In part one of this series, titled "EMP Attack On America - Preppers Vs Non-Preppers In The First 72 Hours - Who Will Live, Who Will Die" we described the life and death difference, between those prepared for a major catastropic event and those not prepared, with the use of dialogue between preppers compared to a dialogue between non-preppers, which garnered a considerable amount of interest as shown in the comment section with more than 300 comments.
The amazing part of those comments were the exchange of ideas, prepping tips, suggestions on how to protect items preppers obtain to utilize in case of an EMP attack upon America, so those items aren't rendered useless when the first pulse hits.
Many of the suggestions, links and ideas provided by readers, some of which have been prepping for years, will be shown below, but before that, lets take a look at a few reasons why millions will die in the first month. In part one we saw how many would die in the first 72 hours, because they were unprepared to defend themselves from those desperate when they realized they hadn't prepared and starvation and thirst were right around the corner.
Note -Stating that "millions will die" is not the opinion of survivalists, preppers and "conspiracy theorists" but as shown in part one, has been testified to in front of Congress where experts made it clear they expect 9 out of 10 people to die in the event of an EMP attack.
THE LAST PLACES YOU WANT TO BE AFTER AN EMP ATTACK
There are a few places you do not want to be after an EMP shuts down the grids....
Big Cities
The last place people want to be after an EMP attack would be a large city where stores would be emptied within a day by panic shoppers that didn't bother to even have a stockpile of basic necessities, where gangs would form and go door-to-door to plunder supplies, where people would be rioting, looting, raping and killing after the first 72 hours.
If a person finds they have to live in a bigger city and has no other option, being prepared, as has previously been explained in detail, is the difference between surviving and dying.
On The Road
The reason those living in big cities must be prepared is because another place you do not want to be after an EMP is on the road, trying to get out of any large city, the roads will be jammed, many will end up on foot and there are a variety of issues that will cause sickness and death out on the road.
One Second After does an outstanding job explaining those issues, a portion of which is quoted below:
Compound this with the fact that by the end of the week millions of Americans will be on the road. . .walking. The tragic lawlessness we often see in the wake of a large disaster will most certainly explode given that police are near powerless to react in an organized manner and national guard units will not even be mobilized since how do they mobilize if no vehicles run and all communications is still down.
Millions, many of them the most vulnerable will make the choice of abandoning the cities rather than try and fight to find a gallon jug of water or a few cans of soup. Beyond this fear, summer or winter many urban dwellings will be unlivable. The multi million dollar condo on the 40th floor is now a nightmare 400 foot hike straight up, lugging whatever water or food you might get. They will be unheated, or roasting ovens, designed of course with perfection climate control. . .that no longer works. Many will be driven, as well by the false hope that relatives out in the suburbs or better yet “out in the country” will of course have plenty of food and be willing to share.
Our interstate highways will become nightmare paths of exile as our largely urban population tries to fan out to find food that once was shipped in.
Millions could and will die on that road. Where do they get safe water? The nearby stream or river is now a dump for raw sewage since purification plants are off line. Once stricken on the road by the results after drinking this water, where does one get help, basic medication, more water to keep you hydrated.
Within a month the next level of die off will be in full development. Those who survive the initial onset of illnesses from polluted water and food, and survive, will nevertheless be weakened, knock down a level. Even if they do get lucky and have food stockpiled, or find a source, chances are it will not be balanced at all and the first onset of nutritional imbalance will lower the immulogical system even further.
Now is the time that more serious diseases will appear. Pneumonia, especia lly in the winter due to exposure. More exotic and dangerous types of food poisoning such as salmonella due to a complete collapse of sanitation. Various forms of hepatitis, even diseases not heard of in a generation or more. . .measles, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis.
The point being, if you must be in a large city, you also much be prepared to survive where you are because attempting to travel to "someplace better" might just be more deadly than staying where you are.
PREPPING TIPS, SUGGESTIONS AND LINKS FROM PART ONE
An important part of prepping for disaster other than food, water, weapons and ammunition, medical supplies, paper goods etc.... is a short wave radio and a generator, and as was mentioned and discussed in detail in the comment section of part one, those too must be protected from the initial EMP pulse.
To that end, many commenters discussed the use of a "faraday cage," which can be built or purchased.
A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conductive material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks external static and non-static electric fields by channeling electricity along and around, but not through, the mesh, providing constant voltage on all sides of the enclosure. Since the difference in voltage is the measure of electrical potential, no current flows through the space. (Source)
Secrets of Survival lists a small sample of items that a Faraday Cage can protect, such as emergency AM/FM radio, two-way radios, solar battery charger, small generator, emergency medical equipment, inverters... and more.
The mention of a Mutual Defense Community in part one of this series originally came as I was bouncing ideas around via email with Steve Quayle, who generously offers his guidance when asked and who has much more experience and has researched much of this for far longer than I have.
