The chance of getting your car stuck in the woods is much higher than an EMP strike. So you may think that it’s nonsense to have an EMP emergency kit in your car.
But think of it this way: if you are prepared for an EMP then you are prepared for anything.
When an EMP knocks out the power grid, our cars, our mobile phones, and any electronics… EVERYTHING will come to a halt! You’ll have to walk your way home no matter if your car got stuck 100 miles away, no matter if this happens when you are on a highway, in the dessert, on a cold stormy winter or on your way to work. Nobody will come for you. You’ll be totally on your own!
On your way home you may need to provide food, water, clothes, shelter, protection and aid for you and maybe your family. This is why I said that an EMP Emergency car bag will surely help in any emergency situation.
- So, one of the things you should take into consideration is a kit that will help you walk up to 100 miles or more in any conditions;
- The second thing you should add to your EMP Car Kit is something to help you get in touch with others (maybe your family, children, etc) when communication fails;
- Another thing is to know what to do immediately after an EMP;
- And probably the most important thing is a list of stuff to have ready in advance. Here is how a man-made EMP can kick-start the WW3 and how you can protect your car, your electronics, your GENERATOR, etc . (Video)
How to Build Your EMP Survival Car Bag
First things first, you need to think strategically when deciding what bag to use and what to put in it. Be sure to build it for your personal needs. There’s little sense in adding an asthma inhaler if you don’t have asthma. But if you do have, then it would be crazy not to throw one in your bag.
Here’s what you need to do by the numbers.
1. The bag itself should be a backpack. The reason is you may have to leave your vehicle behind and set out on your own and backpacks are simply the easiest and most efficient way to tote your gear.
2. Footwear. This is one people always forget. If you live in a hot state and wear flip flops all the time take a pair of tennis shoes or cross training shoe boots. Hiking cross country with snakes, rocks or cactus will be challenging in flip flops. If you live in a four seasons state take a good pair of boots. If you’re driving in dress shoes or tennis shoes and have to deal with mud or wet, slushy, ice cold snow you’ll be glad you did.
Tip: Tie the footwear to the side of the pack with the laces, a zip tie or use a carabiner to secure them to the side. This way they don’t take up valuable pack space but stay with the pack. If you do leave your car you’ll be putting them on your feet so you won’t be carrying them anyway.
Sub Tip: Be sure your footwear is well broken in. Blisters while survival hiking can be problematic at best. Also, take 2 pair of socks. Keeping your feet fresh and dry is essential to your success.
3. A Mylar Survival Sleeping Bag to act as a survival blanket and as a Faraday Cage. If you’re freezing and going into hypothermia you’re not much good at other survival tasks. If you’re in the desert they will keep the sun off of you. Either way, a Mylar survival blanket is a must have no matter if you are on your own on COLD OR HOT weather.
Tip: Use your Mylar Sleeping bag to act as a Faraday Cage. Simply place all electronics listed bellow in the sleeping bag and sealed it. Then test it and see if it works. If it doesn’t, then put it in thee trunk and test it there. The trunk offers some protection itself.
Don’t know how to test your Faraday Cage? Read this article. (and comments)
4. A small Faraday Cage with electronics to replace the fried ones and to get your car back on the track… or electronics to get in touch with people.
Don’t be so enthusiastic about the fact that you can repair your car. Most streets will be blocked with useless cars… just like huge, long traffic jams. But the parts can be really useful if you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.
There isn’t a general rule for the parts you need to replace. Every car has its different mechanism. But most cars will need a new PCM (Power Control Module), an Anti-lock braking system, Fuel Electronic Injection and the Electronic Ignition.
Second, you may add a small radio, an old (charged) mobile phone (one you don’t use anymore) and a solar battery charger if you want. The mobile phone won’t help you as much as you think, but the small radio (especially a HAM Radio) will probably be the only communication available after the EMP.
Also add a small hand crank powered flashlight. Don’t rely on battery powered flashlights. They’re heavier and when the batteries die you’re done.
