Please read from http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/1988/CM2.htm




I really don't understand all the fascination with all this EMP stuff on the forum. Only the major nuclear powers have the ability to deliver a large area effect EMP. The only countries that have this ability are the US and Russia and possibly China. Terrorist organisations do not. It is very difficult engineering challenge to delivery a multi megaton warhead up to altitudes higher than even the US space shuttle orbits over the CONUS. If fact most ICBMs do not have the payload capabilities to lift such large thermonuclear weapons so high. Anyway if this does happen, worrying about your flashlight or your laptop or your GPS or the nice new 42 inch LCD TV at home should be the last thing on your mind. You should start digging unless of course you have your own back yard personal nuclear bunker. You’ve got about 5 – 30 minutes before all hell breaks loose.

Some high explosive detonations can cause a localised EMP effect. There have been developments in Non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NNEMP) weapons that are designed to destroy localised microwave and cellular communications hubs, only because microwave communications are highly susceptible to the magnetic field vector of the electromagnetic pulse. The magnetic fields, which are induced by the pulse deflect the magnet field around the ferrite device causing the circulators in the microwave circuits to become unstable by affecting the microwave frequencies they are tuned to making them unusable. The electrical field vector of the pulse can be protected by the faraday cage effect. Mu shielding can protect most circuits in the same way for the induced magnetic field effects. Mu shielding is heavy and it expensive but does work. Faraday cages are cheap and easy to implement. You just need an aluminium box. Ones with rounded corners are even better.

Therefore to summarise, I wouldn't worry whether your flashlight would survive an EMP, chances are that it will, but you won't have enough time to appreciate that fact, chances are that you won't be able to survive the next 30 minutes. If you keep your LED flashlight in a small closed alumiunium box your flashlight will be OK. I keep a FENIX AAA cree flashlight in a BCB minimess tin only because its the container for my PSK. You don't really need to keep anything down the bottom of a mineshaft except possibly yourself. But then again EMP is not really an issue except in the realms of surviving a nuclear armageddon.