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A Green Beret’s Guide to EMP: Practical Steps to Prepare for a “Lights Out” Scenario (Part 1)

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Jeremiah Johnson is a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne) and a graduate of the U.S. Army’s SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape).

This series is dedicated to Ben Raines, one of SHTF’s readers, who wrote:

“If the power is out for more than 2 weeks I will have some serious decisions to make.”

Ben, I’m doing this article for you as I promised, and I hope it will help you (and others) to make those decisions in the critical moments and days following an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) event.  Although I had plenty of science courses in college, I am not a scientist.  Certainly someone with a scientific background will comment on this article.  Let me state this:  Scientists, I welcome all comments, positive or negative, but please make them proactive.  These articles are forums where the writers are “emcees” that introduce topics for discussion and present some salient points.  You guys and gals are the ones who pick up the topics and run the football in for the TD.

We need to be “SME’s” as we called them in the Army: Subject Matter Experts.  One of my personal goals for SHTF is not just to draw a large readership base; it is to help readers develop themselves and also develop one another.  Let the site become an ORP (objective rally point) where everyone can plan, exchange ideas, and attain better levels of awareness and preparation for the times to come.  In this light, there is a lot of knowledge out there awaiting use.  Take the knowledge you amass, step up to the plate, and take the swing: do the best you can with what you have.  And if it isn’t perfect, so what?  You give it your best shot and then adjust fire from there.

So here it is.  Scenario 1 finds you on your way to work.  You just dropped the kids off to school and you’re out on the freeway heading toward work at 8:05 am, armed with a cup of coffee and your local radio station.  All of a sudden the radio crackles and all of the power in your vehicle cuts off and you drift (hopefully safely!) to a halt.  You do a head check: all of your fellow commuters on the road are experiencing the same problem, except one guy in a ’54 Ford pickup truck who passes right by you.  You look at your wristwatch and it is blank.  Your cell phone is off, and out.  You notice a traffic light ahead of you is out, and the convenience store and its sign on the corner are devoid of lights.  Somewhere in the heart of the American Midwest, about 200 miles above the ground, an ICBM just went off and delivered an EMP to the U.S.

This article and the series are going to focus on some basic things we can do to help us prepare beforehand for such a scenario.  Almost all of the readers here knows about what an EMP is and some basics about it.  We are not going to delve into all of the properties of the EMP.  For those who haven’t heard of it, an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is a high-density electrical field that can damage or destroy electronic devices.  EMP can affect cars and trucks, computers, electrical appliances, aircraft, power transmission grids, and anything unshielded from it.  This can be delivered by a missile or a satellite and would have devastating effects on the U.S. power grid and infrastructure, as mentioned in this citation:

Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, CRITICAL NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES, April 2008: Page 45: “It is not practical to try to protect the entire electrical power system or even all high value components from damage by an EMP event. There are too many components of too many different types, manufactures, ages, and designs. The cost and time would be prohibitive. Widespread collapse of the electrical power system in the area affected by EMP is virtually inevitable after a broad geographic EMP attack …”

Readers, I think you grasp the concept.  Now let’s discuss what we can do about it.  The first thing I propose to you:

“Low tech” your supplies as much as possible as your “base.”

Rely on your basics that do not rely upon electricity or technology.  I have mentioned some items in previous articles that we’re going to stress here, as it is all interrelated.  This list is neither in order nor exhaustive:

