20 Quick and Cheap Ways to Prep for an EMP

20 Quick and Cheap Ways to Prep for an EMP

If you haven’t experienced the effects of an EMP, it’s hard to believe that it could be a real threat to our way of life. Our planet has made extremely rapid progress in technology and thus, we have generations of people who have become truly dependent on the systems that technology created. Many of us know we need to prep for an EMP but we have lost the pioneer skills and determination which enabled our ancestors to survive the toughest conditions. An EMP which knocks out electrical systems on a massive scale could devastate our way of life.

An EMP is an electromagnetic pulse that essentially fries electrical circuitry and microchips that are connected to the power grid. The source of an EMP can be man-made or natural. A natural EMP caused by a solar flare or geomagnetic storm is in truth, the lesser of two evils when it comes to EMP’s. In fact, the difference between man-made and natural EMP’s is probably behind the confusion about what types of devices and systems would be impacted by an EMP.

Examples of Events That Could Cause an EMP:

• Nuclear Weapon Discharge
• Solar Flare
• Geo Magnetic Storm

Natural versus Man-Made

Solar flares and geomagnetic storms will have minimal to no impact on devices that are powered down or not connected to the grid at the time of the event. A natural EMP is unlikely to cause planes to fall from the sky or cars to come to a screeching halt. Electronic devices not plugged into the electrical grid may still function. Scientists monitor natural sources of EMP’s and often have advanced warning so systems can be powered down and disconnected from the grid prior to the EMP impact. If you prep for an EMP, your odds of survival greatly increase. The power will go out in the affected areas, but patching the grid is doable, and will take hours, days, or weeks.

In comparison, a man-made or nuclear detonation EMP’s above the Earth’s atmosphere can impact all electronic circuitry and negatively affect a wide array of systems that we depend on every day. Any device with electrical circuitry not protected during a nuclear EMP would non-operational. A large man-made EMP event is not “just a temporary power outage”. It would impact multiple systems worldwide and recovery take extensive man power and resources that won’t be easily available.

A man-made EMP is will cause widespread devastation across a larger area. Unfortunately, there is no instruction manual for rebuilding our grid from scratch. Repairing the grid following a man-made EMP will take months or even years, if it can be done at all. The only hope of survival is to prep for an EMP before it happens.

What Things Are Vulnerable?

• Power plants
• Electronic Devices (computers, televisions, refrigerators, cash registers)
• Communications (cell phones, internet)
• Banking Systems (ATM, credit cards, PayPal, etc.)
• Medical Devices (hospital diagnostics, pacemakers, life support)
• Transportation (automobiles, gas stations, traffic lights, subway systems, elevators)
• Virtually anything else with a micro chip

How Can I Protect Against an EMP?

The best way we know of currently to protect your electronic devices is through electronic shielding, done through the construction of a Faraday cage or similar device. Early electromagnetic scientist, Michael Faraday, discovered that electromagnetic fields cannot penetrate a metal cage of copper or other good electrical conductors.

1. Build your own Faraday cage

• Wrap in aluminum foil-must be no gaps. Put layer of insulation between layers of foil
• Galvanized trashcan with tight lid—put in cardboard box (insulation) and put inside trashcan
• Use a steel ammunition box
• Faraday Bags

2. Know the Signs of an EMP (so you can act immediately)

3. Have a Plan of Action (make sure all family members know what to do and where to go)

4. Store Fresh Water

• Buy and Know How to Use a WaterBOB to store fresh water
• Use rain barrels for a rain water harvest system
• Purchase, fill and store water bricks
• Buy or make a manual pump for your well so you get water without power.

5. Budget just $10 a week for food to add to your stockpile

• Food stockpile goal is three months to one year
• Buy manual/hand tools
• Solar powered garden lights and flashlights
• Oil lamps and candles
• Gasoline for your car
• Propane if needed for heat
• RADSticker Dosimeter (to help you detect Radiation)

6. Buy an Analog Device

• Hand crank and solar powered analog radio
• Mercury free analog thermometer
• Clock/watch

7. Alternate source of heat

• generator protected by faraday cage
• propane heater with propane
• woodstove, or fireplace

8. Buy Solar batteries and charger, solar panels, solar oven, all in Faraday cage

9. Pre-1965 car or all spare parts stocked up for your pre-1980’s BOV (avoid cars with microprocessors that will fry)

10. Fire extinguishers and fire blankets (EMP will cause rash of fires)

11. Stairs not elevators (Take the stairs now to build stamina and prevent getting trapped in an elevator following an EMP)

12. Folding bike (Keep in your car trunk in case your car shuts down)

13. Grow Your Own Food to prep for an EMP recovery period that could take years.

14. Prepare to do Laundry without power (stockpile a washboard, clothesline, quality janitor’s bucket for wringing, make your own soap, etc.)

15. Build your own Wood gasifier

16. Get a CO Detector to protect against carbon monoxide poisoning

17. Practice cooking with an Outdoor fireplace or fire pit

18. Learn and practice using manual/hand tools to avoid injury after an EMP

19. Monitor news reports for threat of nuclear war

20. Plan alternative bug out routes

A natural EMP is inevitable. It has happened before and it will happen again at some point in the future. Monitoring of current events also make it obvious nuclear EMP capabilities have been developed so the threat of a nuclear detonation over an area is a very real possibility. Smart preppers will employ some of these 20 quick and cheap ways to prep for and put themselves in the position to protect their family no matter what the future holds.