1 second after

[coastie]

Yes, but I've read the better designs run cleaner. The bottom line, in a post-EMP (terrestrial or from the sun), a gassifier could be used. I'm thinking a central power unit for a small town that could run a generator or two to pump water or run a tractor. A small one could run a splitter, but hauling the wood would be an honest cast iron pain in the butt.

The tractor would feed you, the water pump would keep you in water. Considering the other options, I'm looking at what elevates my family in the ever remote chance something like that happened. But you are multiple steps ahead of me since I'm not much of a fabricator and haven't built one. So, I'm boned for the most part. I'm at least thinking about it, so I have that going for me.

If the EMP was so bad as to cook all vehicles etc then your grid is absolutely fried. That would include all the transformers, wiring etc. Your generated electricity isn't going to go anywhere. Most municipal water pumps are now electrically driven and if they are not they usually run on NG and are heavily electronic. Most of those aren't going to be retrofitted to mechanical very easily from local parts. As for the tractor Get an old diesel tractor and be done. All mechanical except for the starter. Keep a spare starter, solenoid etc if you are that worried. Diesel is everywhere and if it is as the book played out there would be no shortage of diesel. Splitting wood is the easiest part of wood cutting. Try felling and bucking by hand. That sucks and you need the tools to do it. One man or two man saws,axes and the skills to use and maintain them. It takes me 2 years to dry down my hardwood firewood and the fuel for a gasifier needs to be at least that dry if not drier.

I say all this not to dissuade you from trying it but try it now. Don't pull out those FEMA plans after the fact and find out you cant build it or you are missing a couple components. If you were counting on it and it isn't feasible you are now screwed.

 

[mibro]

If the EMP was so bad as to cook all vehicles etc then your grid is absolutely fried. That would include all the transformers, wiring etc.

An EMP won't directly damage electrical distribution lines (wiring). It would damage transformers but not necessarily all of them.

The One Second After scenario where all vehicles are disabled is not realistic either, many vehicles would be undamaged.

If you're looking for apocalyptic scenarios, solar flares have been underestimated imho. There is some evidence for a solar flare (coronal mass ejection, solar proton event) in the eighth century that was ten times or more stronger than the Carrington Event. There's also some evidence for a solar proton event about 13,000 years ago that was so strong it delivered a lethal dose of radiation in a couple of hours over large areas of the Earth's surface. A solar flare of that size - unimaginably more intense than the Carrington Event - would be beyond devastating to humanity. The hand of God, scouring and burning the Earth's surface.

 

[JayMcB]

An EMP won't directly damage electrical distribution lines (wiring). It would damage transformers but not necessarily all of them.

The One Second After scenario where all vehicles are disabled is not realistic either, many vehicles would be undamaged.

If you're looking for apocalyptic scenarios, solar flares have been underestimated imho. There is some evidence for a solar flare (coronal mass ejection, solar proton event) in the eighth century that was ten times or more stronger than the Carrington Event. There's also some evidence for a solar proton event about 13,000 years ago that was so strong it delivered a lethal dose of radiation in a couple of hours over large areas of the Earth's surface. A solar flare of that size - unimaginably more intense than the Carrington Event - would be beyond devastating to humanity. The hand of God, scouring and burning the Earth's surface.

Can we get one that only targets the FSA? It would greatly speed up the reset

 

[weekendracer]

If the EMP was so bad as to cook all vehicles etc then your grid is absolutely fried. That would include all the transformers, wiring etc. Your generated electricity isn't going to go anywhere. Most municipal water pumps are now electrically driven and if they are not they usually run on NG and are heavily electronic. Most of those aren't going to be retrofitted to mechanical very easily from local parts. As for the tractor Get an old diesel tractor and be done. All mechanical except for the starter. Keep a spare starter, solenoid etc if you are that worried. Diesel is everywhere and if it is as the book played out there would be no shortage of diesel. Splitting wood is the easiest part of wood cutting. Try felling and bucking by hand. That sucks and you need the tools to do it. One man or two man saws,axes and the skills to use and maintain them. It takes me 2 years to dry down my hardwood firewood and the fuel for a gasifier needs to be at least that dry if not drier.

I say all this not to dissuade you from trying it but try it now. Don't pull out those FEMA plans after the fact and find out you cant build it or you are missing a couple components. If you were counting on it and it isn't feasible you are now screwed.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I know I'm screwed next week if it came to that, but I'm also now in a city again and will have bigger fish to fry if anything crazy like that happened. As for the actual generation of power, I'm thinking on a very small scale, charging batteries for whatever reason, running a water pump until you could get a wind system operational, maybe powering a ham radio. I'm not talking powering up even an entire neighborhood. There would also be the possibility of powering a vehicle, the Germans did it in WW2, which is how the idea went from tinfoil dream to actually believing it could be done.

At least I'm thinking about it when I get the chance, that is all.

 

[Gibbs]

...a sudden EMP and a complete shutdown of electricity and the chaos that ensues...

Every night I shop Craigslist for pre-1980's CUCV's.

 

[mikem317]

Bought it but haven't started reading it yet.

 

[coastie]

Every night I shop Craigslist for pre-1980's CUCV's.

BUy it cause its cool and fun to mess with. If it is just for an EMP scenario spend the money on other preps. Your current car will still run, your watch will still tell time and your iPad will still work if an EMP occurs. There have been several studies conducted and none found permanent lasting damage to most vehicles and electronics. They jury is still out on how much damage will occur to long line stuff like electricity and communications but that is where the danger lies.

 

[JayMcB]

Every night I shop Craigslist for pre-1980's CUCV's.

The CUCV's are not pre-1980's. They were model years 84-87. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Utility_Cargo_Vehicle#General_Motors

They were also underpowered dogs with that AWFUL 6.2. I owned the M1009 variant, which was the most drive-able of them with the THM400 and 3.08 gov-lockers. If you DO get one, make sure and do the Doghead mods on it so you don't smoke your glow plugs and burn them up. Candidly, I miss it. However, when I decide I miss it, I just drive my deuce instead.

 

[PreliatorX]

I just picked it up and am already about 3/4 of the way through it. Very interesting book and scary as hell at how real most of the scenarios could/would be. I need to find some time during the day to finish it, I end up staying wayyyy to late when I have been reading it at night. Not to mention it kicks my brain into overdrive and takes a while for it to spin down even after you stop reading

 

[Wadcutter]

One Second After is a great book. The EMP threat is way over hyped IMO....

Yes. It's a good book but you really need to suspend disbelief to enjoy it. An EMP could certainly screw up your iPhone but an F-16 or M1A1 has a bit more shielding than that. The silliest part is when they start to import steam engines to get the railroads running again.

 

[Kevin_NH]

Your current car will still run, your watch will still tell time and your iPad will still work if an EMP occurs. There have been several studies conducted and none found permanent lasting damage to most vehicles and electronics. They jury is still out on how much damage will occur to long line stuff like electricity and communications but that is where the danger lies.

The key variable when talking about "permanent lasting damage" is distance. If you're close enough to a man-made EMP to be in the 100% integrated circuit failure zone, you're probably close enough that blast effects or radiation will be a much bigger and more immediate concern.

Long line stuff is where damage at a distance could be an issue (and is also a bigger risk for CME and such), but that's mostly about power distribution, not the stuff in your house.