  1. Lensatic Compass: good old-fashioned GI equipment; durable, reliable, and affordable.  If you must carry your wrist compass (electronic), make sure your Lensatic is available for backup, and make sure you know how to use it.
  2. Hand-crank flashlight: has its own little generator and doesn’t rely on batteries
  3. A Good Automatic Movement Watch: You need to keep time and coordinate things with your family after the event.  You’ll have to really shop and find one with a good warranty.
  4. Slide Rule: Yes, you may find the need to make complex calculations in a hurry.  The “Uncle Caveman” abacus just won’t do the trick on some things.  Pick up a slide rule and go online or find references on how to use it.
  5. Optics not requiring batteries: Those rangefinders and Steiners just lost their tech, and that wonderful laser crosshair reticle with range-tab vanished.  Any scope for a weapon needs to not be dependent on any batteries, electronic optics, or laser devices.
  6. Security devices: In this case, locks, safes (guns, valuables, etc), automobiles (touch pad entry), and anything requiring electricity or electronics to enter…make ‘em manual.  What good is a gun safe that works electronically and then you have to blow the door to retrieve the weapons?
  7. Vehicles: How high-tech is your vehicle?  The ’54 Ford truck in the example will probably still be good to go; however, the Lamborghini may have just become a lawn ornament in memoriam.  We’ll cover more on this later.
  8. Well Water: The water pump isn’t going to work unless you have a genny, and even then it may not.  What do you do?  I ordered a kit from a guy name John Tatman: the EZ Water Well Hand Pump that has a special valve he supplies you and you build the pump out of PVC.  The guy is great; he lets you talk to him directly on his cell phone if you have a problem.  The kit works to wells up to 175 feet deep, at 4-5 gallons per minute; you can order it online.  The whole kit and kaboodle will run you less than $250.
  9. Food: Yes, food.  How are you going to save what is in the fridge?  Prepare by having adequate supplies of charcoal and a couple of grills (I recommend a Brinkman).  Also, now is the time for canning supplies.  Pick up a green two-burner Coleman camp stove that works on dual fuel (Coleman/white gas, and gasoline).  You can use this to fire up the pressure canners and water-bath canners at a controlled rate[Note: If you want to read about a “mad scramble” with food, go to Tess Pennington’s Ready Nutrition site and find my articles on how my wife and I made it through Hurricane Katrina]  I strongly recommend visiting your local County Extension Office or the local Community College for a Canning Course.

An Additional note on food:  Keeping in the fridge only what is necessary for about a week and putting the lion’s share into canned food, dry goods, or long shelf-life (dehydrated, mylar packed) foods is probably your best bet to safeguard your food supply in the long haul.  Make sure to FIFO (first in, first out) your stock to keep the freshest/most recent purchases in storage.

  1. The Bathroom: Yes, #1 and #2, always there! I highly recommend (if you don’t already compost) at the bare minimum a portable potty of the type that many seniors and those with health issues utilize.  There are 4-gallon bags available in a roll in Wal-Mart for the bucket liner that are about $3.50 and have 75 bags to a roll.  They last about a week.  When all is said and done, you can do a controlled burn of them and save your water supplies/space in your septic tank.

We have covered a short list of what you need for low-tech equipment starters.  But what about what you already have?  How do you protect your gadgets and gizmos from the EMP?  In the reference section at the end of this article, I have cited some works that will give you more EMP information and a site that you can research to find more information on Faraday Cages, which most of you guys and gals have heard about already.  But just in case: What is the Faraday Cage?  It is a device enabling objects stored within its confines to be shielded from EMP and other types of charges.  The scientist Michael Faraday expostulated its theorems back in 1836.

Copper and aluminum are the two best metals (in order) to use for your cage structures; however, steel will work.  The main point is you must have a little background knowledge of what is needed.  Maxwell’s equations relevant to a conductor are relevant here.  The efflux (the waves: radio, gamma, etc) originating with an EMP is a broad-banded grouping.  Regarding Maxwell’s equation:  Any resident excess charge whether fixed or time-varying must reside on the conductor’s effective surface; an excess disturbance would flow around a continuous conductor’s surface from one end to the other.  The interior of such a conductor would not experience this flux.

The equation shows that a solid object that can be closed off (such as an ammo can or a metal trash can with tight fitting lid) without gaps can be effectively employed for a Faraday cage.  This also illustrates how a grounding rod would not be needed if the gaps are closed off correctly (or if you are going to enmesh a whole room/structure and the wavelengths are not smaller than the apertures). As I mentioned previously, I’m not a scientist; however, the information is out there and there is no need to “reinvent the wheel.”

There is a rule that I use for myself.  You will have to gauge your budget and availability of equipment to see if you can apply it for your situation.  Here it is:

Rule:  Any electronic equipment should be bought in pairs/two (2) of each, with one out for use and a second in a Faraday Cage.

