Protect Your Vehicle From an EMP with this Simple Strategy

Ready Nutrition

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ReadyNutrition Readers, there have been a tremendous number of world happenings that has placed all of us in a precarious situation.  The past several months have seen successive tests of missiles, with a nuclear test as well (Friday 9/9/16) by North Korea.  Iran and North Korea have been exchanging missile technology, supplemented by the Russians with technical advisors and materials.  China, too, has been developing their SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) weaponry at a breakneck pace.

The military doctrine of both North Korea and Iran call for a first-strike against the continental United States using an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) generating warhead.  I wish to pen the caveat that I have been stating in my articles repeatedly for quite some time, now, hoping they will be taken into consideration:
A war would be kicked off with an EMP weapon detonated over the Continental United States, then a nuclear exchange, resulting in a World War.



That being said, there are numerous sites available for study of EMP effects as well as the nuclear threat capabilities of the countries previously mentioned.  Read the briefings of Dr. Peter V. Pry who heads the committee to assess the threat of EMP against the United States.  His writings and testimony before sessions of Congress between 2006 to 2009 are readily available and downloadable from the internet.  He also expounds on the fact that he is certain that North Korea has the capabilities of miniaturizing a warhead to deliver an EMP, and they have already done so.
I recently submitted a piece to SHTFplan.com that details the effects of an EMP on vehicles, as well as some sites to research.  In the interim, what can we do to reduce those effects?  One of the things is a grounding wire, a simple term that we can “complicate” further by expounding on measures (shoebox, field-expedient measures) that you can do…and that I have already done for myself…to give your vehicle a better chance against an EMP.

Micro Circuitry and Computer Chips in Vehicles Will be Problematic in an EMP
Firstly, the majority of the testing done by the government and private companies conclude that most vehicles will be unaffected by the EMP.  I wrote “most,” and the thing that it doesn’t take into consideration is the amount of complex micro circuitry and computer chips that exist in most cars after 1990.  The engine of the vehicle may remain intact; however, computer ignition systems and sensitive microcircuits that control a great deal of a vehicle’s internal functions could be fried instantaneously.  If the engine is fine, but it won’t start because the chip in the ignition is fried, well, the result would answer the question.
One of the possible solutions would be the grounding wire.  For decades all the way up to the present day, 18-wheelers have all utilized grounding wires attached to their frames both to protect from lightning strike and from static electrical discharge when they are delivering flammable cargoes such as fuel to filling stations or heating oil to homes.  It is this principle that you too can follow after, along with a grounding chain, to help protect your vehicle from the EMP.

How to Attach Grounding Wire to Your Vehicle
The grounding wire can be a 9’ -12’ piece of stranded steel cable attached to your rear axle to permit the cable to drag upon the ground when the vehicle is in motion.  This would permit electricity (that always tries to “find its way” to a grounded source, i.e., go into the earth) to pass along the frame and into the cable, that then passes it along to the ground.  Such a steel cable would have to be replaced periodically, as it would tend to fray and wear down.
For when the vehicle is not moving, you could double your chances and affix a grounding chain around the rear axle of your vehicle.  This chain (1/8” thick links, approximately) you would not drag.  By affixing eyehooks (yes, JJ “ruined” the bumper of his vehicle in this manner) to your rear bumper, you can use D-rings (small carabineers) to attach the chain to the bumper when the car is in motion, effectively lifting it off of the ground.  Then when you park your vehicle, unclasp the D-rings, and coil the chain up, and set it on the ground.  Bare earth is preferable, but macadam will work as well.  Do it at night before you go to bed, and during the workday, to give that added protection in the manner that electricity will pass along the grounding wire.
For the point of attachment around the axle, you can use a link that is “broken” and you can close by a screw-thread that is used to close the gap, or place that on the end of the chain and use the quick-release type clasp that is found on the end of a dog’s leash…the part that affixes to the dog’s collar or choker chain-link.  When you’re in motion you’ll have (hopefully) the grounding wire to assure contact between vehicle and road, and when you’re stationary an even better ground.
Is it perfect?  Possibly not, but the point is to give you a fighting chance.  When you buy Drano, it isn’t necessarily because your tub or sink is clogged…yet.  When it does clog, however, the Drano will be there.  Same principle as the one that you Guys and Gals already know, and it’s this one:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Very true, and it’s better to take a swing and not get a hit than to just stand there and let the ball go into the catcher’s mitt.  This is a low-budget method that may just save your car’s electronics and enable you to drive home when the SHTF.  We welcome your questions and comments and look forward to hearing about your experiences in these matters.  Keep fighting that good fight!  JJ out!
Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson was a Special Forces Medic, EMT and ACLS-certified, with comprehensive training in wilderness survival, rescue, and patient-extraction. He is a Certified Master Herbalist and a graduate of the Global College of Natural Medicine of Santa Ana, CA. A graduate of the U.S. Army’s survival course of SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape), Mr. Johnson also successfully completed the Montana Master Food Preserver Course for home-canning, smoking, and dehydrating foods.