part. Maybe one cooks well… another gardens well… another organizes well… etc.
When you leave on your bikes have most supplies already at the EMP refuge… so you don’t have the burden of taking them with you. Use back packs. It will just look like you are taking a bike trip for the day… or traveling to visit another family member.
In the meantime ‘pre’-EMP… it would be a great weekend retreat and fun for the whole family… as you prepare this very special and possibly life saving place. It couldn’t hurt… and could save lives.
Remeber… God loves you. He sent His Only begotten son for you. We must all repent and believe the Gospel. Number one importance… getting closer to God! Read the Bible daily to your family. Pray at every meal. Help those in need. Follow Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us that God directs our paths. Listen to Him. He will direct you every step of the way. Fear not for God He is with you… even to the very end of the age! 🙂
Sincerely,
Carol D.
Amen!
One more thing to think about should an EMP occur….
One of the most important pieces of equipment I have is a previous generation iPad. It is a 64GB model and there are virtually no applications on it except iBook and a Kindle App.
It’s loaded with PDF versions of ALL of our important documents like birth certs, marriage licenses, financial records, deeds, titles, insurance, taxes, and other records which have all been scanned and converted to PDF’s.
Additionally, I have hundreds of books, both fiction and non-fiction like survival manuals, cookbooks, gardening books, woodworking, DIY, and other related material in PDF or Kindle Book forms. It is my reference library and document storage system….all ALWAYS in a Faraday Cage designed for that one purpose alone.
If it becomes necessary in a grid-down situation, I can charge it with either small solar panels, or with my BioLite Camp Stove (If you don’t know what that is, run right now to biolite.com and check out their amazingly good products).
I am assured with this system that in the event of a total grid-down situation, my family will always have its most important records, photos (digital also on an external 2TB drive) and reading material, both for entertainment and survival, close at hand.
Cheers
You might want to consider backing up all that stuff to a SD card. I am converting all my documents so I can access them on a SD card rather than keep them in iPad ram. You can slip the SD card in your wallet and carry volumes of books with you. An EMP isn’t going to erase that SD card and if you ever break the iPad you don’t loose the data.
I have read all the various posts on what people believe the effects of an EMP will cause to those who bug in and bug out. Since most, myself included do not have the luxury of a secure bugout cabin deep in the woods, we must make do with what we have.
Knowing that 95% of the people in any community will not be prepped creates problems to be sure…the stores will be initially filled with idiots who try to take all of the water, cigarettes, booze, food for themselves and are willing to fight for it.
Even in a small community such as I moved to many years ago, there will be problems. I left the South side of Chicago in the 90s and moved to a one stoplight village in SW Michigan. There is a total population of about 1200 people. It sounds great until you realize that most of these people are deer hunters and nearly all have weapons in their homes.
If you couple that to the fact that they are not likely to be preppers, you could be having an OK Corral moment on your hands on a regular basis.
So what to do?
If an EMP were to hit, I would immediately contact a few trusted neighbors and form a defense group for our little neighborhood. I know its not the best option but it is all we will have. Fortunately, we are surrounded by farms that grow feed corn…not ideal but edible. So, if we can keep the people from killing each other we may form some semblance of a future society.
An added advantage to moving to a small community is that I am good friends with the Chief of Police, Mayor, Fire Chief and EMS people.
Knowing that they will fill me in on any problems that may arise is priceless.
Loved the scenario at the beginning. This could be applicable in any situation where the power goes out or access to food supply chain suddenly goes down.
I should also look into getting an EMP box with some essentials store in it, like a solar panel, spare batteries and flashlights etc.
@SittingElf, I recently discovered Biolite. I’ll have to invest in some of their products.