This suggestion was also made in the comment section of the first article:
Yep, and when you find one, try to start your own currency and trade with other similar communities. That is the dependence factor that the government uses most effectively - fake monopoly money.
Before an event such as an EMP, it is vital as part of prepping to meet people in your community that are also preparing just in case a catastrophe hits. Pre-determining locations to meet, not only to barter and trade items, but to actively create a community that will defend each other, their families and supplies.
Different prepping sites have suggestions on the best barter and trade items, so a few are listed below.
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS - KNOW WHERE THE CLOSEST TO YOU IS LOCATED
Another point made by commenter "smilardog" is that nuclear power plants would go into meltdown mode after an EMP. There was some discussion on how long they would last, etc.... so a list and map of "Operating Nuclear Power Reactors (by Location or Name)" can be found via The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY
One reader explained they are preparing as much as they can, but mentioned they do not own a gun and a couple of other readers had some good tips:
Learn to make homemade pepper spray there's lots of different recipes on the Internet and run out to Walmart while the season clearances are on and buy a bunch of water cannons those suckers shoot 50 feet .. you can at least deter people with them ... Of course if you want to do worse to them and blind them you can fill it with other chemicals like bleach ... Get creative I learned of an awesome awesome one foot pit trap that's easy to make and I guarantee you no one would like it if they stepped in it . Step into the hole the board tilts jams a bunch of nails into your leg as your foot plummets further down the whole if you try to pull it out you're going to rip your foot off practically . It's cheap and inexpensive by Barbwire buy enough to go around your house three different times at staggering Heights ... Tie cans around them with bolts and nuts inside . It'll make it distractions on long enough for you to do something about it . Buy enough plywood that you can board up your doors and windows ...
Buy or GROW a bunch of habanero peppers and a fifth of "ever clear", which is almost 100% alcohol. Blend about 10 habanero peppers and about half of the ever clear in a blender, put in glass container and set aside for about a week, blend again and set aside for another week. Then strain into a spray bottle using many layers of cheese cloth to completely filter all small and large particles. This is better than any commercial pepper spray you can buy. Devastating to the eyes and respiratory system. Intense to say the least. Also, buy a case of wasp and hornet spray - brutal but effective in life and death scenario. A can of this will spray 20' and will instantly blind an attacker, and possible kill them. Obviously for close range social work - but effective in a pinch...LoneWolf - ALL AMERICAN INFIDEL
A couple more excellent points points from readers include the two shown below:
Gangs of unprepared looters going door to door searching for food and supplies will be a big problem. Boarding up your windows will make the home harder to breech but will also attract attention. Looters will eventually get in even if they have to set fire to the house and wait for you to come out. They can then shoot you as you exit the burning house.
My plan is to board up the 1st floor windows over the blinds so you can't see the wood from outside. Then I will put a for sale sign in the front yard and put the "house has been winterized" signs back up like they were when I bought it. I'll clean up the yard so there are no personal items like grills, bikes, kids toys etc. I'll basically make the house look vacant. I'll be sure not to have any light coming from the windows at night and smoke from fires during the day. Sheltering in place won't be easy, but moving a stockpile of food and whatnot without a vehicle is impossible. If I could afford it, I would get an old diesel truck that will run without any electricity. It could be pop started or perhaps a pneumatic starter. Fuel can be siphoned from people's home heating oil tanks.
Any radios and flash lights etc will need to be stored in a faraday cage so they are not fried from the EMP. I have read a lot about protecting my house during an emergency or SHTF event and I have tried to adapt what I read to best fit my situation. I have several other ideas as well.
ONe of the things for me that was missing here is family, ie the preppers family or the preppers age. I have been prepping here in scotland and i have a long term plan off survival and that is to relocate to the hills with my partner and our child and my brother and his family and a select group of friends we have taken survival courses and have always been into camping etc, the one problem we have always came across when talking with other preppers is, in the event of an EMP you would have no cars so even you have stocked up food and water etc if the situation demands you flee your house/hideout how do you get the food with you or do you leave it, some here from the US will say they will not run rather shoot and protect but we have little to no way of gaining firearms so that isnt really an option here, so what we came up with is to learn bushcraft and survive the way humans did for thousands of years while also stocking up some food and water. another thing (that my brother very wisely suggested) was buying some gas masks and protective clothing in case of a chemical attack etc, we have found many sollutions to different problems but it all comes down to what is going to cause the chaos, thats why i suggest planning for multiple scenarios and hoping for the best of them.
The comments above is just part of the excellent exchanges, ideas, suggestions and discussion in part one, but it shows that there are many people awake, aware, willing to share knowledge and ideas to help others.
Some of those ideas could very well be the difference between being one of the millions that would die within the first month, and those that will live.
