Letter Re: More Questions on EMP

Jim,
Thanks for your info on EMP protection, but it has created more questions than answers on some points. My current EMP protected items include several 12 volt inverters, solar chargers, shortwave, CB, and FRS Radios. I believe that most items on the grid will be cooked (those plugged in) People preparing today are putting money into generators, and solar power with Trace inverters. These are supposed to be “fine” with an EMP but a modern car will be toast? I am going to build a steel building, with small mesh in the concrete pour and have the whole thing grounded (giant Faraday box). That should cover the modern truck, tractor, ATV and generator. Any thoughts? – Rusty

JWR Replies: An “EMP Proof” garage is a great idea for anyone that is living in “footprint country.”  (Within 280 miles of a major urban area–and hence at risk to a terrorist EMP nuke attack.) Needless to say, be sure not to run any cables (power, phone, or data) into a Faraday structure!

Letter Re: Israeli Slings

Is the sling that David is referring to in his latest piece; “David in Israel Re: Firearms for Survival” the same type as that shown in this link?
http://www.israelmilitary.com/product_info.php?cPath=6295&products_id=547  – Thanks, C.W.

JWR Replies: Yes, believe that is the type that he was referring to.Ther Israeli sling arrangement is nice in that the sling is top-mounted so that the rifle doesn’t flip upside down when you let go of it. Sling arrangements for rifles tend to be very subjective and personalized. Use whatever works best for you, your stature, your personal circumstances, and your intended use.  For me, a plain old M60 black padded nylon sling works fine for nearly all of my rifles and shotguns in most circumstances– assuming that they have top mount sling swivels. This sling is quiet and foolproof.  It is also long enough that it can be very versatile.  (For example, a few M60 slings linked linked together with couple of saplings and a poncho can make a hasty stretcher.)

OBTW, for those of you that are newbies:  Proper “patrol carry” of a long gun in hostile territory is normally with the sling completely detached and stowed in you pack or in a cargo pocket. That way you keep your rifle in your hands, where it belongs. For really long distance marches while carrying a rifle slung (in semi-secure territory), the rifle is best carried horizontal at your waist (using top mount sling swivels or a top-mount sling adapter–such as the excellent Holland’s of Oregon rifle stock pouch with top mount sling D-ring). In my experience, it is best to have the sling  routed only around the back of your neck. That way you can shoulder the rifle quickly. Do not route the sling under one arm or it will hamper you in getting the rifle into action.

Letter from The Army Aviator Re: Photocell and Seismic Intrusion Detection Systems

James:
Good to see this discussion of Seismic Intrusion Detectors. Since I’ve been using these for the last 20 years I thought I’d pass along some of my experiences with the systems and devices. First, the AN/PSR-1A:
I got my first one at a gun show after looking high and low for them. The seller had no idea what it was. The previous owner had left the D cells in it until it corroded. It came with the original four sensors plus another 14. Super neat. With a good set of batteries and holders it’s worked like a champ ever since. Sure it takes commo wire but so what. The nicest thing about it is with a small 9 volt DC radio shack amplifier and a clip lead you simply clip onto the leads showing the indication and you can not only hear stuff, you can listen to conversations. It’s that good. [Here is a real life example:] You should have heard whatever it was that was eating the deer it took down and NO, I didn’t go down there until morning.

Secondly, the AN/TSR-3A Wireless Seismic Intrusion Detection Set:
I originally got a set of these neat RF (read wireless) units for peace of mind while camping and then bought more as I ran across individual units. Daily, I use one in each vehicle as a wireless alarm, set to the minimum sensitivity and with the sensor horizontal (which is the least sensitive position). If the car even moves a little or even a fingernail tap on the window, the 2 meter on my belt beeps merrily away and I can be as far as a mile or two away from the vehicle. They come as a set of four on one of six frequencies (I think it’s 6) so I acquired mine on three different frequencies.
Between the different frequencies and the fact that they each beep out 1,2,3 or 4 beeps, each with a different tone, I readily know where the action is.

BTW, “Springmtnd” was dead on regarding Merino Wool! It’s great (and, now, newly acquired) … Thanks!
Regards to you and the Memsahib.- The Army Aviator

Letter Re: Photocell and Seismic Intrusion Detection Systems (SAs: Retreat Security, Intrusion Detection)

Jim,
Have you checked out “Dakota Alert“? (See:  http://www.dakotaalert.com) Intrusion detection is their specialty. – S.A.M.

JWR Replies: The Dakota Alert sensors are far more reliable than those Chinese junk systems that you typically see on eBay. You pay more for quality.

