Five Hours Before

I read somewhere recently that a microwave oven's chassis would act like a Faraday cage. I suspect you'd still have to ground it (use a grounding adapter that's had the power prongs cut off so that ONLY the ground prong is connected) but it sounds like it would work. I'm no physicist, so I couldn't be sure.

However... a year without power? Without supplies? There are a lot of folks dependent on medicines that are not going to survive. I might be one of them; I don't know for sure - I might make it by being VERY careful with my diet. Given that... my nephew, who's three hours away, would get an emergency call followed by a visit - me, with all my firearms, ammo and anything else I can toss in the car and still be on the road within 90 minutes (giving myself a half-hour cushion). If I can't make it, I'm damn sure going to make sure my favorite nephew and his wife ARE.
 
Kevin_NH said:
Since you would know approximately when the EMP will hit, you can protect electronics by just sealing them up in a non-conductive container and ensuring they are entirely underwater during the event. So sink all your laptops and ham radios in a weighted plastic drum in your pool, and bob's your uncle.

As mentioned earlier, the threat of EMP to personal gear is overrated. Infrastructure relying on long runs of cable or antennas might be vulnerable outside the blast radius, but that's about it.
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References, please.
 
Timber said:
So the plan when the big bad alert goes out is for everyone one to run to the bank, and then run to the wholesale clubs? Anyone seeing any flaws in this?
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I think the idea is you got a super secret heads up and wont be fighting the crowds. If this were announced on CNN to the general public I would go right home. I wouldnt stop anywhere.
 
Timber said:
So the plan when the big bad alert goes out is for everyone one to run to the bank, and then run to the wholesale clubs? Anyone seeing any flaws in this?
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derek said:
I thought the intel was only going to one person.
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Timber said:
Right, but if your best friend at the CIA sends you the text, he's sending it to other people, too. And other CIA dudes at Langley are texting their friends. Who in turn text / call their friends and families. 8 minutes later it's on NES. You know how that works. [wink]
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Exactly. Traffic is going to be miserable.
 
Timber said:
Right, but if your best friend at the CIA sends you the text, he's sending it to other people, too. And other CIA dudes at Langley are texting their friends. Who in turn text / call their friends and families. 8 minutes later it's on NES. You know how that works. [wink]
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G-Damn F-ing day ladies. [grin]

Nobody would believe Andy any ways.
 
P-14 said:
Exactly, Mr.H.



A good tip on the candles. But, why the dependence on matches? I use matches as a backup. Bic-type *flint* lighters are my primary source of fire. You get thousands of strikes and lights in a very small, light bundle that will light when wet.

Don't buy the piezo ones in case of an EMP! [wink][smile]

ETA: I wasn't sure about the disposable lighters working when wet, so I dunked one in water, shook it out, and tried the striker a few times with no luck. Then, I blew in the flint area a couple of times, spun the striker wheel and voila! It lit.

50-pack of disposable lighters for just under $13 w/ shipping here. Enough for you, the family, and friends for an EMP lifetime. [grin]
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Matches are easy for me....my kid bought 2 cubic feet of matchbooks at an auction (they had no knives at that one! [laugh])

Lighters are fine, too....whatever floats your boat.
 
5 HOURS. I have a 2 hour drive to my cabin with remote acreage in Maine. I would pack my truck along with my rifles, ammo and family, 500 feet of rope and a small bucket that would fit down my artesian well after I took off the well head and buy all the canned goods and toilet paper I could fit at Sam's Club on the way (1/2 hour there). With about 2.5 hours left once I arrive, I would fell as many trees as I could and cut them into splittable lengths assuming my chainsaw won't work and gas won't be available. I can split the wood by hand later. I have MRE's stored there to get me through what is left of winter along with non-hybrid seeds for growing when the weather breaks. That would give me enough firewood for heating and cooking and I would have laborious but unlimited supply of water for drinking and cleaning and my pond can provide for irrigating my garden. Money would probably not be very useful after that. I could hunt small game and deer for protein as well. I would bowhunt to limit drawing attention from noise if need be.
 
freedom2012 said:
5 HOURS. I have a 2 hour drive to my cabin with remote acreage in Maine. I would pack my truck along with my rifles, ammo and family, 500 feet of rope and a small bucket that would fit down my artesian well after I took off the well head and buy all the canned goods and toilet paper I could fit at Sam's Club on the way (1/2 hour there). With about 2.5 hours left once I arrive, I would fell as many trees as I could and cut them into splittable lengths assuming my chainsaw won't work and gas won't be available. I can split the wood by hand later. I have MRE's stored there to get me through what is left of winter along with non-hybrid seeds for growing when the weather breaks. That would give me enough firewood for heating and cooking and I would have laborious but unlimited supply of water for drinking and cleaning and my pond can provide for irrigating my garden. Money would probably not be very useful after that. I could hunt small game and deer for protein as well. I would bowhunt to limit drawing attention from noise if need be.
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Have you already prepped the garden space and how are you going to preserve the food for winter?
 
coastie said:
Have you already prepped the garden space and how are you going to preserve the food for winter?
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That is a good question. As far as the garden site, I have an old hand tiller. It has a wheel on the front and you push it with repetetive downward strokes. With time, I could till the lawn (I have about 4 acres of lawn and won't need all that, maybe an acre). My foundation drain drains into one area of the lawn downgrade from the house, so as long as we don;t have a drought, the watering needed will be minimal since it tends to trickle all year. I can also carry water to the area in buckets from the pond, about 60 yds away. As for the winter, I have no idea. I have to read up on how to preserve it. I suppose I could dry out some of it and store it in ziplocks and then rehydrate. I am no expert on that. THe original poster said it was 12 months, so I think I could make it that long. I would also make jerky out of the meat of game that would keep for some time. I would guess I would be spending most of my time hunting and protecting my place. I also have a friend who is pretty capable at hunting and survival skills that I would tip off and have join. too much work for one man with little kids.
 
