12 Tips to survive an EMP attack

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If an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) goes off, a lot of people are going to die – by starvation, lack of conventional medical care or being killed by people trying to get whatever they need because they did not prepare.

There are many factors to consider when preparing for the an EMP strike. Detailed below are 12 tips on how to survive an EMP attack.

Build your survival pantry

Your survival pantry should include: shelf-stable foods like whole grains, canned/preserved fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, nuts, beans, legumes, herbs and spices; staple foods like salt, honey, apple cider vinegar, baking soda and coconut oil; and special "survival food" that you don't open until an emergency.

Grow your own food

There are lots of superfoods (e.g., fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices) that have healing powers. They grow well even in repurposed containers you can fit in your home. It's good to also have a stash of sprouting seeds that have a shelf life of one to five years to provide your family with a well-rounded number of vitamins, minerals and proteins in place of fresh fruits and vegetables. (Related: Prepping 101: How to grow food in an indoor survival garden.)

Cook without power or gas

Learn how to cook without gas, electric stoves and ovens. You can do open-hearth cooking, open-fire cooking in cauldrons or clay pots, cooking on a wood-burning stove or makeshift ovens, frying on hot stones or using hard earth with coals set on top, and others.

Stockpile water

Learn how to find water and the different ways to purify this valuable resource. You should at least have a folding topographic map of the local area or detailed maps of individual large cities so you can mark places where water is available during emergency situations. Learn how to harvest rainwater, including how you can build your own water collection system. Do not forget to have a water storage plan as well.

Get bicycles for you and your family

Note that vehicles that will most likely survive an EMP attack are old-model diesel vehicles with minimal electronics. Keep it if you have one of those, but the best option is to get bicycles and bicycle trailers.

Protect your home with EMP surge protectors

Install EMP surge protectors that protect your home's power supply from an EMP strike. While a power surge wipes out the electric grid and shuts off electric services, electronic systems will not be harmed if plugged into surge protectors. This means that if your home is properly shielded with quality surge protectors, you are less likely to experience significant power disruption. (Related: Skills, strategies and supplies you’ll need to prep for an EMP, solar flares.)

Have a non-electric backup plan

Start building redundancies that do not rely on electricity in your prepping supplies. Stockpile valuable tools that do not run on electricity – kitchen tools (e.g., manual can openers, hand-cranked grain grinder) and general handyman tools (e.g., hand drills, hand saws).

Invest in alternative power sources

For your survival stockpile, don't forget to include candles, flashlights, solar-powered battery chargers, fire-starting materials (e.g., waterproof/stormproof/strike-anywhere matches, lighters, flint rods, fire steel scrapers, Ferro rod strikers), among others.

Use a Faraday cage

Named after its inventor Michael Faraday in the 1800s, a Faraday cage is used as a protective shield for different kinds of electronic and electrical equipment against electromagnetic radiation coming from the external environment. Buy a ready-made one or learn how to build and use it to protect your electronics from an EMP strike.

Get alternative communication equipment

You'll want to get your hands on an old ham radio, walkie-talkies with rechargeable solar batteries and solar-powered battery chargers to be able to communicate locally and abroad. You can also keep these in some type of EMP bar or a Faraday cage that you bought or made.

Save digital and electronic copies of important records, photos and media

Burn all of your photographs, video files and digital copies of important records on CDs and DVDs. And, if you have an old computer with CD/DVD drives, put that equipment in a Faraday cage as well.

Plan ahead to protect your home, yourself and your family

This is where you and your family need to discuss and come up with a survival plan for any kind of emergency situation or catastrophe, including who will do what before anything happens and running your drill a few times to make sure everyone in your household knows what's expected of them.

Build a library of how-to books and manuals

Build your personal library of how-to manuals, books, survival guides, maps and other related stuff in their physical form – which you've probably been taking for granted because you have internet access.

Visit EMP.news for more tips on how to survive an EMP attack.

Watch this video to learn more about an EMP attack.

This video is from the EMP for Dummies channel on Brighteon.com.