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What Will Be Best Form of Communication If the Grid Goes Down?

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What is the lowest common denominator of our civilization, or any civilization for that matter? By that I mean, what is the one thing no society can go without? Is it water and sanitation? Fuel and transportation? Food and electricity?

I would argue that absolutely nothing we have is possible without our ability to communicate. A society’s sophistication is directly proportional to the ability of its citizens to communicate with each other. Members of a primitive, nomadic society may only be able to speak to each other in person, whereas an advanced industrial society has telephones, radios, and the internet. And don’t think for a moment that high tech societies create these devices. On the contrary, these devices create high tech societies.

So we should ask ourselves what the most useful forms of communication would be, should the grid ever go down permanently; not only to keep in touch with other survivors, but to help rebuild society after the cataclysm has passed. Without some of these critical tools, we’re only prepping to survive, not to thrive.

Cell Phones/Computers

At first glace, there is little potential for these devices when the grid goes down. Without the multitude of servers that are scattered around the globe and the electricity that feeds them, our computers are nothing more than bulky hard drives. Cell phones might still work for a little while since some cell towers have backup batteries and solar panels, but their usefulness might be short lived.

However, don’t be too quick to scoff at the prepping potential of these devices. Computers might still be useful for communicating in some cases. It’s fairly easy to create a local wifi network (aka ad hoc network) between computers that are within range of each other. This would allow people living on the same street or in the same apartment building to talk to each other, provided they can generate their own electricity.

The better solution would be to create a local network with cell phones that isn’t reliant on any infrastructure. Their energy demands are far less than other computers, their range is longer than wifi, and they are of course, mobile. The technology for creating peer to peer networks between cell phones has existed for some time now, but unfortunately it has yet to be sold to the public. Companies like Terranet have been perfecting it over the past few years, and they estimate that about 30% of cell phones will be capable of making these networks with a simple software change. So right now, cell phones will be pretty much useless when the grid goes down, but that may change before the end of the decade.

Ham Radio

When most preppers think of communications, ham radios usually come to mind, and for good reason. They can communicate to other radios over hundreds of miles, and they may be the only form of very long distance communication when all else fails. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be very useful for the average person.

They use a lot of electricity, the equipment can be pretty expensive, and only about 700,000 Americans are licensed operators. Still, if even a fraction of them are up and running after a major disaster, they will play a crucial role in the relief effort. Due to their limited numbers and the amount of resources that are required to keep them running, you won’t see them being used for casual conversation, but you will see them used by communities for conducting commerce and coordinating reconstruction efforts.

CB Radio/Walkie Talkie

I suspect that CB Radio’s and Walkie Talkies will be the main form of communication for the average person, and they are the best candidates for filling the gap that cell phones and internet providers would leave behind. If anything, CB radios were our parents version of the internet. They were affordable and accessible, you had to learn the lingo to use them, they allowed you to communicate anonymously, and much like the internet, they were used to skirt the law from time to time.

There are millions of CB radios lying around, and many of them are still being used by truckers today, so they will be available to many of the survivors. More importantly, they don’t use too much electricity, they’re more user friendly than ham radios, and some of them are portable. Depending on the conditions you’re using them in, their range can extend anywhere from 1 to 25 miles.

As for walkie talkies, I don’t have to tell you how useful they could be. Much like the wifi network I spoke of earlier, these will be pretty handy for staying in touch with your neighbors. Together, CB radios and walkie talkies will be most common form communication after a disaster.

Courier

If the grid is down long enough, eventually some enterprising citizens would start to provide courier services. Whether it’s by foot or by bicycle, they will fill an important niche that other items on this list can’t provide, and that is a secure form of communication. If you had to send a message to someone who lives out of the range of your radio or wifi network, and you needed that message to remain a secret, writing that message down and sending someone out to deliver it by hand would be the only way to do it. Wifi just doesn’t have the range, and radios are too easy to listen in on.

So how do you plan on keeping in touch with your friends and relatives after a cataclysmic event? Are their any other methods or technologies that should have been included in this list?

Joshua Krause was born and raised in the Bay Area. He is a writer and researcher focused on principles of self-sufficiency and liberty at Ready Nutrition. You can follow Joshua’s work at our Facebook page or on his personal Twitter.

Joshua’s website is Strange Danger

This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition

Originally published June 5th, 2015


Source: http://readynutrition.com/resources/what-will-be-best-form-of-communication-if-the-grid-goes-down_05062015/


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    Total 9 comments
    • BEEF SUPREME

      Ham Radio, of course!

    • Klemens

      CB Radio is cheap, easy to use! So first choise if you are not a proffessional radio user.

    • SumTingWong

      Telepathy :twisted:

      • Nutz2U2

        Hey! I was just thinking the same thing.

    • Big dog.../small fish...

      Let’s all retrograde to the 18th century!!

    • Anonymous

      Sending a Raven.

      • Big dog.../small fish...

        Pigeons.

    • jimbow

      Smoke signals, when you see smoke down the street you know a gang of people are hunting for food and supplies and they will soon be at your house.

    • ExLibris

      While you somewhat discounted “HAM” radios…but you didn’t consider the value of the HAM/Amateur radio community in your assessment. In some places it’s a close-knit community that develops strong friendships locally and long-distance.

      While working for my “HAM” license to operate a HAM radio, and after obtaining my license, I met dozens of incredibly wonderful LOCAL people…men and women who worked the 2m and 70cm HAM radio frequencies. Very quickly I was encouraged to join the local all volunteer extreme weather amateur radio SKYWARN group. We trained for helping people during emergencies, communications, etc. As part of that, I also met a number of law enforcement and local government personnel. We were also occasionally called upon to help assist law enforcements communications during other emergencies.

      I believe amongst all the connections and friendships I made, there would likely be someone that would help me or my family while I was trying to get home…or at the very least help let me and my family know what was happening, mutually notify of any known dangerous areas, and so on.

      You also didn’t even mention handheld “HAM” radios. 2m and 70cm band radios offer more secure, clear, and flexible communications than “CB” radios. A given 2m or 70cm HAM radio is also generally significantly smaller and lighter than a CB radio with the same output power. HAM radio frequencies are also much less congested than CB frequencies. Fewer users and significantly more “channels” makes HAM radio communications easier with less interference from other users.

      I think compared to battery operated CB for given energy consumption, battery operated amateur radio provides significantly longer communication range (note 1). Some hand-held HAM radios use as few as 3 AAA batteries, while other HAM radios use more AAA or AA cells (which can be found just about everywhere).

      It’s also MUCH less likely that my communications on HAM radio would be picked up by people with malicious intentions. Not only is it less likely that people in general have a “HAM”/amateur radio, there are thousands of amateur radio frequencies vs. just a couple dozen on CB. Thus, it would be possible pre-arrange to use an obscure amateur radio frequency between family/friends and me in such an event. There are also “repeaters” that can greatly extend the range of hand-held amateur radios and many of them have at least 24 hour backup power supplies. Some repeater networks link 1000 miles and tie-in to phone land-lines. Even if cell-towers are “down” those might still work as phone companies’ land-line systems generally have longer lasting backup power supplies than their cell-towers. A land-line linked repeater may provide phone communications when cellphones aren’t working.
      ==========

      You also didn’t discuss FRS/GMRS two-way radios. They too, offer some advantages over CB. They are smaller and lighter, potentially greater range (note 1), weather resistant (definitely compared to car-mount CB), the batteries last longer, and more. They are also readily available and even good quality units are inexpensive (less than $50 per pair).

      (note 1: range comparison figures assume all transmission power of CB/HAM/FRS-GMRS are kept at legal levels)

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