Four Letters Re: Rourke on Real Estate Development Proposal Ideas

JWR,
Wanted to comment on your reply to Rourke. I agree with you that independently managed homesteads are superior to the communal style that Rourke describes, but for a different, much simpler reason: human nature. In ANY communal system where fixed resources are shared, some members consume more than others, and the others get jealous. This is the basic reason that communism is untenable. A small group of people (family size) can emphasize frugality and make it stick, because wasting resources really may kill a loved one. The more extended the group becomes, the less well people know each other, the less ‘real’ the threat is to any individual, and the more envious of others any one may become. Rourke’s idea of banding together for common defense is certainly a good one, but unless someone can ensure that all of the participants begin with equal resources and consume anything communal at an equivalent rate, then the seeds for destruction will have been sown. Just to be clear, I am not denigrating human selfishness in any way. I, in fact, defend rational self-interest as the well-spring from which society has emerged. But I also know that while self-interest is in the nature of every man, rationality is not. Keeping the groups small and self-managed, in a voluntary association with others, is the only tenable arrangement for long term survival. – M.W.

Jim,
I received this earlier this morning: “You might pass this on to the blog from Joel Skousen. Rourke doesn’t have a clue about how ugly the infighting and disagreement can be in among independent-minded and argumentative survivalists–especially those that start out as religious communities. I’ve seen virtually every survival community blow apart or split into various factions over the knotty decisions about shared facilities! Bad idea. JWR is right–keep it all private except for perhaps the water supply.” Great site and blog, – W.


James;
I just saw your letter from Rourke regarding survival communities. What he’s describing is very similar to a concept called “Co-Housing”. [It] combines both private property with commonly-owned (or controlled) property. Good information about the concept and implementation variations available at http://www.cohousing.org/.   Hope this helps! Debra (at The Claire Files)

Mr. Rawles,
The Rivendell community in rural Virginia was set up along similar lines in the buildup to Y2K. The folks there were interested in forming an explicitly Christian, Reformed, home schooling community that would foster group self-sufficiency. Their website (http://www.mistymountain.org/) is still active, but seems to have changed to theological study.  – TFA303

Rourke’s Reply (to JWR’s Original Comments)

You are going for an entire community then, in which case I would recommend you actually form a Village and have self-government. (City is too complex). Now Disney in Florida even made its own county, but I doubt that will happen again. Still, a Village can be very powerful if you can do all the development up front. Set up police, fire, even schools, and public buildings and systems with survival in mind. What an opportunity. However, as it grows, the survival mindset of those started it is likely to be diluted, and that will show up in elections over time. As a primary residence community, I think it will be hard to get such a concentration of survivalist in a small area, thus I have gone toward the recreational retreat community or condo idea, thus pulling them from all over to an area with good survival capabilities.

I agree how great it would be to form an entire community with all that, but very few from my experience can afford that, thus I have trimmed down my dreaming. In fact, in polling I found $10,000 down and $500 a month was about the maximum you could expect from even the upper 10% of survivalists toward a retreat (besides their home). This is one reason I started with the condo idea, but for people with even lower budgets, I think the best solution is a trailer park/RV park lot. Now this would involve having well, gray water, and black water hook-ups with a common septic system and well, common electric off-grid power, a common building/bunker which will preferably be an earth shelter or concrete dome (i.e. www.monolithic.com) with community bathrooms, showers, and kitchen and emergency housing, so it will stand up to a tornado even if all the trailers are lost. You make a good point about single source point failures, thus have dual systems set up would be a good idea, and over sizing them, so if one goes down, the other can pick up the slack. Hardened storage would also be good idea. Selling a very small lot for $5,000 would provide a lot of money for such improvements, maintained by a reasonable monthly or annual fee. Also, such lot could be leased out when that person is not there, just have a clause that they can be asked to leave within 24 hours and refunded the money, or some sort of escape clause if the owner is bugging out the site. Used hunting trailers around here are around $2,000. It seems to me the least expensive option. Once again, good to be near some farm land and an agreeable farmer for food production. – Rourke

Note from JWR:

I have updated yesterday’s post (Dec. 11, 2005) on the potential radius of EMP effects. The revised figure is a radius of 280 miles, based on a higher anticipated maximum potential altitude for some business jets. (See below.)