I have 5 kids and an elderly mom, and elderly uncle. They all rely on me. I do as much as I can to prep. But just the amount of toilet paper (or phone books) and adult diapers needed, is gonna be enough to make me keel over if an EMP ever happened. I guess I will pray it never does. For some people like myself, there is just not any way at all, that I could prep for 5 kids, 2 elderly, and myself. Oh yes my husband too. We have tons of skills, and some supplies, but God save us, we are not rich and could there be any way at all that our lives would be seen as valuable to those of you who are rich and have excess stored? Maybe a good pepper strategy would be to think of who exactly among the less – fortunate you would choose to share with. Because Jesus does expect us to share with the less fortunate. Am I, or my 5 kids, or my 2 elderly, less important, just because we can’t afford to fully prep? We are trying, but, with a moving target date, and changing needs, is anyone every DONE prepping? I do have half a dozen forged steel shovels, to dig some graves when the time comes. Will any of you dug my grave, or will you just shoot me and leave me? Tough questions.
All you are saying sounds great… but even these actions and provisions will be of no use after a while… and all food and water will be consumed… especially if shared with neighbors. At the moment of an EMP you and your family should meet at home then go by bike to a near by… but far enough from the city… country retreat cabin or tent with water well… or stream… including a garden, fruit trees and root cellar for storing food without needing electricity. Also learn beforehand about wild edible plants you can start eating immediately. Live like the American Indians off the land. Get a book with pictures of all the wild edibles in your area which will greatly help.
When you reach your EMP refuse home… you have made it. Only share this information with those you would like to join you if they have no place to go but ask them not to tell others about it… for this could definitely endanger the life of your family.
Start reading up now on how to live successfully in the Country. If you have neighbors that seem friendly and trustworthy eventually get to know them. Bartering will be a way of survival too. For example… you could trade a bag of new socks for a bag of seed or oil or what ever need you may have. Any material thing could be traded… if you could spare it… if not then keep it.
Take the trip to the country on your bikes… a few times just to experience it. This will help if the this horrible thing ever happens. Hope not. But you never know. This way you will not panic but you will have a plan. Then all you do is just do it.
Also make sure you have enough ways to store food and keep it cool… like having a root cellar. There are books and videos on how to build one. If you have near a stream or lake… take fishing equipment.
It may take about a year to plan, build, stock and prepare a place of refuge… so get started as soon as you can. First talk with your family. Everyone must be on board… and must help by doing their part. Maybe one cooks well… another gardens well… another organizes well… etc.
When you leave on your bikes have most supplies already at the EMP refuge… so you don’t have the burden of taking them with you. Use back packs. It will just look like you are taking a bike trip for the day… or traveling to visit another family member.
In the meantime ‘pre’-EMP… it would be a great weekend retreat and fun for the whole family… as you prepare this very special and possibly life saving place. It couldn’t hurt… and could save lives.
Remeber… God loves you. He sent His Only begotten son for you. We must all repent and believe the Gospel. Number one importance… getting closer to God! Read the Bible daily to your family. Pray at every meal. Help those in need. Follow Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us that God directs our paths. Listen to Him. He will direct you every step of the way. Fear not for God He is with you… even to the very end of the age! 🙂
Sincerely,
Carol D.
Lordy Lordy, I had an idea of what i wanted my family and I to do if an emp actually did hit. Now I am more confused than ever after reading all of these comments. Should I stay or should I go? Should I share or should I keep it all for my family? Do I arm myself or not? Should i mingle with people or should I keep to myself? Would I or should I actually take another’s life or should I lay my life down for another? Of course, these are situations that would take place AFTER the emp hit. One should always be prepared and spend some time and money obtaining food & water and medical supplies for storage in case this happened. It would be really, really scary and tough for people who did nothing to prepare for an event of this magnitude. My guess is even good people would turn into criminals and all the while thinking that their crimes are justified because it is keeping their families alive and safe, even if it is for just one more day. Knowing God is the best way to prepare for this. Fact is, an event like an emp is a way you can get your heart right with him. He says ‘Let not your heart be troubled’ when things like this will happen. To all of you who’ve always wondered if there was a God or if everything just happened by chance and when you die you just die and its over; now is your time to open your eyes and look around, I mean really look around at creation and the stars and heavens. That thought in your mind that there actually might be a Creator is actually God himself giving you another chance to turn to him. When you dismiss that thought you are actually hardening your heart to him and it becomes more and more difficult to keep getting that thought. until one day….you will never get that thought again. That’s how it works! He doesnt want anyone to perish, honest. Have a great day folks. Interesting article. :))
Putting the radio in the microwave in the basement will NOT work. To protect any type of radio/kindle/etc from an EMP you need to wrap it in cloth, put it in a plastic bag, wrap the bag in 6 sheets of HEAVY duty aluminum foil and then place it inside a lined metal box/can such as a galvanized steel trash can lined with cardboard or a heavy duty metal lined toolbox, gun cabinet, etc. Studies have shown this type of ‘protection’ is best for any type of radio/electronic you hope to utilize after an EMP. Also to note, wait several days before retrieving these items as it is thought that in such a scenario a second EMP would be used days after the first to knock out any exisiting devices that may have been protected during the first strike.
