After the EMP/Solar Flare/Grid Hack

[RedLED]

Wrap everything in Cinefoil, it is not like the foil for cooking this is very thick. I did one wrap around my cell phone, used the House landline, and my cell would not ring.

 

[glockboy]

I like the "UCO Mini Ultra Light Candle Lantern for Tealight Candles"
And 2 pack of 100 candles at Ikia for $3.50 each 100.
Sometime I just light them up at night just to look at them.

 

[xdayv]

Wrap everything in Cinefoil, it is not like the foil for cooking this is very thick. I did one wrap around ny cell phone, used the House landline, and my cell would not ring.

Cool, do you still have to wrap it with a non-conductive wrapping on top or in between?

--
Which brings me to ponder if AA (and probably Size D) are still the most commonly available and practical option for these kind of scenarios?

 

[RedLED]

Cool, do you still have to wrap it with a non-conductive wrapping on top or in between?

--
Which brings me to ponder if AA (and probably Size D) are still the most commonly available and practical option for these kind of scenarios?

Wrap it a few times, put it in a Metal box, safe and it will I hope be fine. Again this is Cinefoil. For photographic and motion picture lighting. Call Mole Richardson in LA.

I tested it with my cell phone, and it worked. However remember if you ever get in trouble or just want to disappear, I would just double stick tape my phone with a solar charged to a Union Pacific freight train, and let them figure that one out!

By the time whey figure it out you, or myself will be on a beach in the Maldives Islands, Indian Ocean. Wonderful place if you have not been, a little dangerous but not that bad! Just north of Diego Garcia, US Naval Supout facility, by like several hundred miles. spent some time there on an imbed that when wrong. I left and went to the Maldives, most beautiful water in the world!

And don't worry about the solar activity.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Yeah, I think i read a while ago we have so much metal space junk that the earth is more protected than ever from a solar flare.

John.

 

[broadgage]

I would avoid anything with electronics in it, including USB chargers, solar charge controllers and the like.
It is possible to provide battery lighting without any electronics, but takes a fair bit of planning.

A large flooded deep cycle acid battery is a good starting point, you do know how to charge it from a PV module without any electronics don't you ?
And how to determine when the battery is fully charged, by observation, without any electronic instrument or tester?
Old school D size nicads may be charged from this large battery, make certain that you have some of the batteries, and that you know at what current to charge them, and for how long, and means of setting the desired charging current and indicating this, again without any electronics.

Non portable lighting may be powered direct from the large battery, stock up on suitable INCANDESCENT lamps preferably lower wattage high efficiency types.

The D size nicads may be used in flashlights, do you have plenty of these ? And plenty of spare INCANDESCENT bulbs, dozens at least, hundreds might be prudent.

And returning to non electric alternatives, remember that the sort of outage we are talking about might be for years. Candles are good, but just one or two a day is 10,000 candles for 20 years.
Oil lamps are good, but don't forget spare parts, and say a hundred gallons of fuel.
Glowsticks are arguably the safest form of lighting, get a few hundred.

 

[BloodLust]

Planning to get some UCO lanterns and the UCO Mini for the tea lights I have lying around. The Mini doesn't have great reviews due to the wax spilling if moved while hot but I'll be using it as a table light anyway and won't be moved around. The candles are last resort anyway. Just much safer in the lantern than a fully exposed flame.

Scanning yard sales for out of season candles are a cheap way to acquire some.

 

[chaosdsm]

For a "prolonged" outage of several weeks or even months, solar power is the best way to go IMO. I'm using Goal Zero products for easy examples, there are competing products, & possibly better solar options available.

For personal portability (no vehicle available), something like the Goal Zero Sherpa 100 with two to four Nomad 28 Plus portable panels, or one Nomad 100 panel, depending on your power needs & weight restrictions, could be ideal. With 4 Nomad 28 Plus panels chained together for charging, the Sherpa 100 can be charged with as little as 3 hours of good sunlight (mid day with no clouds). Fully charged, the Sherpa 100 can theoretically charge seven to ten 3400mAh 18650's drained to around 3.2V, & weighs less than 2 pounds, while the Nomad 28+ panels weight about 3 pounds each.

