The threat of an EMP attack is more likely now than ever before. We have anti-missile defense systems that are able to protect us against these types of attacks, but do we have anti-EMP defense systems? According to the NHS EMP Task Force, North Korea has a high-altitude EMP (HEMP) weapon that "greatly exceeds" the civilian infrastructures and power grid (North Korea EMP Threat). This means that we do have protection in place, but it's not good enough to actually protect us. That leads us to the questions of what will work after an EMP attack; and how can we protect ourselves against an EMP attack?
Table of Contents
What is an EMP
An EMP is a powerful burst of electromagnetic energy caused by an intense and quick acceleration of charged particles. The resulting energy produced then surges through any nearby conductive materials. The excessive energy produces heat, which is what damages the internals of electronic devices.
A nuclear EMP has three pulses of voltage/current. Each phase lasts a different duration and is caused by the chain reaction of the gamma rays released by the nuclear reaction, energy from the inelastic scattering, and the distortion of the earth's geomagnetic structure.
The E1 pulse starts at the time of detonation and continues until 1 microsecond after the detonation.
The E-2 pulse starts at 1 microsecond and continues until about 1 second after the detonation.
The E-3 pulse starts at about 1 second after the detonation and can continue for several minutes.
The EMP generates electricity and flows through the atmosphere until it connects to an antenna (wires and conductive material).
What Causes an EMP?
The main three causes of an EMP are:
Nuclear explosions
Solar storms
Lightning
What Will Work After an EMP Attack
Most people know that EMP's can be devastating, but they don't exactly know why. All electronics have a limited capacity of how much electricity they can handle at any point in time. If you ever noticed hot wires from an extension cord it's because of the electricity flowing through it. When there is more electricity than the wires can handle the wires get hot and can melt.
EMP's are dangerous because they put out a tremendous amount of electricity. When the electricity makes contact with an antenna (the power grid and your electronics), it causes an over-voltage condition and produces heat, which can destroy most electronic devices.
The antenna that would be most affected would be the nation’s power grid, but any type of wiring can be an antenna for the electricity to travel through. Anything that has wiring in it has the potential to be destroyed by an EMP.
What will work after an EMP Attack?
Non-electric appliances and tools such as wood stoves, fireplaces, solar ovens, manual appliances, etc.
Small electronic devices stored within concrete buildings or faraday cages.
Anything connected to a powerful surge protector like the EMP Shield.
Take this EMP Quiz to see if you are protected.
What is an EMP Shield
Simply put, an EMP Shield is a powerful surge protector that shunts over-voltage spikes. It is just like any surge protector in that it shunts the overvoltage into a ground source before it can inflict any damage.
The EMP Shield differs from ordinary surge protectors in that they are capable of withstanding a lot more amps and shunting the over-voltage much more quickly. The EMP Shield has been tested and exceeded military standards (MIL-STD-188-125-1). It pulled the excess electricity in less than 500 trillionths of a second and was able to withstand EMP strikes over 40 times without damaging the device while performing its job.
Does EMP Shield Really Work
The EMP Shield is designed to protect against EMP attacks and lightning strikes. The problem with this question is that there aren't many EMP attacks happening these days so we can't really verify if they work or not. We still want to know if the EMP Shield really works, so we will have to verify it another way.
The only way we can really know for sure is by these three points:
Product testing and the validity of the testing facility
Warranties and company reputation
Consumer reviews
EMP Shield Testing & Testing Facility Validity
You can know if a product is good or not based on the testing of its functionality, the facility that tested it was a 3rd party, and if the testing facility is valid and has a good reputation. Fortunately for us, the EMP Shield has been tested by a 3rd party and the facility is legitimate.
The EMP Shield was tested by the same facility that tests U.S military and DOD equipment. It was tested by Keystone Compliance and Intertek. These 3rd party companies have been around for years and are well-known independent product verification companies. As stated above the EMP Shield exceeded the military standards (MIL-STD-188-125-1) for protection against a high-altitude nuclear detonation that results in an electromagnetic pulse.
Both of these companies risk their reputation that the EMP Shield will do its job against an EMP. Click here to see their stamp of approval and test results.
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Warranties & Company Reputation
EMP Shield gives a 10-year limited lifetime warranty that is backed by a $25,000 insurance policy if any of their devices fail. They will also give you a $50 credit towards a replacement if it is destroyed by lightning.
Consumer Reviews
Consumer reviews are one of the best ways to find out if a company and its products are any good. Many people won't even buy from a company if there aren't good reviews. Since we haven't had any EMP attacks, we can't see any reviews consumers post EMP apocalypse. What we can do is see if there are any that had been impacted by lighting strikes and to see the overall consensus of how the company operates.
We did a separate EMP Shield Review. From what we found, most of the reviews were positive. It appears that the company is quick to deliver, helpful with any issues, and had a good reputation in the community. We also found a few reviews where the EMP Shield actually did work when their home was struck by lighting.
Based on what we can see the EMP Shield is a cheap and safe protection device against lighting strikes and EMP attacks.
Some of EMP Shield's most popular items are the EMP Shield for your Home, Vehicles/ATV's, and RV/Apartment.
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EMP Shield Alternatives
Faraday Bags and Cages
Faraday bags are another alternative for EMP protection for smaller devices. Faraday bags are usually constructed out of several non-conductive and metallic layers that can stop EMP, EMF, Bluetooth, WIFI, GPS, and RF signals. You can get faraday cages as well, but those can be quite costly.
Mil-Spec faraday bag from Lion Energy.
The Lion EMP bag protects your generators and any other electronic devices small enough to fit inside it from an electromagnetic pulse. Those pulses come from nuclear weapon detonation, an EMP weapon, or even solar flares from the sun. The bag is essentially a Faraday cage composed of a nylon shell with a copper mesh interior and an interior nylon sleeve. It will redirect the electromagnetic pulse around the device and ground the power surge without any effect on the equipment inside the bag.
Tested and certified MIL-Spec by the US Military.
Protection Level: EMP, HEMP, or other transient EMI's
MIL-SPEC Standard: MIL-SPEC-461G R5-10
Bag dimensions: Exterior 16" x 20.5" x 26.8" Interior 15" x 19.5" x 26"
DIY EMP Protection
Many people turn to the DIY approach for added protection. You can create a faraday type bag or cage by using several layers of aluminum foil that are separated by a non-conductive material such as cardboard. Most recommend at least three layers of aluminum foil with two sheets of cardboard, one after the other.
Or you can purchase faraday cloth from somewhere like Amazon that you can use to wrap around whatever objects you want to protect.
Conclusion
The threat of EMP's is becoming more and more real. Even though the government can't protect us from a powerful EMP attack, we still have some options. We showed you a few options of what will work after an EMP attack. The two best options are EMP Shields and faraday bags. You can also have the peace of mind to have non-electronic appliances. We recommend all three methods. If an EMP attack does occur, you can be sure that your electronics will be safe. Even if the grid goes down, you can still drive your car or ATV. You can even have power in your house if you have a generator. EMP Shield makes protection devices for those too.