One fearful thought is that there are so few of us that are truly “with Jesus” that few will notice that we are not around (& are with Him), after the EMP. Can we reach more of the unsaved, before the big event? Let’s pray so.
How can I determine if an EMP event is OVER?
It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when, and how bad a hit.
https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm
An EMP INDUCES an electrical charge in a conducter.
A farady cage balances the charge evenly across the OUTSIDE of the cage.
An insulator PREVENTS the charge from getting to things stored inside.
there are “3 types” of EMP E1,E2,E3- also known as slow, faster, fastest. The sun makes the slowest, nukes the fastest. Slower needs more conducter length(power lines) faster less condunctors (small electronics)
Grounding:
pay attention, this could save yer butt.
DO NOT GROUND FOR NORMAL USE!
GROUND JUST BEFORE TOUCHING CAGE!
Cage CAN hold a charge, think static in winter but high enough to do damage to YOU. Ground out the cage just before you touch it to bleed off the charge but NOT during normal operation(before EMP)
The quick and easy:
SEVERAL layers (5 or more)of heavy duty aluminum foil= faraday cage, with about -96db reduction.
cardboard, thick plastic bags, masking or duct tape all act as insulators INSIDE farady cage.
1) put your stuff inside bags, boxes seal up tight ( must prevent approx 50,000 Volts )
2)wrap with al foil, several layers, thick and contiouous, no holes, cracks or insulators.
3) store yer stuff in a place of your choosing(DO NOT GROUND)
4) after EMP then ground out faraday cage to bleed off charge.
Its that easy
What NOT to do:
Microwaves- do not use, do not cover/protect against enough freqs
Ammo boxes- Seal is not metal alows EMP to enter.
many metal cabinets- same thing- to many cracks.
Cords- keep inside, do not alow them outside as they will act as antennas
metal garbage cans do work, Aluminum foil works, copper works. Watch your cracks holes and seals. When in doubt add more metal(al foil is cheap and effective)
Don’t forget to insulate.
This is for SIMPLE, CHEAP faraday cage. It is functional, it SHOULD prevent the 50-60KV a standard EMP COULD produce. And it is MOSTLY theroretical. Not many chances to experiment with EMPs vs faraday cages. Also what we THINK will happen with STANDARD EMP may not be the case with WEAPONS designed to create more powerful EMPs
oddguy
Good post – should I tape (aluminum type tape) the lid of my small al trash can to the body?
hey, since this thread seems to be ongoing I want to alert everyone to a great space weather/solar flare watch site. they do daily indepth reporting, and are generally neutral politically. so just good info.
http://www.suspicious0bservers.org/
or just google suspicious observers.
cheers!
Great article and comments! I wanted to offer some friendly disagreement however …. we’re all focusing on EMP, but its a decent bet that EMP strike would also come with nuclear ground strikes within an hour or two, if not immediately (depending on the adversary). If thats the case, you dont want to be walking home from work for two days or making a trip to the store with a grocery cart. Unfortunately from a family perspective, Id say that if an EMP hits, you should take cover where you are unless your confident taking the gamble that the attack is over.