Here are 10 easy to build Faraday Cages of different sizes. See what would fit best in your BOB or in your trunk.
Tip: People with diabetes should also store in their Faraday cage a small glucose tester.
Sub Tip: Instead of a solar battery charger you can take a Hand-Cranked Charger which is cheaper.
5. Water is essential. Keeping a gallon water jug in your car is a great idea for your emergencies plus vehicle overheating issues and more. But what happens when that water runs out? You can go with little or no food, but water is a different story. Keep the tools to make a sunshine still in your pack because even in the desert as long as you have sunshine you’ll have some water. Of course you’ll have to dig a lot deeper.
You may think: if I’m walking how can I use the still? Well if you are in the desert (where you really need water) it is best to walk in the mornings and the evenings. In the afternoons seek for shade and set the still to produce some water for you:
Here are the tools and how to build it. Keep a 3 foot square piece of visqueen type plastic sheeting and a cup with a broad base on it that won’t fall over easily. You can keep a folding shovel or dig your still holes with a stick or your hands.
Find a spot with soft ground and all day sunlight. dig a hole no more than a foot and a half wide. Keep digging in depth until you feel the earth is cold and moist. Place the cup in the exact center of the bottom of the hole firmly so it doesn’t tip over. Lay the plastic sheet over the hole and hold it down on all 4 sides with rocks or whatever you have. Place a small stone or object in the very center of the sheet above the whole. This will make a depression in the center of the sheet. The sun will create a sauna in the covered whole. The vapor will rise, collect on the plastic, run down to the depression and drip into your cup. The water is pure because it was steam before it dripped into your cup, so no worries there.
This still will work in nearly any environment and will also work on a boat in the ocean. Use a pan or bucket for the hole you would have dug and put a little sea water in the bottom. Place your cup and cover as you learned above. The steam is 100% fresh water that has been completely desalinated. You can survive at sea for long periods with this.
H2O Dynamo – The Water Generator (Video)
Here’s Your Check List Of Items To Be Sure Are In Your EMP Survival Car Pack
6. A compass and a map. The compass is a no brainer and the map will keep you oriented, let you know what’s ahead and how far you have to go. You can’t count on the GPS… unless you have one in your Faraday Cage. And even so… some satellites will be fried from a Solar EMP or even a nuclear one.
7. A water filtration straw. This is a great device that will let you drink from many water sources that you may find on your way home.
8. A decent knife. Why? Well, only about 2,000 reasons.
9. A length of rope. Again 2,000 plus reasons.
10. A fishing hook and fishing line. If near water the reason is obvious. If in the desert catch one of the pesky bugs that’s been annoying you. Then put it on the hook. Place it in spots where you would go if you were a lizard. Trust me, if you’re hungry enough lizard looks like fillet mignon. Fishing line also makes great string, repair or suture material.
11. A first aid kit including drugs. Because survival can be dangerous and because there won’t be any ambulances to come and get you.
Be sure to take into consideration your personal needs! Think about what your main medical issues are… like high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, Cardiac failure, Arthritis and so on. These issues should become top priority for you!
12. Matches and a steel striker fire starter. The striker is in case the matches get wet or fail. Also having one of those small bricks of fire starter material is not a bad idea either.
13. A Leatherman type of all purpose tool. With all the gadgets these things have on them they can come in real handy.
14. A whistle. If you know help is near a whistle can be heard a lot farther than you voice which may crack from all the yelling anyway. Also useful for scaring bears.
15. A Sturdy folding shovel. Keep one side sharp and you have a shovel, an axe, a hammer and a frying pan of sorts. It’s a great all purpose tool that you’ll be glad you have in your pack.
16. Food. Pack an assortment of dried foods. You can buy them all over the place online. Make sure to get the ones with the most nutrition. Don’t get the deserts and junk. Sugar will make you weak and weaken your immune system. You can treat yourself when you get back home.
