Get your ammo can here: amzn.to/2JdT1mB Thanks for your support!

As an RF engineer, I can attest that this is one of those subjects that has lots of miss-information floating around the internet. Something to keep in mind when building a Faraday cage is that EMPs, while broad spectrum, don't have much power in the EHF range. So worrying about small holes (1mm or smaller) are not a big deal. However, nothing wrong with perfection. On your can, I would make one recommendation, the ground wire poked into the can like that isn't a good idea. You have just created an antenna inside the can that will transfer energy into the can. Your ground should instead be bonded to the outside of the can with solder. Other than that great video.

Good video Lilly, I used to be an electronic technician in the CDN forces. My job for a while was installing telecom center all over the place. Those places were made like Faraday cages so I have a bit of experience in this field; - first the EMP waves lenght are longer than 1 mm, so little gap between the cover and the box wont matter too much. The best material to use to seal this gap is copper desoldering wik that you can get in any electronic supply store, - Wire size is important but remember that the point of contact between the wire and the ground must be solid not just twisted around it. If you can use a hose collar to tighten it to the ground rod or the pipe you use. Ground rods must be driven at least 1 meter in the ground to be effective. If you can, use a wet or moist ground area the put your ground rod. This will ensure a better contact to the ground. Make sure your mechanical connection between the ground rod and the wire are solid and don't come apart easely, - The best way to join the ground wire to the box is to drill a small hole in the box, remove the paint around the hole and insert a bolt through the hole with metal washers on both sides. Then use a self locking nut on the bolt and make it tight using a crimp on terminal to attach the wire to the bolt, - Here in Canada, the building code requires us to have a mechanical ground to the earth. Normaly it is done through the water pipe in the city. If you are out in the country, sump pump must be installed in case water level from the ground rise higher than your floor. In that case you can buy a copper rod from a building supplier and insert it in the pump well, - Inside the box, use some rubber from a tire trip to line your box. Cardboard absorb moisture, rubber don't. Also use ziplock bags to wrap your electronic equipment. When you want to check your equipment it is easier than if it is sealed. I hope those points can help all the friends on this channel. Be safe out there. Lilly your are quite a lady and I wish I could meet you some day to talk outdoor and archery.

Since I've been watching your videos of how to survive among other things, I've learned a lot from you and I want to thank you. You are my new hero I am looking up too. I can now use some of your skills next time I go camping, fishing and a few other things. I'm going to surprise my Step Dad of the things you taught me. My step Dad served in the Air Force and he as well know a lot of things. Again thank you survival Lilly and May God Bless You.

If you are using a ammo cans as a Faraday cage, check the bottom of the can. Many modern can bottoms are not completely welded. If yours is spot welded or not completely welded, use aircraft brand paint stripper to remove the paint on the outside of the bottom. Clean it well after the paint is stripped. Then place solder flux into the weld gaps and then solder all along the bottom. Repaint the bottom. There needs to be no gaps at all. Also use solid core wire for the ground. This wire is easily obtainable from major building supply stores. It is standardly available as in wall house wiring. Many supply stores allow you to buy it by the foot. The flexible wire Lilly is using is braided. Braided wire cannot handle large discharges without burning out. We Love you Lilly! Keep up the great work! Much respect.

As an electrician and electrical engineer, there is one major design flaw with this. That is the clamping join on the earth to the box via the lid. Yes it will dissipate energy far better than without one, but if the current is as high as you think it would be (Ie. The reason you think the larger gauge cable is important) it will melt the aluminium almost instantly and possibly burn the cable off the box due to the poor connection that will follow. Best way to do this would be to drill a hole in the box and sand the paint off around this area, then put a bolt through and use a crimped connection to terminate the connection with the cable and tighten this onto the box with a nut. Doing this should not compromise the capability of the box, if not improve it. Secondly if this box survives an EMP of this magnitude, I can guarantee that the mobile phone towers in your area would be toast also, making your phone that is safe in the box useless as well. Walkie talkies (or any radios) are a good idea though and a GPS to a much lesser degree. Keep up the good work!

