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Surviving an EMP attack: Part Three
Cooking without electricity or other public utilities doesn’t have to be difficult. If you are using a wood stove for heating (as described in Part 2), the hot surface of the wood stove provides an excellent platform for cooking most meals. Standard pots and pans can be placed on top of the stove and heat up as efficiently as a standard stove top.
In addition to the wood stove, many cooking duties can be performed by a solar oven. A simple solar oven can be constructed in under an hour from readily available materials. A cardboard box, some black paint, aluminum foil, and a old pane of glass are all that’s required to make an efficient, sustainable cooking solution.
Solar ovens are an excellent survival option because they do not require maintenance, have no moving parts, and it is nearly impossible to burn food cooking in this manner. On a sunny day, the internal temperature of a solar oven can easily reach temperatures of 200 degrees; plenty of heat to cook any meal without burning. A solar oven does require significantly more cooking time than a conventional oven so it is advisable to put a meal in the oven in the morning and expect to have it ready in time for dinner.
Protecting Your Electronic Devices
Although it isn’t practical to protect most of the electronics in your home there is certainly value in protecting some things from permanent damage. TVs, personal computers, and MP3 players won’t do you much good in a post-apocalyptic world. Shortwave radios, weather radios, flashlights, and power generation equipment could become very helpful following an EMP and should be protected whenever possible.
There is a method designed to protect electronics from strong electromagnetic pulses known as a Faraday cage. Named after a scientist who discovered the designs ability to shield equipment from electromagnetic waves, a Faraday cage is a versatile tool that can be constructed very easily in any size depending on your needs.
Contrary to the name, a Faraday cage doesn’t have to be a cage at all. Commercially available units are commonly made in a cage configuration using copper mesh and solid aluminum but a simple Faraday cage can be made using aluminum foil and a steel trash can.
When constructing your own Faraday cage, you have to consider how many devices you are trying to protect. This dictates the size of the unit you are creating. A steel trash works well for a few household items but it is hardly big enough to fit a portable generator or other electrical device that you may need following an EMP attack. Maybe you decide that you want to ensure the functionality of your vehicle. This requires a large Faraday cage. Many survivalists have successfully been able to successfully convert their garage into a large, walk-in Faraday shielding device capable of protecting a vehicle and many other household items that could be useful in a survival situation. This can be done by constructing a cage of fine mesh caging inside the entire garage. The mesh has to protect the entire area including any doorways in order to be effective but just imagine how many electronic devices you could protect in a standard size garage with….read more HERE