This may seem a “no brainer,” however, this insures that if you lose something?  You may only lose one and have a backup for later.  In addition, if there’s time to forsee it coming, you may be able to take that operational piece and stick that in a cage prior to it hitting the fan.  Here are a list of indispensibles and important items, non-exhaustive, for the cages:

Radiological Survey Meter, a.k.a. Geiger counter

Night vision devices

Scopes/red-dot sights/laser sights/electronic optics/range finders

Laptop computer (worth its weight in gold post-event)

Motorolas and hand-held communication devices

Batteries and chargers (solar and/or plug in’s)

Battery-powered IR/movement sensors

Calculators/wristwatches/battery testers…small electronic aids

***ANY medical device to maintain or sustain life (diabetes testers, hearing aids, etc)

Win the game with your backups.  Stick them in cages and forget about them until you need them.  We’re going to cover cages and other protective measures in Part 2.  This will get you started, especially regarding your planning.  Assess your stance and what is in place right now.  What do you and your family require in terms of specialty gear?  Do your research and find out about EMP’s and begin to formulate a plan.  I wholeheartedly welcome any and all discussion on this topic and look forward to reading your comments.  Seriously, we have some real experts out there, and those comments are a gold mine for everyone (yours truly included).

Everyone have a great day and I’ll have Part 2 ready for you soon.

JJ

Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson was a Special Forces Medic, EMT and ACLS-certified, with comprehensive training in wilderness survival, rescue, and patient-extraction. He is a Certified Master Herbalist and a graduate of the Global College of Natural Medicine of Santa Ana, CA. A graduate of the U.S. Army’s survival course of SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape), Mr. Johnson also successfully completed the Montana Master Food Preserver Course for home-canning, smoking, and dehydrating foods.

Mr. Johnson dries and tinctures a wide variety of medicinal herbs taken by wild crafting and cultivation, in addition to preserving and canning his own food. An expert in land navigation, survival, mountaineering, and parachuting as trained by the United States Army, Mr. Johnson is an ardent advocate for preparedness, self-sufficiency, and long-term disaster sustainability for families. He and his wife survived Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Cross-trained as a Special Forces Engineer, he is an expert in supply, logistics, transport, and long-term storage of perishable materials, having incorporated many of these techniques plus some unique innovations in his own homestead.

Mr. Johnson brings practical, tested experience firmly rooted in formal education to his writings and to our team. He and his wife live in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with their three cats.

This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition

Originally published May 27th, 2015


Source: http://readynutrition.com/resources/a-green-berets-guide-to-emp-practical-steps-to-prepare-for-a-lights-out-scenario-part-1_27052015/


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    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    Total 14 comments
    • Boxed in Freight

      Remember, the guy that doesn’t read these kind of articles lives front, back, and next door to you.

      • Sean

        :lol: Jeremiah Johnson :lol: THAT WAS A GREAT MOVIE :lol:

        There is no getting away from Chemtrails and Elf and Gwen Towers

        You have been “Bioengineered”

    • awakenow

      There are 105 Nuclear power-plants in the US alone.
      They have enough diesel fuel for running cooling pumps for about 72 hrs.
      At the time they run out of fuel to run the pumps, we are looking at
      MELT DOWN
      Chernobyl / Fukushima on steroids.

      It only takes a small amount of iodine to word off the radioactive iodine.
      This should be taken as soon as you see the radioactive cloud.
      Move out of the down wind areas as soon as you can.

      BE RIGHT WITH GOD

      • ExLibris

        @awakenow

        ASSUMING the facility has backup power as you suggest, and is still working properly after an external power loss (Fukushima, Chernobyl, etc are NOT examples of that), the reactor(s) can be manually shut-down long BEFORE the pumps fail and before the reactor(s) can “Melt Down”. Search Wikipedia for [ SCRAM ] for more info. If power fails completely, reactor designs incorporate automated SCRAM systems as well Example: “Another design uses electromagnets to hold the rods suspended, with any cut to electric current resulting in an immediate and automatic control rod insertion. (which SCRAMs the reactor)”–Wikipedia

        An iodine supplement helps with only ONE of the possible radioactive products, and even then, only helps to a limited degree, and ONLY helps for the thyroid gland.

        IF radioactive products breach the containment vessel(s), depending on the reactor there can be MUCH worse radioactive by-products from a breached nuclear reactor.

    • Carro

      Thanks for caring brother but if an EMP happens, the only thing this 60 year old will be pickling is his brain.
      I won’t fight or kill people, because if that ever happens this country won’t be liveable.
      Let me ask you this? WHY would you even want to survive? To do what?

      • David Gordon

        Survive to support future generations. There is no greater calling. Great article. I bet the writer would take my rocket stove over all the other heat sources he mentions – if he new it existed. See GordonRocketCompany.com

        • Arte Vespule

          Seen your design. All in all it ain’t that great. There are many better ones out there. Yours lacks a vertical feed hopper. So it requires constant attendance. Which is a drag man. And there are some designs I have seen that can actually run on stove pellets for 10 to 12 hours without reloading…..