Hi Lilly, just thought I would mention that the lid on those ammo cans will pop off easily when you open them up, just push the lid to the side and they come right off the hinge pins. Just to make it easier on your next one, instead of having the awkward box attached , I really enjoy your videos! keep them coming.

Hammers come in several sizes like "please" "oh yes you will" and "I WASN'T ASKING"

Been following you for several years, Lilly, and really enjoy your channel. Now you are getting into something I am familiar with. I have been an Amateur Radio (Ham) for over 50 years. When I started in it, a lot was using vacuum tubes. EMP will fry solid state devices with transistors and intergrated circuits (IC's). One should get an Amateur radio license in your country and find older vacuum tube equipment that works. It should be much safer from a regular EMP situation. The only problem will be how to power it. It would take too much current to run from solar cells unless you have lots and lots of them and batteries. The generator stored in it's own Faraday cage would solve that problem. And like the one commenter mentioned, re-cycle out the stored gasoline.

Love using ammo cans for pretty much whatever I can they make great ovens I even used one as a grill once great stuff lilly

You’re going to have galvanic corrosion where you have dissimilar metals in contact. That aluminum foil gasket will turn to powdery aluminum oxide.

I sometimes joke with people by saying "you're on my team in the apocalypse..." But with Survival Lilly, I would hope she would let me be on her team! Love your channel, thank you for sharing all your knowledge of survival!

My opinion - ground it using the electric socket and use a safe as a big metal box. Buy an electric plug from DIY and connect only the ground pin so it relatively safe

I've used braided copper grounding strap along the seal, where you used foil.

Great video. Neat idea. A small solar charger would also be a good asset to have in the cage as well, just in case the entire grid is down.

What about a Solar panel just in case in power is down and battery pack runs out the sun will charge everything you need

Great to see you broadening the scope of your channel my dear keep up the great work.

So inventive. I love survival and science. Great to see how they can combine

Hallo Lilly aus Ermangelung an Englischkenntnisse in deutsch ;) Tipp: Verwende eine lange Schraube die du mit Unterlegscheiben fest mit einer Metallkiste verschraubst... Verwende zwei weitere Unterlegscheiben und eine Flügelmutter in der du dein Kabel einklemmst und per Hand fest anziehen kannst... Also: Schraubenkopf - Unterlegscheibe - Metallbehälter - Unterlegscheibe - Mutter - Unterlegscheibe - Kabel - Unterlegscheibe - Flügelmutter die Flächen des Metallbehälters, die die Unterlegscheiben berühren sollten blank geschliffen werden... Das Kabel würde ich unter ich unter die Rohr schellen klemmen... Dazu einfach die Rohrschelle lockern die Kontaktfläche mit Sandpapier etwas reinigen... Diese Fläche kann mit etwas Fett (Vaseline besser Kontaktfett) einstreichen... So wie du es gemacht hast geht natürlich auch... Wollte nur mal etwas Klugsch.... ;) lg André

Wow Lilly, you did an excellent job explaining that. There are small Faraday cages available to consumers to protect credit cards and computers from digital theft. Those are great for low wattage radio signals. They don't need to be grounded because of the low energy involved. However, in the case of an EMP, the wattage can be so high, it can actually burn or melt electronic components from the inside because the electricity literally bounces around inside the circuitry randomly and colliding with itself. Grounding your Faraday cage from an EMP redirects the energy into the earth and away from your devices. Normally, I discourage people from using aluminum foil for a Faraday cage. Why? Think about foil in the microwave. It's wrinkles, folds and creases cause the electrons to bounce back on themselves and then colliding back into each other creating short circuits back onto itself. It has the potential to catch more EMP than it will protect from. BUT when you ground foil properly? Electricity always follows the path of least resistance and goes into the Earth and away from your devices. Properly grounded foil can protect much better than foil alone. Thanks for this video Lilly!