Got to disagree with the “talk to the neighbors” advice. Who has enough food to share with a half dozen or more other families and their friends and relatives?
Once they learn your prepared, they’ll want to take it for themselves.
Your only hope (sadly) is to fake starvation and let them die.
So salty;)
This disaster scenerio is my greatest fear. I have a wife who works in a children’s hospital in the inner city and 90 minute drive from our house. The a daughter another 5 1/2 hours away at college. I’m confident my wife and family will understand what has happened and they will know they must act quickly but the thought of separation really disturbs me. If plan goes right they will be armed and have the supplies to last the first 72 hours of the disaster but after that things become very dire for everyone and it. Might be dire much sooner depending how quickly society breaks down Completely and I’m guessing that will happen within hours not days.
In this scenerio I’m convinced that hoarding food and resources will not buy you much time it is imperative that people band together and focus on numbers and multitudes of talents to survive long term. Now choosing who you will group up with is important and the group must consist of people that are like minded with the same basic goal. If society is going to survive we must not forget the values and the beliefs we hold strong too. There’s certain things that are worth dying for and we must remember this and not allow ourselves to become so self assorbed that we ignore human decency. All sorts of horrors will become widespread and many we will not have any power to change but when we do get the opportunity to stop the horrors we must be committed to doing so despite the risks to our lives.
The idea that a small family Will be able to survive on there own without a community is a dream and not reality. Rules of survival in a group will not resemble what most people would think but they will work if people are Committed.
One thing to remember if and when this takes place is there are going to be a large percentage of people who will believe that help will be arriving and these people will be so convinced that they will be your worst enemy from the start. They will not want to accept that life as we knew it is not returning and they will be the ones trying to convince people that you are crazy and that doing anything except sharing and waiting is insanity. They are the takers in this world and the ones that cannot be saved. This type of people. Will be the most frustrating to deal with and they will be extremely dangerous. Unfortunately I’m afraid that there will be more of these people than ones that can sit back and recognize what has taken place and be able to consider what is needed for long term survival. They will be in a who want your supplies and your protection but are not willing to do anything themselves for the group. Eventually and probably very quickly many of these will be the people that you must protect yourself from and more Than likely fight to the death.
Although many in Congress and the White House tend to ignore the EMP threat, America’s potential adversaries will not. To these adversaries, EMP technology represents the opportunity to inflict-with relative ease-catastrophic and lasting damage on the United States that could threaten our very existence. Preventing such an attack depends on the U.S. government’s ability to understand the very real chance and the devastating consequences of an EMP attack-and to take the actions necessary to prevent them.
Hello all, great article and with the recent catasrophies around the world including the scares and grocery store emptying due to the covid pandemic, i think having a few days or weeks worth of food and water on hand is so important. However, when reading about these types of scenarios and dooms day events with long term loss of electricity i am concerned about the longevity of my basement. I have a sump pump with a battery back up but in the event I cannot recharge that battery or the pump becomes in-operable due to EMP, will my basememt fill with water? How do you all prepare for, and ensure a dry basement in an event such as this?
[…] Seven actions to take immediately following an EMP strike: This one is particularly appropriate. He even mentions that we should immediately spend cash (if you have any) since it won’t be long before it won’t be accepted – a good suggestion: https://www.prepper-resources.com/7-actions-to-take-immediately-following-an-emp-strike/ […]
[…] Seven actions to take immediately following an EMP strike: This one is particularly appropriate. He even mentions that we should immediately spend cash (if you have any) since it won’t be long before it won’t be accepted – a good suggestion: https://www.prepper-resources.com/7-actions-to-take-immediately-following-an-emp-strike/ […]
[…] Seven actions to take immediately following an EMP strike: This one is particularly appropriate. He even mentions that we should immediately spend cash (if you have any) since it won’t be long before it won’t be accepted – a good suggestion: https://www.prepper-resources.com/7-actions-to-take-immediately-following-an-emp-strike/ […]
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