As I write this a sunspot the size of jupiter is pointed straight at the earth. Why does this matter? Most solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) originate around sunspots. We are nearing the peak of the solar cycle which means we will see stronger solar flares and CMEs and we will see them more often. In 1859 there was a “super solar flare” now known as a “Carrington event”, named after Richard Carrington a British astronomer who witnessed the event. The resulting flare caused telegraph wires to catch fire and temporarily knocked out the telegraph system in the northern hemisphere. Today, if a carrington event were to happen, its possible that it could knock out between 300 and 350 transformers leaving over 130 million Americans without power, and for who knows how long… Our electrical grid is completely UNPROTECTED from EMP and CME threats. Please, do your own research.

A faraday cage is some type of enclosure made out of an electrical conducive material. The enclosure must be complete and without holes or openings. The easiest, simplest faraday cage I’ve seen is simply buying a metal trash can with a metal lid. Turn on a radio, put it inside, if all you hear on the inside is static then you know it works! The can does need to be lined with something so that the electronics are not directly touching the metal. Thick cardboard will work. Also, ammo cans will work but again, they require some type of liner so your electronics don’t touch the metal and all electronics should be individually wrapped in aluminum foil. The easiest way to do this is to place your radio, gps or 2-way radios into individual plastic sandwich bags and then wrap with foil.

granted this doesn’t work well for items you access on a regular basis but all *spare* electronics should be stored this way. Even if you do for some reason have to use it, how hard is it to re-wrap in foil? EASY.

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Stay safe, stay free.