For vehicular portability, something like the Goal Zero Yeti 400 Lithium only weighs 17 pounds & provides up to 428 watt hours of power, & can be charged in as little as 8 hours through four chained Nomad 28 Plus panels, or one Nomad 100 / Boulder 100 panel. Doesn't add a lot of weight that can reduce MPG/KPL, & can easily charge batteries, tablets, & laptops multiple times from a single charge.

For in-home power, theGoal Zero Yeti 1400 Lithium weighs in at just under 46 pounds & provides up to 1425 watt hours of power. which can run a decent sized refrigerator for up to 24 hours. It can be charged in as little as 6 hours through 6 chained Boulder 100 panels.

Personally for in-home full-time power, I would like to have 4 of these, one for the refrigerator, one for cooking on the hot plate, one for whole house lighting, fans, entertainment (computer, TV, music), & battery charging, and one to run the water pump. I would still need electric service for the water heater & A/C, but unfortunately, even one Yeti 1400 is NOT justifiable with my current income, even for use during power outages. Especially since I have a 5550 running Watt (8000 Watt surge) gas powered generator for power outages & extended outages beyond 3 days is EXTREMELY unlikely.

 

[broadgage]

Those talking about vehicular portability presumably have available a vintage vehicle, manufactured before about 1975 ? Nothing manufactured after about 1980 will run after an EMP, and the more modern vehicles from earlier years wont run either.
A horse would be a better bet.
Lithium batteries can only be safely charged with a fairly sophisticated charger, that contains electronics and will almost certainly be killed by the EMP.
Laptop or tablet PCs are unlikely to ever work again after an EMP.

 

[idleprocess]

Those talking about vehicular portability presumably have available a vintage vehicle, manufactured before about 1975 ? Nothing manufactured after about 1980 will run after an EMP, and the more modern vehicles from earlier years wont run either.

I wouldn't worry about modern vehicles weathering EMPs - ECUs and their associated sensors and accessories are already hardened since engine electrical systems are quite harsh. Fuel availability is going to be a far far bigger problem since pumps will be offline and the fuel supply itself will rapidly vanish in today's world of JIT logistics.

A horse would be a better bet.

So long as there's forage to be had, this is true. I'd rather use a bicycle, however - less maintenance than a horse and easier to keep under a wider variety of circumstances.

Lithium batteries can only be safely charged with a fairly sophisticated charger, that contains electronics and will almost certainly be killed by the EMP.
Laptop or tablet PCs are unlikely to ever work again after an EMP.

It's doubtful that standalone devices will be effected by an EMP since they lack the long antenna of the electrical grid to channel induced current into them. Place backup electronics in a Faraday cage wrapped in alternating layers of conductor and insulator if you wish - the sudden lack of industrial civilization is going to be a far larger and far more pressing problem.

 

[chaosdsm]

Those talking about vehicular portability presumably have available a vintage vehicle, manufactured before about 1975 ? Nothing manufactured after about 1980 will run after an EMP, and the more modern vehicles from earlier years wont run either.
A horse would be a better bet.
Lithium batteries can only be safely charged with a fairly sophisticated charger, that contains electronics and will almost certainly be killed by the EMP.
Laptop or tablet PCs are unlikely to ever work again after an EMP.

If you've already taken the before steps, then all your modern electronics & vehicles could still work just fine depending on how much $$$ you spent before the event in preparation.

 

[orbital]

+

$6 bucks spent at the dollar store gets you couple years of:

Cooking
Water sanitation
Heat/Warmth in colder weather
Make a genuine torch
Mood enhancer
..ect.

hotlinked image removed

(will need some heavy duty zip-loc bags for storage)

 

[Crazyeddiethefirst]

Pardon my ignorant question, but I was under the impression that items like flashlight drivers, battery chargers, etc. that are not in use, in the off position and not plugged in or connected to an outlet at the time of emp would not be affected. Is this premise incorrect? Thanks

 

[Rexlion]

We have food to share, and we intend to have extra water available (although a spring is within walking/bicycle distance). As for light, I think we will be better off leaving lights out for the most part during dark hours. No need to call attention to ourselves, and better to have eyesight adjusted to the night so we can see what's coming. If we find ourselves in a situation where we have to light 'em up, we will.

