No matter how low key and low profile that you are about preparing for the unexpected, word will leak out. The word may get out to the family via those that you have conversed with over the subject of preparedness, word of your preps leaks out to the neighborhood via the neighborhood kids that play with your kids about the things they see and during conversations that they have with their parents, work that you did that temporarily exposed some of your supplies/preps to the neighbors view, etc. There are many different ways in which word gets out.

I am formulating a contingency plan that will allow greater shelter space and a better defensive positioning system. Here are some of the thoughts that I am examining:
1) My neighbor on the right-1 mom and 1 pre-teen son (at the moment), large brick house on a corner lot. Can be sealed up as a shelter within 12 hrs. The backyard is enclosed by a wooden privacy fence.
2) The house on the left-currently vacant (at the moment), 3 BR brick house w/an enclosed garage. Can be sealed up as a shelter within 6 hrs. The backyard is enclosed by a hurricane fence (2 sides hurricane fence/2 sides wooden privacy fence).

I have some close friends and family that would be coming to get shelter from me. I don't have enough room BUT, the lady next door will need help and I will trade her space in her home for the help and materials to seal it up, provide air, and supply them with the food and water needed for an undetermined amount of time. The extra bodies will provide a defensive force on this corner lot/my right flank.

We can "commandeer" the house next door (as long as it is vacant/negotiate with the occupants otherwise), Trade space in it for the help and materials to seal it up, provide air, and supply them with the food and water needed for an undetermined amount of time. The extra bodies will provide a defensive force on my left flank.

I can speak to the homeowners behind us (1 is on a corner lot) and enlist their cooperation in a community defense/cooperative survival efforts. We can trade knowledge, manpower, tools, and some materials to enlist their self and community interests.

I am thinking in terms of getting a sub division meeting started and let everyone share information, and see if a cooperative can be formed for mutual defense, skills sharing, etc.

These ideas are going to require a great deal more thought and will require me to stockpile some additional equipment and supplies. How about giving such a plan some thought and provide me with some feedback? I would appreciate it.

Planning like this should be done by us all.

The silly part was telling everyone.

No, I don't advertise. But little slips and glimpses of the family and by the neighbors do occur over time. The only people I have talked to are those that I want with me.

The main purpose for contingency planning IRT staying in my neighborhood and home is in the event that "Bugging Out" is either denied by the authorities (with the force to back it up) or the vehicles are disabled (EMP burst of some sort).

Otherwise, I and my family/friends have a place (actually 2) in the mountains that provides shelter, game, cultivatable land, defensive positions, and clean water. First we have to be able to make the trip to arrive there.

That's why I stress the importance of having good, up-to-date Intelligence Information. One must practice the art of what to look for and practice the correct interpretation of what those tidbits of news can mean, may mean, and what they actually do mean.
That's why I went to DEFCON 2 around the 8th of last month. I am seeing some very disturbing news and although there is some obvious disinformation in some of it, there are some definite indicators of a real problem that may arise VERY soon. Meanwhile, I have updated my current contingency plans and I am doing my best to find the holes in those plans and plug them up, get all of my shortages and discrepancies corrected as quickly as I can. Otherwise I'll play McGuyver and adapt & improvise to get what must be done, DONE.

Brainstorming your situation:

1. How close together are the houses? Can you improvise a safe (radiation/hidden/bullet proof) connection between them? Could one house on fire start the next house burning?

2. What are the houses made of? Bulletproof? Easy to burn?

3. How close is the nearest water source? How secure is this water source from snipers, poisoner (acidental or intentional), or MZB's?

4. What sort of views do you have from the houses? Good lines of fire? What are your blind areas (fences/shrubs/hills/other houses/etc...). How many stories are the houses?

5. Do you have escape routes? If you have to run (house on fire) where do you go? Does the escape route have any concealment or will you be spotted right away?

6. Will the number of people you have be enough to keep watch while still having enough bodies to do all the work needed?