Tip: Bring a fiber drink that you can mix with water. Many survival foods can be a little constipating. Hiking out of a problem constipated is no fun.
17. Minerals and Vitamins. Did you know that you can develop malnutrition if you lack a single vitamin in your diet? Plus I’m sure it will boost your energy, speed and concentration. They only take a small space.
18. Toilet paper. Its main use is obvious. But one sheet can start a fire from a spark. Place it under some super dry tinder, light it and voila, you have fire.
20. Some cash. Although I’m pretty sure you won’t need it in case of an EMP. You can obtain almost anything if you let people make a phone call from your phone. That will be your best thing to barter with, without actually loosing anything (if you have a manual or solar charger of course). But cash will help in other events. And I’m sure nobody make a kit only for EMP’s.
The Biggest Tip
The biggest survival pack tip I can possibly give you is: if you don’t have one built, DO IT NOW. We never know what tomorrow might bring. And telling your loved ones who are scared or bleeding that you were going to build your pack but never got around to it won’t comfort them much. Do it today, so tomorrow you can be glad you did.
EMP Car Test:
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Great knowledge, but too much for me….as I only live 2 miles from work….really don’t need a bag at all
Well hopefully you aren’t anywhere here else when this comes. Or traveling on vacation.
20. An EMP powerful enough to take down your car, would also take down cell towers…
Ever wonder how long does it take to build your own spark gap transmitter? Do you know Morse Code? See you soon on 13.555 MHz. Just remember paper is useless and you can use coins for buttons
What is at 13.555 MHz? A spark gap transmitter is going to be broad band .. across wide frequency range… unless you have something to cause it to be tuned.. like a tank circuit or crystal, applied correctly. What are you using to receive responses from others?
Maybe if you are trying to send an SOS.. Hope someone nearby has a receiver.. Who do you expect to find on this odd frequency? Its not a ham band.. I cant find any allocation for it..
I love your informative articles but wish your links to other related content didn’t all end up with those interminable, boring, off-putting Clickbank videos where they talk for freaking ever without getting to the point. Far better, as far as I’m concerned, would be a link to other articles I can read for myself. If I wish to buy something I will but I won’t listen to endless drivel.
Amen to that, Brother. I immediately leave the page when the voice over comes on. The nuns spent a lot of time and effort teaching me how to read. I don’t like wasting all their hard work listening to drivel. Plus I can read through way faster, (Thank you Sister Mary Joseph) than it takes to listen to the voice over.
AMEM!!!
So right. What a crock of lost time, really. Lesson learned about those click bait links!
all good points!
All of the information was great. All of the resources can be used at home in any type of emergency or disaster.
Thank you and keep sharing,
As another Wryter commented on the talking videos…I agree. They take TOO LONG JUST TO SELL SOMETHING. I would rather read and decide if I want to purchase a downloadable book. I would rather pay extra for a real book.
Same here. I would pay more for a hard copy than some poorly written download which is generally loaded with excess verbiage to make you think you have gotten something of value. Fifty pages usually condenses down to 25 pages of real information. Still more than I want to print out myself.
I would pay extra for a real book also. You will have light during the day, so you can look stuff up in the book, and you can carry it with you. Your electricity isn’t going to be on so you can’t leisurely sit back and read what you want in the evening. A book just makes WAY more sense. I don’t have a printer either, so just a book would be the best thing.
I keep a light weight folding hand cart in my vehicle. It is a lot easier to carry a pack on a folding hand cart than it is to backpack that sucker. With two wheels, it can be dragged over pretty rough terrain and even if it gets to the point that you have to abandon it, if you have used it for several miles, you will be glad that you had it.
The article doesn’t include any kind of firearm for self-defense. Unless you live in one of the really left wing states you can carry a firearm in a locked container in your vehicle for self defense and in my estimation, you should. I like a rifle but a pistol is easier to carry. Extra ammo too.
Every survival kit and article talks about fishing. Have you ever spent all day trying various lures and baits at various depths and not even had a nibble? I would rather carry a couple of extra energy bars or emergency rations than waste valuable time fishing a lake that doesn’t produce.