Rourke on Real Estate Development Proposal Ideas

For those who have ever considered the idea of a survival community, I would like to propose a few ideas for consideration from a real estate developer’s perspective. The idea of cluster communities in rural areas is a growing idea in states including Colorado. The idea is to take some land, say 100 acres, and rather than breaking it up into twenty 5 acre lots, you instead cluster the lots into twenty 1 acre (or less) lots, and leave the remaining acreage as an undeveloped buffer owned by the subdivision association (or a LLC it controls), which is then controlled democratically by the home owners. Taking this a step further for survival purposes, it would be advantageous to have a good part of that common land in crop production and have a working relationship with a farmer, or perhaps work out the entire deal with the farmer who owned the land in the first place to continue farming that portion of land, and hopefully even bring in a little revenue.
Development costs for improving the lots are where this idea really shines. While it is usually a good idea for each home to have its own well, shared septic systems and backup power systems are cheaper if shared. Whether by a large conventional septic system, a mound system, or a mini-sewer plant, a waste water treatment system can be designed for easy and continuing operation after TSHTF. Same goes for large backup generator systems, which can be run off large propane tanks for long term fuel storage, or diesel fuel, which lasts for a good eight years with the stabilizer in it. The costs of a large battery [bank] system, and perhaps a solar array and wind mill can all be added into the development costs. There is also the opportunity to wire for an underground house to house phone or some type of intercom and party line communication system for alert, command, and control. Communications after phone lines go down is often overlooked even though they are the key to tactical coordinated defensive responses. Also, transmissions can give away your position, as well as be monitored.
Also, since the media strives to make “survivalist” a bad word, or as a new generation things instead of people eating bugs and getting voting off the island, the community should rather hold out itself as being and example of alternate energy, green building, green space, off-grid living, and self-reliance living. Think about would you would build into such a development. – Rourke (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/survivalretreat)

JWR Replies: My covenant community concept is a bit different:  Start with a 640 acre section of land and subdivide it into 20 to 60 acre parcels, leaving a 20 acre “Commons” green in the center. Also somewhere near the center of the section, set aside a few half acre lots for stores, small businesses, and an acre for a church meeting hall/community center. IMHO, a development with larger parcels and a reserved place for commerce would lend itself to greater self sufficiency and a real sense of community that rourke’s plan outlined above

Other than shared wells, I’m not a big believer in public utilities. I think that having separate family-owned off-grid power systems would be much more resilient than the “single point of failure” created by having a shared power utility. In the region that I’m considering, undeveloped land sells for around $4,000 to $5,000 per acre for 20 acre parcels. So buying a 20 acre chunk costs about the same amount as buying a 1/2 acre lot in the suburbs.

OBTW, I’d like to gauge the level of interest for such a project. If any of the readers of SurvivalBlog have the means and a sincere interest in being part of a survival-oriented covenant community in the inland Pacific Northwest, just send me an e-mail with “Preparedness Community” in the title, and I will file them away until the project gets going.

Letter Re: Photocell and Seismic Intrusion Detection Systems

Jim:
Could you tell us more about a seismic intrusion detection system? Until your recent comments on this being necessary for the security of a hidden retreat, I had never even heard of such a thing. There must be more novices like me who are soaking up like a sponge everything you write, and would be very interested in knowing more. Thank you, – Joe.

JWR Replies:  I cannot over-emphasize the need for a proper intrusion detection system for a retreat. The simplest are the photocell “driveway alarms” which are commonly used on farms and ranches in the west. Most folks buy them just to have advance waning on when the UPS truck is approaching with a delivery. But they would also have some utility in a slow-slide scenario.  If looters are stupid enough to come right up your driveway in the middle of the night, such a system will tip you off and give you enough warning to man a defense. Unfortunately most of these are dependent on 117 VAC power. You can often find these on eBay. Just be sure to get sturdy “Commercial” style system if you want it to last. (The $20 cheapo made in China systems are not designed to last.) You can expect to pay $50 to $150 for one of the good reliable ones.

Far more sophisticated systems have been used my the U.S. military since the 1960s. These used buried seismic probes to detect approaching vehicles, the footfalls of approaching troops, and even the vibrations from low flying helicopters. These are battery operated, and designed for tactical field use in all weather. The early type are hard-wired (typically with commo wire.)  The later ones are wireless, but require more batteries, since a small radio transmitter is mated to each seismic sensor. Once you get used to using one of these, you can learn to easily differentiate between the footfalls of a man and a deer. I’m not kidding.