7. Arew there any legal ramifications? What if false alarm causes you to start modifying your neighbor's house. Can you afford to pay to fix it?

8. What sort of kitchens will you have? Indoor cooking?

9. Do you have ranges marked off for easier targeting (25 yards from bedroom window to fire hydrant, 50 yards from upstairs bathroom window to intersection, etc...). Are these ranges listed next to windows? Note: Google Earth is good for making these measurements without being seen.

10. What will your neighbor's friends/families do? Have the neighbors blabbed? What if 25 of their relatives show up demanding shelter?

11. What sort of communications will you have between the houses? Walkie talkies? Symaphore with flags? WWI-II field telephones (anyone know if those are EMP resistant)?

12. What medical issues do these neighbors have? Any suprises (diabetes, addiction, medicated bipolar) lurking there?

-Blast

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought EMP only mattered if the equipment was actually carrying power through it? Like, if my car is parked, there's no problem. Yes/no?

Oh, second thought. Why would a WW2 phone be EMP-resistant? They didn't even HAVE EMP till the end of that war.

OK. EMP 101, exam review.

EMP is a burst of electromagnetic energy, similiar in concept to what is happening an microwave or right next to a radio transmitter. When the electromagnetic waves strike metal (or any other conductor), they are converted into electricity.

That electricity is a very fast, very short, very sharp spike. It can damage a vacumme tube, at demonstrated at the only high altitude nuclear bomb test at Bikini, which blacked out much of Hawaii's radio transmitters until parts can be ordered. That being said, tubes are much more robust than transistors and integrated circuits. An old style, stand alone transistor is more robust than a modern IC containing thousands or millions or billions of transistors. The reason for this is, the smaller the widget, the more readily smoked by the EMP.

A device which is unpowered is less likely to be damaged, as you only have W(EMP) going through the circuit rather than W(source) + W(EMP). As a result, you are less likely to overload the components, but the statistical difference is very, very tiny unless you are pulling hundred of watts- most things that really matter live off less than then enough to be effective. (Please note that the computers that control the power grids have the same power requirement as you household PC- 12V or less at varying milliamps.) You have to worry about both the voltage and the amperage- remember, volts hurt, amps kill.

As a result, anything with integrates circuits (including some lithium batteries) will be smoked even unpowered, unless heavily shielded. Yes, taking the batteries out helps, so does bailing with a coffee cup when the boat is sinking. Yes, turning it off helps, so does bailing with a soup spoon.

Simple transistors, like LEDs, might survive. Powered tubes, might survive. Unpowered tube probably will survive unless they are too close. Problem, we haven't made tubes in this country for over 20 years, and even the last factory in Russia is shut down most of the time due to lack of demand.

If we are talking widespread EMP, we are talking TEOTWAWKI. And no more wrist watches unless you have one that winds.

Ironraven,

My understanding is the "finer the wires the more likely to blow" due to EMP. That's why integrated circuits go POOF when hit by the pulse.

I'm wondering about phones like this . They are basically a microphone and speaker connected by wires and powered by internal batteries + hand-crank generator. Are these components strong enough to withstand an EMP pulse?

-Blast

Could you elaborate on "...sealed up as a shelter..." and "...provide air..."???

All this energy needs something to couple the EMP energy to the device (radio, computer et al) in question. You can call that something an antenna, but it will probably be something like the wires in your house or the high power lines that run power through the grid.

I've heard that cars are not as susceptible as some think because much of the electrical system is inside a faraday cage (the car's body). I have no idea how that will work in the presence of a real EMP, but I think that geometry and location will have a lot to do with whether or not any specific car goes TU.

On the subject of Faraday cage, you can use one to protect yourself. Make one using metal screen and keep your sensitive gear in that with no power lines or other cables running into the cage. All you need is to prevent the EMP from coupling to your electronics -- sounds simple?