I have tried the solar still with both a hole in the ground in damp soil and with green vegetation in the hole to produce water. In my opinion that is a total waste of time. The amount of water produced will merely wet your lips. At most, after all day you will get abut a quarter of a cup full of water. That hardly meets the one gallon a day requirement for a body in motion. Carry multiple water treating methods and be creative in looking for water. Toilet tanks, cans of vegetables, cans of fruit especially, puddles, hot water tanks (people who have switched to those new instant heaters are going to regret the switch if the SHTF.) even opening the highest water spigot and the lowest in a building will provide more water than the kind of solar still described in this article. Worst case, even water in the toilet bowl, after massive treatment is more water than a solar still. You just have to get over the mental picture. Boil it, chlorinate it, boil it some more. Gulp it down. Some cities are using recycled sewer water for household water. Just make sure you treat it, treat it, treat it.
Did you miss the point of being in a desert like environment?
I agree with the other comments…I would rather have a hard copy than an eBook. After all how are we supposed to access all that info if out computers and phones are fried?
Learn how to make, Soda Ash, i.e. Baking Soda.
This will save you from, virus, bacteria, etc., but you cannot eat any sugar. You must make your body alkaline, & starve a cold.
Mother Nature!
I would like to know where I can find the Mylar bag shown in #3. Ii looks a lot better than any I have seen so far.
I agree with other comments on the videos. They start by saying that in 4 minutes, or five, or whatever, they will show you how to do something and then they go on for over thirty minutes and still you are waiting for them to tell you what they promised. I gave up on these videos, will close them as soon as they start talking.
I agree with pulling a wheeled bag or small cart. I ran into a guy at a shopping center not long ago who pulled his wheeled luggage from NYC to Ohio and was just then worn out. He was ill at the same time. He wasn’t poor; and he was educated, but just walked away from his job and society and hit the road. He was at a Walmart super store so, I called the EMS to have him treated (they do that for free for “street” people in our small town) and bought him another new wheeled luggage bag and gave him my Gideon pocket Bible. He was on his way out West. I was really impressed that the bag he had, had last halfway across the country. Lot easier to pull than to pack.
NYC to Ohio is hardly halfway across the country Ohio although called the Midwest is actually closer to the east coast it’s no where near the halfway mark of the country … just saying
Do you always stay that close to your house or do you go on little trips for other reasons ? Going to doctors offices or some place for physical therapy or a hundren other things I can think of !
Monitoring down the cause of the cod typically takes
special gear, plenty of expertise, expertise, and persistence. https://www.minds.com
With an EMP and most cars and all gas stations down, a small hand crank pump with hose can get gas from dead cars and gas stations. You can leave a note and worthless currency if needed. A car from before 1957 should have a generator rather than alternator- many alternators have electronic circuits that will fry with an EMP. Also older cars have tube radios that can receive radio signals from operating stations sometimes 1000 miles away at night to give emergency information. I have received Chicago in the middle of Nevada. If you have a portable generator, put it in a Faraday cage. Most things that need electricity today will be out. Fuels will get used up, except for burnables. Its back to the old Boy Scout Field Manual. Try getting a diamond sharpening stone to keep axes, shoves, knives, etc sharp. MC
What will happen to vehicles that are in a garage already? I am assuming that would protect the vehicles inside to some degree?
WHY would you think your garage would protect your vehicle? Most homes, garages are made of common building materials.. that will pass radio waves (such as EMP), and do nothing to shield magnetic lines of force.
Does your radio work in the garage? Your cell phone? There is your basic answer.
I have made several detailed (and kind of long!) post on EMP.. yet I see NONE of them on this thread.
