EMP Hardening

[10-32]

Well after finishing "Lights Out" and getting into "One Second After", I kinda wondered about protecting some of my electronic items such as LED lights, Comm Radios and a few other similar items.

I really didn't find much here on INGO so I went to google. I found several sites that pretty much said the same thing but found one that broke it down a little better and didn't get into the whole technical specs of a EMP like everyone else. Here's the link to the one I ended up bookmarking in case anyone else was interested in it.

AusSurvivalist - EMP Protection

 

[churchmouse]

Well after finishing "Lights Out" and getting into "One Second After", I kinda wondered about protecting some of my electronic items such as LED lights, Comm Radios and a few other similar items.

I really didn't find much here on INGO so I went to google. I found several sites that pretty much said the same thing but found one that broke it down a little better and didn't get into the whole technical specs of a EMP like everyone else. Here's the link to the one I ended up bookmarking in case anyone else was interested in it.

AusSurvivalist - EMP Protection

There is a sticky in the top of this section that has a lot of good info.

 

[jason867]

I just started reading One Second After myself, so far I love it (but I hate what it's making me think about)...

 

[ATOMonkey]

Neither of those books are based in reality.

An EMP should be the very last thing on your list right after underground bunker, and self sustaining indoor garden.

 

[Sailor]

Neither of those books are based in reality.

An EMP should be the very last thing on your list right after underground bunker, and self sustaining indoor garden.

Exactly.

 

[shibumiseeker]

There is a sticky in the top of this section that has a lot of good info.

That's debatable.

There's a sticky at the top of this section that has a lot of effort devoted to unlikely and even virtually impossible "what ifs" with poorly thought out solutions which encourage people to devote resources better spent on preparing for likely scenarios.

 

[jason867]

While I agree an EMP is the last thing that could happen, and the last thing to prepare for; I believe the potential effects on daily life of an EMP attack would be similar, if not worse, than the effects from other, more likely, disasters.

In other words, I'm not reading One Second After in order to help myself prepare for a possible EMP attack, I'm reading it because I feel that the events portrayed in the book could apply to many SHTF scenarios.

An EMP may not be likely, but I believe it's effect on society and daily life would be similar to, if not worse than, other disaster scenarios.

 

[ATOMonkey]

While I agree an EMP is the last thing that could happen, and the last thing to prepare for; I believe the potential effects on daily life of an EMP attack would be similar, if not worse, than the effects from other, more likely, disasters.

In other words, I'm not reading One Second After in order to help myself prepare for a possible EMP attack, I'm reading it because I feel that the events portrayed in the book could apply to many SHTF scenarios.

An EMP may not be likely, but I believe it's effect on society and daily life would be similar to, if not worse than, other disaster scenarios.

Agreed. Anything that would disrupt daily life, would likely have similar effects on the people.

 

[shibumiseeker]

While I agree an EMP is the last thing that could happen, and the last thing to prepare for; I believe the potential effects on daily life of an EMP attack would be similar, if not worse, than the effects from other, more likely, disasters.

In other words, I'm not reading One Second After in order to help myself prepare for a possible EMP attack, I'm reading it because I feel that the events portrayed in the book could apply to many SHTF scenarios.

An EMP may not be likely, but I believe it's effect on society and daily life would be similar to, if not worse than, other disaster scenarios.

An EMP that caused TEOTWAWKI a la One Second After would come from a world actor and likely be a prelude to a massive invasion. An EMP that came from a localized nuke by say a terrorist organization and which is the most likely EMP scenario (and is still not high on the threat list) would be highly localized and while it would be a SHTF for that area, recovery would be quick.

For the AVERAGE person, the effects of a HAEMP would still be less than that of a regional power outage since it's not going to fry everything that runs on electricity. If you're close enough to a smaller EMP to have personal electrical and electronics equipment affected then you're in more danger from radiation and other nuclear blast effects.

I've studied survivalism, disaster response, and primitive living all of my life and even under conditions like OSA portray, I do not see society reverting to a 16th century technology. At this point 1950 is more like it. Hell, I just witnessed the major regional power outage after the Derecho in June where several states were without power for many days and it didn't revert to anarchy. People go on.

 

[jason867]

I don't pretend to know everything about EMPs, I only know the basic concept. I'd probably get some details wrong even explaining it.

And for the record, I haven't got past chapter 3 of OSA yet, so warn me if anyone spills any spoilers

But from what I've read so far, I think OSA portrays somewhat of a worst case scenario, that could "potentially" apply to many SHTF situations. I don't believe the book should be taken too seriously. I definitely wouldn't rely on it to plan out all of my defenses and prepping for any SHTF event, let along a possible EMP one.

But I do think the book is a good read, because it makes the reader (or at least me..) think about what could potentially happen in different SHTF scenarios. And when one thinks about what could happen, one naturally starts thinking of how to prevent and/or prepare for such events.

That's what it's doing for me anyway, making me think about things I haven't before.

And it's a good entertainment too (I love reading)

 

[shibumiseeker]

But from what I've read so far, I think OSA portrays somewhat of a worst case scenario, that could "potentially" apply to many SHTF situations. I don't believe the book should be taken too seriously. I definitely wouldn't rely on it to plan out all of my defenses and prepping for any SHTF event, let along a possible EMP one.

But I do think the book is a good read, because it makes the reader (or at least me..) think about what could potentially happen in different SHTF scenarios. And when one thinks about what could happen, one naturally starts thinking of how to prevent and/or prepare for such events.

That's what it's doing for me anyway, making me think about things I haven't before.

And it's a good entertainment too (I love reading)

It's good FICTION, and the writing is decent.

My issue is the number of people who come out of it thinking they have a realistic picture because most people are easily swayed by something they read.

For a long time I posted here statistics of SHTF events that have occurred to INGO members over the time I've been around (about 3-4 years now I think) and there were hundreds of them from small to fairly large, most of which were things that people were largely unprepared for, and in that time there's not been one single major regional event, let alone the zombie apocalypse.

I started out prepping back when it was called survivalism, and I was prepared for total societal collapse which was a real possibility as this was the height of the Cold War and global thermonuclear war was not an insignificant risk. But in my lifetime my preps have gotten me through more minor, personal SHTF, including the total destruction by fire of my house.

If you have unlimited resources then have fun designing the full fledged survival compound, but if you do so never having learned the basics of first-aid then you're an idiot.

 

[Iroquois]

Most likely major disruption of electrical devices will be the result of grid failure and long term
failure of the repair system. If you can't charge phones or pump gas that's an "electronic failure "
by proxy. Considering that we've had major grid failures for mundane reasons like poor maintenance,
how hard would it be to shut it down intentionally. A well thought out plan could shut down areas
for weeks. Especially since we can't guard it all, or guard the repairmen.

 

[10-32]

Honestly I'm more concerned about the effects from a solar flare than I am of a EMP. It's my understanding the effects of a solar flare are similar to those of an EMP as far as the electronics go. Articles keep popping up about the sun's surface becoming more active so I figured protecting a few items might not be a bad idea.

 

[Bill B]

Honestly I'm more concerned about the effects from a solar flare than I am of a EMP. It's my understanding the effects of a solar flare are similar to those of an EMP as far as the electronics go. Articles keep popping up about the sun's surface becoming more active so I figured protecting a few items might not be a bad idea.

Unplug them and disconnect antennas when the items aren't being used, same as for lightning protection. done.

 

[CathyInBlue]

I wonder how well a run of the mill lightning arrestor on a ham radio feedline would work vis-a-vis an EMP burst or a solar flare/Carrington redux.