 

[chaosdsm]

Pardon my ignorant question, but I was under the impression that items like flashlight drivers, battery chargers, etc. that are not in use, in the off position and not plugged in or connected to an outlet at the time of emp would not be affected. Is this premise incorrect? Thanks

Depends on the magnitude of the event. An EMP, regardless of origin (solar / nuclear), sends magnetic waves. Just like a 'shake light' uses a magnet moving between wires to generate electricity, so to does an EMP's moving waves generate electricity within anything that is electrically conductive. Being turned off &/or unplugged can reduce the maximum damage that they might receive, but a strong enough event (like the 1859 Carrington Event) will still fry your electronics, unless they are in a properly shielded & grounded container.

 

[idleprocess]

Pardon my ignorant question, but I was under the impression that items like flashlight drivers, battery chargers, etc. that are not in use, in the off position and not plugged in or connected to an outlet at the time of emp would not be affected. Is this premise incorrect? Thanks

Powerful EMP's induce current in conductors, which act as antennas. Short conductors - such as in flashlights, laptops, wristwatches - are poor antennas, thus will see little current. Even a TV connected to a somewhat distant antenna on the other side of a building with 100+ feet of cabling might not see much induced current from the sort of EMP we're postulating about. The electrical grid, with its tens, hundreds, thousands of miles of conductors on the other hand will see huge induced currents, likely to damage everything connected to it.

On or off will likely matter little for a small standalone device not connected to the grid unless the power switch happens to physically disconnect effective antennas (conductors) from the sensitive bits. An EMP powerful enough to zap standalone electronics, you've got larger problems: a huge burst of ionizing radiation, high heat, overpressure, or no more problems whatsoever because you have perished of terminal reality failure.

 

[broadgage]

Pardon my ignorant question, but I was under the impression that items like flashlight drivers, battery chargers, etc. that are not in use, in the off position and not plugged in or connected to an outlet at the time of emp would not be affected. Is this premise incorrect? Thanks

A solar flare induces damaging currents in long conductors and could destroy anything connected to grid lines at the time of the incident. Unplugging such equipment should give complete protection.

An EMP is a different type of event, the energy pulse is enormously powerful and would induce damaging currents in any modern electronics unless specially hardened as some military gear is.
A large scale EMP attack would effectively end the modern world. I do not share the optimism expressed by others regarding vehicles surviving.
INCANDESCENT lamps should survive, but I doubt that LEDs and drivers would and I certainly would not stake my future on ANY modern consumer electronics surviving.

I again suggest reading "one second after" for a fictional account.

 

[irongate]

A solar flare induces damaging currents in long conductors and could destroy anything connected to grid lines at the time of the incident. Unplugging such equipment should give complete protection.

An EMP is a different type of event, the energy pulse is enormously powerful and would induce damaging currents in any modern electronics unless specially hardened as some military gear is.
A large scale EMP attack would effectively end the modern world. I do not share the optimism expressed by others regarding vehicles surviving.
INCANDESCENT lamps should survive, but I doubt that LEDs and drivers would and I certainly would not stake my future on ANY modern consumer electronics surviving.

I again suggest reading "one second after" for a fictional account.

One Second After, A Year Later, and one more deals with how people react and what they do after this attack. People will do a lot of things to get food, look at what people are doing down in Venezuela to get food. No pills for your pain,no banking,gas,food, the list goes on. When people talk about a attack on the power grid by a man made unit it will also include all of the reactors around the country plus hospitals. Try going for a week and then two and longer with no power like you had the day before. It effects the mind in many ways.
All I can say is prepare and make your old flashlights are working.
If nothing happens all the better, better to prepare than not.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

One Second After, A Year Later, and one more deals with how people react and what they do after this attack. People will do a lot of things to get food, look at what people are doing down in Venezuela to get food. No pills for your pain,no banking,gas,food, the list goes on. When people talk about a attack on the power grid by a man made unit it will also include all of the reactors around the country plus hospitals. Try going for a week and then two and longer with no power like you had the day before. It effects the mind in many ways.
All I can say is prepare and make your old flashlights are working.
If nothing happens all the better, better to prepare than not.

I remember the quote: A society is only three meals away from anarchy.

John.

 

[xdayv]

I remember the quote: A society is only three meals away from anarchy.

John.

True.

I've been an eyewitness to a similar event, back in Nov 2013 when Typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) struck our place, the strongest recorded typhoon to make landfall. It actually didn't take 3 square meals to have lawlessness, chaos and widespread looting. It took only a few hours.

Back then, I only had an old Maglite 5D which unreliably performed. From then on, tough lessons learned, and onwards to find better illumination tools. Here I am.