    • Arte Vespule

      Does anyone know, will the solar panels themselves survive an EMP? I have backups of all the related stuff already safe in a cage. But the panels are too big. Just wondering….

      • ExLibris

        @Arte Vespule
        I don’t know if a link will survive on this website, but here is info on this topic at the solarindustry website (Vol. 1, Issue 31, September 26, 2013). (search on
        [ Threats and Protection to Solar PV Industry Growth ]
        on the solarindustry website if this link is censored by the website)
        link= http://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.13300

        The article says for maximum survivability the panels themselves require shielding for EMP.

        The wire mesh suggested in the article would slightly reduce the output/efficiency of the solar panel output as the mesh would block some sunlight from reaching the PV surface. The mesh would also have to be bonded to additional metal sheeting about the panels and of course all the components and wiring would have to be shielded as well. It even talks about shielding the house itself as part of the total protection.

        The article also says manufacturers will start building in the wire mesh to production solar panels within a few years “…as solar manufacturers build the wire mesh shield internally within the panels.”

        • Big dog.../small fish...

          Stupid question here but: what the hell does one do in winter when there’s a foot of snow on the panels and the temp’s -30C and too windy to shovel the snow off the panel??

        • ExLibris

          @Doggoneit! Big dog/small fish…
          If it’s that windy, then surely you could come up with some sort of wind-powered windshield wiper “system” to auto-sweep the snow off your solar panels? (like Solyndra, you can probably get “$535 million in federal loan guarantees (start-up funding) from the Obama administration” (actually from the taxpayers)) for this green energy “system”.

          Either that, or switch to your secondary backup wind-turbine farm (but be sure to use winter-weight lubricants in the gearing to handle that -30C (yikes!)).

        • Big dog.../small fish...

          @ExLibris

          Wow, living OFF the grid(?) might prove to be expensive….

          Sorry but I’d take ON/OFF with Hydro-Québec.

    • ExLibris

      Your list contained the item, “Hand-crank flashlight: has its own little generator and doesn’t rely on batteries”

      It should be noted that many “hand-crank” flashlights these days contain electronic control and regulation circuitry that also can be destroyed by EMP. That’s particularly true of LED-based flashlights. If relying on them, these flashlights should be stored in an “Faraday Cage” shielded container when not in use.

      Additionally, even the LED itself (which is a solid-state device), in a simple LED flashlight (hand-cranked or not), may be damaged by an EMP. (An LED by itself, not even connected to any other circuitry, may be destroyed in less than a second when “cooked” in a microwave oven)

      Personally, I like to ALSO keep a small, simple ~500 Lumen LED flashlight that can use just ONE common AA rechargeable cell for power. I have a small solar panel scrounged from a solar garden light to keep battery(ies) charged, and multiple extra AA cells (all to be kept stored in a Faraday container of course). It’s much brighter than any hand-cranked flashlight, and AA cells are very plentiful and found in many places. I use a Rosewill RLFL-14001 (450 lumen) weatherproof unit that costs about $15. It’s compact, rugged, and light. There are similar LED flashlights that use 1xAA 1.5V cell OR a 1×14500 Li-ion 3.6V cell that are also waterproof instead of water-resistant, but they do cost more. The 500 Lumen was a trade-off between brightness vs. time one battery will keep flashlight at useful brightness. The RLFL-14001 works very well for a few hours on a single AA 1.5V 2400mA cell.

      • ExLibris

        Just to be clear, the RLFL-14001 is designed for a 1.5V cell ONLY (alkaline or NiMH). It is not one of the alternative flashlights I noted that works on EITHER 1.5V or 3.6V. Installing a 3.6V Li-ion 14500 cell (same physical size as a 1.5V NiMH or alkaline cell) in the RLFL-14001 will permanently destroy the flashlight after a few minutes of use.

        Note: I also like the RLFL-14001 because the switch is a MECHANICAL on/off switch. Unlike a number of other LED flashlights, this flashlight doesn’t consume ANY power from the battery when it’s “off”. I’ve run into some LED flashlights that still consume power and will deplete the battery within a single month even when supposedly turned “off”. I consider that an important factor in any survival flashlight.

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