If like in the book "One Second After", the EMP would largely affect the US and some European allies, I would spend an hour getting the family together at our basecamp. 30 minutes loading up the car with our Go-bags, silver, and food. Drive 3.5 hours north at a high rate of speed into Canada. Once across the border far enough, cash out the debit card for Canadian bucks and look for an embassy where I can ask for assylum.

In lieu of that, we have been prepping, with an emphasis on living with out power in our home. So...at the very least we'd be ok in the short run.
 
Coyote Gray said:
If like in the book "One Second After", the EMP would largely affect the US and some European allies, I would spend an hour getting the family together at our basecamp. 30 minutes loading up the car with our Go-bags, silver, and food. Drive 3.5 hours north at a high rate of speed into Canada. Once across the border far enough, cash out the debit card for Canadian bucks and look for an embassy where I can ask for assylum.
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EMP events propogate radially via line of sight. Any EMP even with a radius sufficient to affect the entire US (3k miles east west) will extend significantly into both Mexico and Canada, with a minimum 500 miles into each. North West Alaska and upper Yukon might be spared, but nothing in south central canada is going to function. An EMP even that affects both the United State AND Western Eruope will affect half the globe north south as well as east west (unless they're multiple events). Affecting all of Canada and Mexico (along with central american, norther south America and likely western africa.

If, the even is multiple smaller events, such as multiple lower altitude warheads, canada might be safe, but there would also likely be pockets of lightly affects / unaffected areas in the US.

Sounds like you've got a good start though. Planning for the most likely diasters first is the best way to start. Short term power loss, medium term job loss, extended illness/injury, short term disruption of public services (police, fire, water, sewer, banking, etc)
 
yup, nice to know that the EMP will likely wipe out any record of the transaction or the debt owed on the credit card.
 
the first thing if i dont have my daughter that day is come up with some B.S. story to get my daughter away for the day. Then make my way up to a family members house in Western MA stopping at Bass Pro on the way buying up what i could. Then once every is together and after the thing hits survey the damage see what exactly works and what doesnt and then make our decisions after that.
 
dwarven1 said:
a year without power? Without supplies? There are a lot of folks dependent on medicines that are not going to survive.
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A year is understating it as well. If an EMP were to take out any of the main transformers, it would be a MINIMUM of 10 years before replacements would be manufactured and installed. You're right, a lot of people are going to die. Virtually everyone living in an urban setting is screwed. No power and no sewer, in a matter of just a few days you're going to have human waste in the streets and disease starting to spread.
 
First stop, cvs, then next door to wallgreens.
Then I'm gonna hijack a truck load of tampons on the way back up the hill.
Pile everyone into the semi and head out.
No need to kidnap strippers, they'll find me.
 
Pete85 said:
A year is understating it as well. If an EMP were to take out any of the main transformers, it would be a MINIMUM of 10 years before replacements would be manufactured and installed. You're right, a lot of people are going to die. Virtually everyone living in an urban setting is screwed. No power and no sewer, in a matter of just a few days you're going to have human waste in the streets and disease starting to spread.
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I believe the current estimates are, if an EMP could damage all of the primary distribution interface transformers, it would take 1 1/2 years to establish back-bone service to the grid. That's Emergency Services, Hospitals, etc. Another 2-3 years before urban centers are fully restored and an additional 3-5 years for the rural areas to get power back. The point is, if you can survive a year without power, you'll have the time needed to adapt and establish a new norm, but you're right. Without power, which also eliminates the ability to pump fuel, pressurize water, pump or treat waste, urban areas are going to rapidly become cessepools of garbage and disease. - You need to get away from urban centers as soon as possible.
 
I would like to see a sequel to OSA that follows up the next year or two. I imagine that while the military could bring in medicines and medical personnel, I cant believe they could move the supplies to keep all those people fed. A semi truck of things like seed, canning lids, some fuel and medicine could go a long way towards that community supporting itself.
 
ShadeWPI said:
I believe the current estimates are, if an EMP could damage all of the primary distribution interface transformers, it would take 1 1/2 years to establish back-bone service to the grid. That's Emergency Services, Hospitals, etc. Another 2-3 years before urban centers are fully restored and an additional 3-5 years for the rural areas to get power back. The point is, if you can survive a year without power, you'll have the time needed to adapt and establish a new norm, but you're right. Without power, which also eliminates the ability to pump fuel, pressurize water, pump or treat waste, urban areas are going to rapidly become cessepools of garbage and disease. - You need to get away from urban centers as soon as possible.
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I agree with this assessment, but in all reality would power companies,utilities, ever get back up and running to today standards? If an EMP event was to ever happen man made or nature(Solar Flares) to the magnitude which we are talking about it would be game over, Stone ages.. Getting power restored would be the least of our worries for sure.
 

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