I got ammo cans years ago for $3 each. So I used a couple to build Faraday boxes. I wrapped 3 modern HT's and a portable shortwave receiver in aluminum foil and stuck them in the boxes. Then I put the boxes in the basement, just in case. But mostly I rely on having old a couple of tube-based transceivers to deal with possible EMP.

Hi Lilly. I always love your videos! My favorite part of this one was when you beat the crap out of the ammo can with the sledgehammer.

I find Lilly’s knowledge in so many areas fascinating. 6:47

Lilly, One way to check if your seal is perfect is to put your cell phone in the box and then have someone call your phone. If it rings, then you don't have a good contact. Another way is to put a portable radio in there.Turn it to a station and if you close it and can still hear a station then you have a problem.

you are the best youtuber and got me into the outdoors can you do more fishing?!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU I'm only ten and I have been with your channel since I was 7 please respond i love your chanel!!!

I have heard of the rays coming from the Sun and affecting equipment in buildings and my home have a ground outside connected to a grounding rod. I never thought of making a Faraway Cage though, but probably should. The one you built looks nice and thanks for sharing this information.

Lily, who is the manufacturer of the walkie-talkie with a radio? Thank you in advance. Don't forget to put a supply of batteries in your cage. An EMP will drain batteries in an instant. If you continue with such subjects as this, you will receive another video award!

Lilliy and all, I plan to split my comment into two parts. Two different subjects that may garner further comment: For starters, the question is, "to ground or not to ground?" If you choose to add a ground, please understand that the wire you add to the metal container is itself an antenna. This is also true for the power cord on an appliance, TV, computer etc, etc. The entire grid is a giant antenna. (google the great solar storm of 1859.) If you choose to add a ground, sand off some paint, drill a small hole and use a well-cleaned steel or brass bolt and nut for the attachment point of the ground wire. That way you have a good mechanical bond. Even better, use some flux core electronic solder and solder over the nut and bolt connection, allowing the solder to flow into the joint by capillary action. This will give you the very best low resistance connection. Also, it would be good to drive a separate ground rod well away from other grounding rods. Drive it deep into moist soil. You WILL NOT obtain a good ground in dry soil. Adding salt around the ground rod will temporally attract moisture but is only a short-term fix at best. A ground rod driven deep into the moist soil is your best plan. Also, a scrap copper plate with a good mechanical and soldered attachment buried deep where the soil is moist will work well as a ground. A final thought, nest your equipment. Our more important items have multiple layers of protection. For example paper wrap and foil around a tablet or cellphone. Another insulating wrap and the unit is placed into a tin or small metal box and sealed with metal tape. The doubly protected unit then goes into the larger metal box with its own insulating layer. Far more protection than a single cage will provide.

Another layer of protection could be to wrap each device you put inside in aluminum foil as well. You might consider placing them in ziplock baggies, or vacuum sealing them to prevent possible moisture damage with changing temperature/humidity levels now that the ammo can is no longer water tight.

Love that you are becoming more of a prepper. You have inspired me to build a bug out camp. I am a prepper so this will be great. Would love to build a little off grid cabin in remote northern wilderness close to my home in Canada.

Recomendation: I keep the weather proof seal on all my ammo cans to keep water and rain out. What I do is wrap all individual components with 3 layers of aluminum foil, after I seperate the batties from the device. Then I make the outside of the foil with a lable of what was wraped within and the date. The individual components are protected. Please note that the batties or power source must be seperated from the components when you wrap them. If it is possible have every device 2 or 3 times. Take oiut only one after and EMP and protect the others for multible EMP attacks.

