Faraday Cage Gun Safe

Faraday Cage Gun Safe

The documentary Grid Down, Power Up along with books like One Second After highlight the need to take EMP seriously. Whether caused by direct enemy action, nuclear war or a natural disaster, an EMP could wipe out any and all electronic devices you may have. Society is built on computers and electronics, so logical people know that a CONUS EMP event means Without Rule Of Law (WORL) and maybe the end of the world.

An EMP would fry red dots, holographics, night vision and thermal optics. Ironically, a post-EMP world is exactly the time I’d want all of those devices. I’ve seen content on faraday bags, faraday cages etc, but what if you also need these devices secured in a safe or vault with easy access? That’s where EMP hardening your gun safes comes in.

For this video, I used layered sheets of heavy duty construction plastic and heavy duty aluminum foil, made into a large continuous sheet. I laminated the layers together with 3M spray adhesive. Once complete, I lined the entire inside of my gun safe in the material and wrapped the edges around the outside of the door gap to seal that up. The hinge mechanism is well hidden behind the insulating material. I gusseted the corners to minimize seams, but when I was forced to have a seam, I rolled the edge up in itself so the foil never openly communicates with the inside of the safe. The electronic locking mechanism is on the outside of the shield, so that would get fried. BUT, digital safes have a manual lock backup. In the event of an EMP, it would take me a few minutes to access this safe via the manual backup, which is a factor to consider. But in the days, weeks and perhaps months that follow, I’d have all the fun party favors I need to go and do hoodrat stuff with my friends: radios, batteries, thermal optics, Eotechs and Aimpoints and of course night vision.

What about the locking bolts?

Astute observers will notice that the steel locking bolts go to the inside of the safe, potentially transmitting the harmful EMP signal to objects inside. My answer to that is Ferrite Magnet Shielding, which is used to block EMP from traveling into a faraday cage from electrical cords that go from the outside of the cage to the inside. Such magnets can be placed around the steel locking mechanism to shield locking bolts for additional protection.

Faraday Cage EMP Considerations

I had the choice on whether to shield the inside of the safe, or to completely encapsulate the outside of the safe to shield it. For this safe, it made better sense to line the inside, but you could also choose to line the outside and create a magnetic door flap to cover the digital keypad. For a larger vault, bunker or panic room, this sheeting could be used to line the entire inside of the space. It’s probably a good idea to EMP shield a car battery, solar USB chargers, a spare engine ECU, ignition coils and sensors. I may try to EMP harden my propane generator and water well pump down the road as well.

To Ground, Or Not?

A lot of guys online say you have to ground your faraday cage for it to work right, and cite military installations that are grounded as proof. But, this isn’t exactly true based on my research. The real story is that military installations are grounded to protect soldiers from electrical discharge DURING an EMP or nuclear attack. In English this means that you don’t need to ground your cage for it to work. BUT, if it’s not grounded and you touch it during the EMP event you may get electrocuted (if the electronic pulse can’t get inside the cage, maybe it’ll try you instead). So, to ground or not to ground is up to you.

Faraday Cage Gun Safe Results

After completion, Three layers of plastic and two layers of aluminum foil were used to line the inside of the safe. I do not yet have ferrite magnets shielding the locking bolts. The safe blocked all cellphone, WiFi and HAM radio signals that I tested using a Samsung Galaxy and a Baofeng.

Conclusion

Maybe I’ve watched too much S2 Underground, Risky Chrisky and Alex Jones. Who knows if EMP hardening a gun safe even matters when skynet makes its final move. The critics will say that we’ll all get loot dropped by a naked dude on meth with a Mosin or just waste away with dysentery. On the other hand, if God is for us, who can be against us? This was a fun project and may be worth it to protect some fun party favors for the upcoming troubles.