A faraday cage is a magnetically sealed container made of a conductive metal on ALL SIDES.. but more than that, it is conductive all along the seams (not just here and there but continuously… where each side joins its adjacent sides. Including the floor/bottom). When a magnetic field (such as a radio wave or EMP) travels across it, it induces a current flow.. which in turn creates its own magnetic field.. which happens to OPPOSE the source magnetic wave (radio wave/EMP).. kind of a self cancelling effect. If current is caused to travel from a side LATTERALLY to a conductive point to the common side… this creates a field that is not congruent to the source field (EMP/radio wave).. and, basically, doesn’t match.. so it creates a weak spot or leaky spot allowing source wave to enter or be duplicated by the counter field.. and radiate inward to your supposedly protected electronics. If its a must to have these spots.. keep electronics AWAY from those spots. Best just don’t have such spots.
You might look into other material on this website on EMP / Faraday cages, and quite frankly, with my name on them. I have seen a lot of BS on the subject.. and a select few .. who actually know about EMP. Most articles to do with wrapping aluminum foil around something to protect it are mostly those who, I think, use it for hats as well.
I could be thinking of another prepper site Iv made comments on.. but in any case, I go by “Jack”.. I have been involved with electronics for over 50 years, Im an extra class ham, Retired commercial/industrial electronics and teach others about electrical grid, systems, radio electronics, the grid, EMP.. Iv worked contracts for the DOD specific to EMP hardening..
Todays electronically (computer) controlled cars.. I wouldn’t begin to expect to be protected from EMP unless you buy a suitable steel container, weld in a metal lining over the wooden bottom.. and modify the doors so they are fully conductive all the way around when they are closed. Option might be to ADD a set of interior doors that are all metal and will conduct.. close the circuit.. all the way around.
Or get an older carbureted vehicle that does not depend on semiconductor components and circuits. Points and condenser type. Carry an extra condenser. The coil is MADE for the voltages an EMP would produce; The condenser could be damaged while in the circuit.. so that’s why you might carry an extra. The E1 pulse of an EMP is very short.. about a nanosecond.. Anyway..
I see some commmon issues perhaps I can shed some light on..
Alternators vs. Generators.
In short, an alternator generates 3 phases (AC) in the stator field (the outside windings that do not move). Each winding is 1/3 of a rotation ahead of or behind the others so when one reaches its peak voltage it is likewise, 1/3 of a rotation ahead of or behind the others. These phases cannot be combined, at least, not as AC. Diodes are semiconductor equivelents to a check valve, allowing electricity to flow in one direction only.. thus each winding is rectified separately and the positive half of the power wave is directed to one buss (“post” .. if you will), and the negative half of the power is directed to the another buss. (the negative is to the chassis of the alternator). The positive post is the alternator output.
Output voltage is regulated by the input or field voltage and in an alternator is the rotor. The field is connected thru a set of two brushes.. usually on the back of the alternator. Small changes in the field input will bring larger changes in the alterator’s output.
A generator works in the same way but “rectifies” mechanically.
The field, like an alterator, is regulated by a small voltage/current that makes large changes in the generators output.. but the field in this case is on the outside.. the non-moving part. Power is generated on the rotor this time. In every sense, the generator makes AC as well.. but when the rotor is making the positive half of the AC it is in the side where the positive brush is thus delivering positive voltage to the positive brush. When the same winding is in the other side of its rotaion it is making negative voltage… and delivering it to the negative brush..
The disadvantage, besides shorter brush life, is the rotor is still across the battery when you turn the ignition off. You need a relay to disconnect the brushes on a genertor or it will drain the battery dead when you turn off the engine.
An alternator can be subject to an EMP.. as the diodes are semiconductors.. with long wires to pick up EMP.. I think if I was to try to protect it I might put a diode or two in series with the output. these would be sacrifical. If they burn out they would disconnect the alternator. Better yet, using a device made for this protection. And extra set of diodes.. and knowing how to repair the alternator would go a long way… but in todays cars, it might well be the least of your issues! It should be said that todays cars are supposedly designed to be less subject to EMP by virtue that they are designed to filter out noise. So Im told. Iv also heard some talk that if you have a metal body it will likely help to reduce SOME of the EMP. I would suggest STEEL as steel has a MUCH higher permeability over non-ferrous metals (carries a magnetic field better).