Lilly, you are very well informed about what many people don't even know about. Kudos to you for leading the way. What you say is very true, an EMP is very dangerous and has already taken out satellites and power grid equipment on various other occasions and will do so again. I applaud you for raising this subject. Your ammo can design has a few people picking at it as faulty, but it will be very good in practice. Inside the 'Faraday cage there is no field strength at all. it does not need to be lined inside with insulation, nor does it need a ground, but there is no harm in doing either, you are welcome to do what you think is right. We'll check up with you after the next 'event'.

Another awesome video Lilly! I always love watching your videos because it's actually informative and i learn something very useful from it. Thanks for the awesome video!

Thank you for this video. I have enjoyed every one of your videos that I've seen so far. I am subscribed because you give real life experiential knowledge. Also, I find your confidence inspiring. Please keep doing this. It is appreciated. God bless you and your work. Peace Everyone.

Also, if you have it or can get it, Aluminum tape. It is similar to duct tape but has an aluminum back. Tape over any parts that may have a gap or all the way around your lid. The tape blocks the waves from getting through any gaps.

I haven't gone threw all the responses sooooo... I see a few flaws. 1) if a EMO happens your still sol. The power grid will be down for a huge area. Chargers won't work to charge you devices. The cellular system will be gone. So no phone will work but yours. No oned to call as there phones have no service. Your power cell takes a long time to charge. Again radio wil be dead. Your car will be dead. EMP's are nasty, and wide spread. Not trying to put you or your video down. A lightning rod possibly not be heavy enough. The tin foil i doubt will survive the amount of current going threw it. Just like the wire you used for your ground. All good info Lilly. Love your channel. So much great info on it. Jerry Wish I knew how to know if a response is left to this.

This is a very useful idea! I've got the amo-can and was planned to make the compact wood stove but I change my mind. I should make the Faraday Cage first instead of stove.

Why did the Walrus go to the Tupperware party? To find a tight seal.

Great video ! Thank you for the heads up and knowledge ! One potential problem I see is condensation. If this box is taken to say a bug out location. In a cold climate. There is a good chance the inside of the box will condensate. And the cardboard will get wet . Which creates many more problems. IMHO. If neoprean foam was glued to all sides and lid and bottom. It would provide R value insulation which will help batteries . And it will eliminate condensation. The condensation problem with sealed metal containers is very real. Especially ammo cans as I have had Many things get ruined in ammo cans from condensation over the decades.

Right on Lilly, not that I care about electronics, they will be useless but I am glad you are not blind to what's happening in the world!

I learn so much from Survival Lilly and she’s easy on the eyes

A old way of making a good R.F. proof box is to put "finger stock" around the edge. Dont know if it is even make anymore, Test the box by putting a cell phone in the box and call it with another phone and see if it rings. It should not.

Nice vid with lots of tips and would mean a lot for a lot of people, thanks. Another tip I would like to add is for you to drill a hole through your outside wall and connect a wire onto a copper pipe knocked into the ground, bringing the wire into your house for a proper earth and connecting that on a metal plate, preferably copper. By cleaning the paint off the bottom of your farraday cage to ensure contact, place it on the plate and thus giving you access to it all the time and grounding your cage.

Lilly test the container seal by putting a light inside it. The light will shine showing where seals, corners of can or lid is not EMP proof.

I think if there’s an EMP or CME powerful enough to permanently knock out a mobile phone and it’s charger, the phone masts will be wiped out which will render a protected phone useless anyway. An old microwave oven is an ideal container, it’s shielded on all sides and has a ground connection. Just disconnect the positive and negative wires from the plug or remove the Electric’s inside leaving the earth cable.