The “old reliable” is the hard-wired AN/PSR-1A.  It was still used by USMC active duty units up until a few years ago. In fact, a few might still be lingering around USMC reserve units.  They use six D-cell batteries, or can easily be adapted to any other 9 VDC source. They use 1950s technology (EMP proof) and are a bit heavy for man-pack use. The 1950s-style headphone supplied with these are a joke, but very simple to replace with a modern pair of headphones. Just make sure that the new ones have correctly matching impedance. Otherwise, I have no complaints about these units. They work fine for a fixed-site retreat. OBTW, SurvivalBlog readers Kitiara and John at the Forevervain Blog mentioned that they recently obtained one of these sets through eBay.  Good choice!

OBTW, if you are an electronics wizard, Al Glanze at STANO Components ( http://www.stano.night-vision.com/html/specials.html ) has several hundred spare PSR-1A seismic probes available. They are very rugged.  If you were to mate some of these with a modern chassis (the PSR-1A circuit diagram is pretty simple) with a DSP chip that could trigger an audible alarm, you could build yourself a fantastic retreat security system.

One of the best recent-production U.S. military systems is the AN/TRC-3A Wireless Seismic Intrusion Detection Set. This model will work well for both fixed site retreats and mobile (patrolling bivouac site) use. These are often in stock with a number of vendors including Ready Made Resources (one of our advertisers) and Fair Radio Sales. Both of these companies are very reputable. They can also be found on eBay, buy beware that eBay sellers are notorious for selling nonfunctional used electronic gear.

A seismic intrusion detection set will be a tremendous labor saver in the the event of TEOTWAWKI-type collapse. While they are not a proper substitute for a 24/7-manned LP/OP, having one of these sets could mean the difference between life and death if you are operating a survival retreat that is short-handed.  When prioritizing your purchases, a good quality (full mil spec) seismic intrusion detection set should be near the top of your list. Don’t skimp on this expense, or you will surely regret it later!

Letter Re: Pre-1993 Dodge Diesels–EMP Proof Survival Rigs

Mr. Rawles,
One vehicle that I would like to point out which I believe is pretty EMP proof is the earlier Dodge Diesels…from around 1989-1993. They have 12 valve Cummins engines which are completely mechanical driven with the exception of a 12 VDC battery which basically keeps the fuel pump open. As long as you have simple 12 volt battery power the vehicle cannot be shut down. These vehicles can be acquired from around $4-10k depending on condition and options. For simplicity you do not want the 24 valve and it should also be noted that one can easily get 400,000 miles out of a well maintained Cummins diesel engine. There are also several good internet resources for the do-it-yourself mechanic for maintenance such as www.dieseltruckresource.com and www.turbodieselregister.com. BTW: Patriots is a great book! – John

Letter Re: New FINCEN Regulation on Precious Metals/Gemstones Transaction Reporting

James:
Bill in North Idaho’s letter intrigued me, so I did some digging and thought you would be interested in what I found. The FinCEN FAQ is pretty clear that the requirements of being a ‘dealer’ only applies if you buy and sell more then $50,000 in one calendar year/tax year, so if you’re buying up bullion and not selling it (i.e. hoarding it) you don’t count as a ‘dealer’ so this specific ruling doesn’t touch you. What it does do, is make most people selling lots of gold/silver/jewels into ‘dealers’ which means they file IRS form 8300 and report it if a transaction is over $10,000 or they believe that multiple transactions to one person will equal $10,000. Under my reading of this, you can get around being on file somewhere by doing one of three things:
1) Don’t Buy From A ‘dealer’ Part I: ‘retailers’ are not always ‘dealers’ under this language (if they buy from US sources they’re probably not), so ask where you buy if they comply with the FinCEN Anti Money Laundering rules. Note that this will probably raise more alarm bells than SurvivalBlog readers would like and might get your name on a ‘suspicious transaction’ form.
2) Don’t Buy From A ‘dealer’ Part II: Private individuals who do less than $50,000 a year don’t count, so find a like-minded individual and buy from him/her.
3) Do It Slowly. Even under this ruling, buying from a ‘dealer’ your name shouldn’t go on a federal form unless you break $10k in one day. Spread out your purchasing to multiple stores over a period and don’t buy from one store too often. Don’t let them take your name/info and if they ask, don’t go back.
This should, by my reading, keep your name off of any government forms. I don’t even know who you would ask for a ‘professional’ opinion, maybe a tax lawyer, but I’m certainly not one.