AC current flows IN ONE DIRECTION, THEN REVERSES. back and forth continuously. DC current always flows ONE WAY continuously… such as with a battery.
Old tube radios vs. todays semiconductor radios
First, tubes such as those in car radios and most old tube equipment… operates at about 300 volts dc (but vary greatly from generally a low of 150 to thousands of volts. A 300 volt EMP spike to a tube MADE to operate in this voltage range is highly unlikely to be damaged. A semiconductor .. made to operate in the 5 volt range.. or the 12 vdc range.. is likely to be destroyed.
For those who may remember, when you turn on an old tube radio the first thing to start is that little buzzing sound. This is the multi-vibrator. DC cannot be transformed, only AC. The multi-vibrator breaks up the dc power so it can be transformed.. boosted.. to about 300 volts for the radio tubes (the filiments are typically in the 12vdc range, however. A 6L6 has a 6.3 volt filiment. A 12AU5 will have a 12.6v filiment. Not all tubes are this way, however).
Another important note.. Picking up Chicago station while in Nevada is not unusual at night. However, this is a condition caused by the ionosphere, which changes once the sun is no longer exciting it. Sundown on the surface is much earlier then if you are at tens of thousands of feet high!. Modern semiconductor quality radios are MUCH more sensitive than the old tube radios.. This is known as “sensitivity”. Selectivity is the ability for the radio to separate out very close on the dial and in power.. radio stations. If you replace that old radio with a decent semiconductor radio .. same time, same location, same antenna.. (assuming its compatible with the newer radio).. and you will almost always do better with todays radios. (Ask a ham operator!)
Decibles.
Or, deci-bels. A decibel is 1/10th of a bel… and a bel is a logarythem (sp?)… and is a unit of power or difference.
a difference of 1 to 100 .. can be represented by the power of 100. Or, 10 to the second power, a 2
a difference of 1 to 10,000.. can be represented by the power of 10,000. Or, 10 to the FORTH power, a 4
a difference of 1 to 1,000,000 .. can be represented by the power of 1,000,000. Or, 10 to the SIXTH power, a 6
you can see the the last number represents the number of zeros. But if 100 is a 2.. and 1000 is a 3.. HOW can we represent a number BEWTEEN 100 and 1000? This would leave something like 200 being 2.3. Now, if we are talking BELS.. this would be 2.3 bels. If we are talking tenths of a bel it would them be deci-bels, or 23 decibels!
One note of interest… 0.3 bels or 3 DECIbels.. represents a DOUBLE in power. Obviously, one full bel (10 decibels) is a 10 fold gain.. BUT DONT BE CONFUSED THAT THE 10 IN DECIBLES IS THE 10 IN POWER GAIN. 20 decibles is NOT a 20 fold gain but would be a second gain of 10 and that equals 100 fold difference over what ever power you are comparing it to..
A 60 decibel (db) difference is a million to one. A 63 db difference is 2 million to one. 66db would be 4 million, 69db would be 8 million.. and 70 takes you to 10 million.
So, at the top of one of these EMP threads the author says something about a 60db attenuation being about 10,000 to one reduction to an EMP. 10,000 to one would be a 40db attenuation…
Another note of interest… EARTHQAUKES use .. spelling?.. Riktor scale. This to is a log. A 7.3 quake is TWICE the power of a 7.0 quake.. but half as powerful as a 7.6 quake. An 8.0 quake is TEN TIMES greater then a 7.0.. and 100 times greater than a 6.0.
For those who arent familar with logs.. it may take a little to get your head around it.. but worth understanding.
Lastly, the idea of using a Mylar bag to protect from EMP.. Its a good laugh.. as long as the equipment that gets fried ISNT MINE!!! (Kidding.. I write on these topics solely to help people and there is a LOT of BS out there!