An EMP is one of the often discussed potential doomsday scenarios that threaten us all.
While there are other ways to create an EMP, the most commonly known, and most likely, is as an aftereffect from the detonation of a thermonuclear weapon.
Previously unknown before the first nuclear bomb tests, EMPs have the potential to fry every kind of electrical device, especially ones with intricate circuitry, and can bring down the supply network within moments.
Since it never hurts to be careful and aware, here are 10 things that a wise prepper should have ready before an EMP blast threatens all of their electronics.
Gasoline
Gasoline isn’t just useful to power vehicles and allows you to get from point A to point B – it can also be used to power generators, light a fire, or even used as currency.
Gasoline is obviously not going to be affected by any kind of EMP, and it can be used in all sorts of ways in a survival situation. Even if you don’t have a working vehicle, gasoline can start an emergency fire to keep warm and is always useful to keep around.
Related: Best Fuels For Off-Grid Survival
Cell Phone
A cell phone isn’t just a means of communication – it is also a tool to access information and coordination, it is a flashlight, and if you pre-loaded it with useful apps, it is a tome of useful knowledge and applications that could help your survival.
While most people might assume an EMP would render your cell phone useless, you actually might be surprised to find that it turns back on after the EMP has faded.
An EMP fries electronics that are actively on and drawing power, so if your cell phone is turned off when the EMP blast hits your house, your phone has a good chance of staying alive. Even if it was drawing power, give it an hour after the EMP and try to turn it on, as well as try a reset.
Failing all of that, keeping a spare cell phone powered down in your drawer is always a good thing to have on hand, and it might just be your saving grace in the event of an EMP.
Food To Last A Few Days
While making sure you have water is of paramount importance, ensuring you have a decent food supply is absolutely vital as well.
If the EMP is merely one step in a general societal collapse, a small supply of food can help you last a while until you can work on establishing a more stable source of calories.
However, if the EMP only knocks out electricity for a few days, having enough dry and persevered food on hand to wait out those few days can be a huge lifesaver. Not only does it allow you to stay indoors to wait out the worst, but it gives you redundancy in case you can’t find any other source of food or if the supply network completely collapses in the wake of whatever it was that caused the EMP.
Flashlights
This one might seem obvious, but you should always keep a backup flashlight around, just in case.
In the event of an EMP, the flashlight should remain working, so long as it wasn’t on when the EMP hit. After all the electricity goes out, you will need a way to see where you’re going and how to find the things around you, and thus a flashlight is absolutely essential to your survival.
Batteries
You aren’t going to get very far with your flashlight if you don’t have the batteries necessary to power them.
Make sure to keep a whole variety of batteries for all sorts of devices – even if you can’t use them, they might be useful for trade in the event the worst happens.
Portable Chargers
In the same vein as batteries, having a plethora of portable chargers with multiple connecting ports will be incredibly useful after an EMP.
So long as they are already charged up and filled with electricity, they shouldn’t be impacted by the EMP and should allow you to easily charge your phone and other devices in the wake of an EMP blast.
Water Supply
Everyone is used to water quite literally flowing from their taps on demand, but what not a lot of people realize is that after an EMP, your water will likely shut off pretty quickly.
For a little while, your taps will still give water pressure thanks to gravity, but without electricity to power pumps to keep the system maintained, you could quickly wind up in a situation where you don’t have any water.
That’s why keeping a stored supply of water, ideally in bottles or even large multi-gallon containers, is a great idea. While they do need replacing every few years because of the plastic leaching into the water, it is always a good idea to have backups when it comes to water.
Related: H2O Dynamo – This Awesome Device Turns Air Into Fresh Water
Radio
Radios are another important tool to keep on hand in a survival situation. Like other devices, if it was powered down during the EMP, then it should work just fine after the fact.
Use it to coordinate relief efforts, speak to authorities, or just communicate with other people out there.
Backup Laptop
A laptop is just like a cell phone in emergencies, except for the fact that it could also be used to connect to any internet that is still usable after an EMP.
Keep a spare laptop powered off, safe and secure so as to make sure that nothing can happen to it, and you might be able to use it to help improve your odds of survival after any kind of serious calamity.
Solar Systems
This one might seem the most extravagant, but having some solar panels can be a huge help in the event of an EMP.
While EMPs will certainly fry any circuitry actively working, if you have forewarning of the EMP, you could disable the solar panels before it hits, allowing you to reconnect them and give yourself free power.
While any solar batteries you might will probably struggle to work, you can at least harness the natural energy from the sun to power your home, at least until more permanent solutions present themselves for fixing the energy supply chain in the wake of an EMP.
Even having a few solar panels lying around could be beneficial, as many come with connectors to allow you to hook them up to a conventional plug socket, giving you at least some power in a catastrophe.
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