Letter Re: Dealing With Buckshot Bruce

Hi Jim,
Just wanted to send a short note to let you know how much I enjoy the site and the information there. Also, awhile back, Buckshot had posted a great article on trapping and a special on his DVDs trading for some 90% [pre-1965 U.S.] silver. I wanted to let you know what a great guy Buckshot is, and Mrs. Buckshot is pretty terrific as well. I’ve done a little trading with him and found him to be an honest and straightforward guy. His videos and traps are terrific!  Their e-mails and service is second to none. I’d recommend him to all your readers. Thanks Again, – Craig

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The first panacea of a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; and permanent ruin." – Ernest Hemingway

Note from JWR:

Please continue to spread the word about SurvivalBlog. Just a brief mention of our URL in your e-mail footer will add thousands of daily readers.

Muddying The Waters on EMP–Jack Wheeler and the BLOS Imponderable

SurvivalBlog reader Joe. K. mentioned in a recent e-mail that one of my heroes, Dr. Jack Wheeler, posted a dismissive article about the EMP threat, back in June. (It was posted at Wheeler’s excellent “To The Point News” subscription website: http://www.tothepointnews.com/  )  Wheeler is a fascinating fellow. Back in the 1960s, he swam the Hellespont, climbed the Matterhorn, and went tiger hunting as a civilian in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. All of this before he was 25 years old. He also spent a lot of time living with head hunters in the Amazon jungle. But I digress…  Wheeler’s article, titled “The EMP Annoyance” soft-pedals the EMP threat. Although Wheeler is usually spot-on in his economic analyses, I think that he missed the mark in this case  His main premise is based on the fact that the Starfish Prime EMP high altitude hydrogen bomb test at Johnston Atoll in 1962 caused only transitory power grid and radio disruption 700 miles away in Hawaii. But what he forgets is that those were the days of simpler electronics–when much of America was still primarily using electron tubes and just a few transistors. Modern microcircuits, with their incredibly small gate dimensions are at an order of magnitude greater risk to EMP.

Wheeler is correct in his assertion that terrorists will probably not have access to hydrogen (fusion) bombs–just traditional fission bombs.  Nor will they have access to any means of detonating a nuke at extremely high altitude to maximize its line of sight (LOS) “footprint” area of effectiveness. But nation states like China have both.

Several SurvivalBlog readers have written to ask me about the greatest potential effective range of an EMP-optimized nuclear detonation. The answer is both easy and impossible to determine. Let me explain. First, the easy part. The basic LOS footprint range calculation is really simple. It is essentially the same as the calculation that is used to determine the maximum effective range for a VHF or UHF radio onboard an aircraft. Referring back to one of my unclassified notebooks from my Electronic Warfare (5M) course at Fort Huachuca, I find: Assuming level terrain, the maximum potential radius of LOS in nautical miles (nmi) = square root of the emitter’s altitude (in feet) x 1.056. Hence, that would be 149.3 nmi at 20,000 feet ASL, or 191.8 nmi at 33,000 feet ASL. (A typical jet or C-130’s service ceiling. SurvivalBlog reader “Flighter” mentioned: “…some of the larger business jets such as the Airbus ACJ, Gulfstream, Challenger, and Citation are certificated to fly at or above 41,000 feet. The Sino Swearingen SJ30, is perhaps the highest flyer with a certificated ceiling of 49,000 feet. A dangerous parabolic flight profile could with supplemental oxygen for the flight crew perhaps push apogee to 75,000 feet in a few aircraft models. (Hey, it would be a suicidal flight anyway.) That is probably the highest altitude that could be expected for a terrorist to touch off a nuke–at least in the near future. That would equate to a footprint with a 280 mile radius.

Now on to the part that is impossible to predict: long range linear coupling.  Because telephone lines, power lines, and railroad tracks will act as giant antennas for EMP, the EMP waveforms will be coupled through those structures for many, many miles beyond line of sight (BLOS). Just how many miles BLOS is not yet known. I believe that if it were not for the advent of the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty and the Outer Space Test Ban Treaty, the DOD and AEC would have had the opportunity to conduct far more extensive tests to further characterize the panoply of potential EMP effects. But those test bans have kept us in the dark. In the absence of practical data, there is a lot guesswork, even among “applied physics” specialist nuclear weapons scientists. We may not know the full extent of the EMP risk until after we see that bright flash on the horizon.

For planning purposes, you can probably safely assume that if you are living more than 280 miles from a major city, then your vehicle electronics will be safe from a terrorist  nuke’s EMP. (Since you will be BLOS to the EMP footprint of a nuke that is set off below 75,000 feet ASL.) Your home electronics, however, anywhere in CONUS might be at risk due to long range linear coupling–that is if your house is on grid power. This, BTW, is one more good reason for you to set up your own off-grid self sufficient power system.