Dust cleaning device 😂😂😂

I am also an Electronics Communications Engineer and I agree with the ground wire suggestion. Small holes do matter however. A an example brass screens are incredibly leaky. 1:46

Nice video but some important notes: Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMPs) are not just electrical, they are magnetic too. The EMP pulse is generally (but not exactly) a half sine wave with an electric field and a magnetic field that is perpendicular to it. What does that mean for non electrical engineers? Simple, it is not just an electrical wave pulse, it is magnetic wave pulse too. The Ammo Boxes are a good start for making a Faraday Cage (which is what you are making to block and shield EMPs). The reason is because the Ammo Boxes are made of ferrous metal like steel. Mu Metal would be better but not practical. Aluminum may block/shield most electrical waves and currents but magnetic waves can still get through. Try holding a steel washer to the other side of Aluminum foil folded a few times and a strong magnet on the other, the washer will be strongly attracted through the foil to the magnet. Now try it with steel, like the side of the Ammo Box, the washer will have much less attraction, if at all. Of course this is DC and EMPs are high frequency AC with many characteristics, but it demonstrates the point. Don't use aluminum as a gasket in your Ammo Box Faraday Cage, it will leak some of the extremely strong EMP through. Nuclear EMPs are thousands of times stronger than EMPs we get from the Sun on Earth. It is better to find some fine mesh steel braid and use that for the gasket. The best are for RFI/EMI/TEMPEST applications. Also, when a nuclear EMP occurs, eddy currents will be introduced in the steel, so you need at least 1 inch (25mm) of cardboard all around the interior of your Faraday Cage to protect your devices from the eddy currents. Also, a thin layer of ESD foam is a recommended. Look for "Ammo Box Faraday Cage" for details. I tested my Ammo Box Faraday Cages to have an 80dB attention at 100MHz 1W wave at 10 meters away. With aluminum foil as a gasket, that drops to only a 70dB drop which means 10 times the energy gets through with an aluminum seal. Actual EMPs have some higher frequency components but this is my baseline based on the equipment I have. The rest can be extrapolated from actualy EMP data, but that is mostly classified. It's not a good idea to hit your Ammo Box with hammers, it is best to keep the box edges as true as possible and have a good fine mesh steel gasket that makes perfect contact between the "sanded" case and lid all the way around. Finally, the Faraday Box (now that the rubber gasket was removed) may not be air tight, moisture can work its way over time. Remove all batteries and store them separately from your devices. Put some desiccant packs inside to absorb moisture, then seal the whole box in a vacuum bag or similar air tight wrapping. The idea is for long term storage of your electronics and NOT open it until the EMP events are stopped - usually within the first day of a full commit nuclear war. But not a bad video, it will work, but why risk it when it can be better.

Rather than cardboard (which could absorb water if there is ever a leak or if the can is opened in the rain, etc.) use reflectix-type material - (essentially bubble-wrap with a foil coating on both sides). It is cheap (building supply store), water-proof, and potentially adds extra shielding as well as cushioning. It also makes a good addition to a sleeping pad, and I used it to make for a cozy for my camping cook pot, for making sun shades, etc., so you'll find lots of uses for the extra you have from buying a roll, or maybe you can find enough scraps from a builder or contractor somewhere.

I put a knife, matches, and a candy bar in my faraday cage so I know they will work if we get hit by an EMP!

Thank you for your training! Under YOUR training, I built one of these today by following your instructions. I even have it now grounded to my 10 foot grounding rod. Thank you!!

Perhaps then a good a Idea to keep a half a roll of extra aluminum foil folded flat inside the box to replace the gasket if ever necessary. However I suppose you'd want it inside an envelope or plastic container of some sort before tucking it in the box beside the electronic goods.

need to make one in which i can sleep in before the 5 g technology is coming alive ..haha

Good morning!! Here at work with a cup of coffee in my office, watching your vid. Awesome content ,never gave a emp a thought but will consider!!! Thanxs!!! :-)

Ammo cans are great. I lined mine with wood keep shortwave radios walkie-talkies. Batteries bought a couple of large ammo can that can hold small solar generator. I left the weather seal in didn’t paint it

Plain unlined paint can. Good metal to metal seal. Just make sure its the kind with no interior costing on the can or lid.

Yes!!!! Great Idea 😎

If an emp hits. The cell towers won't work either. So cell phones won't work with no towers. ?

Part two : Lilly and all, The cell phone may not work if the power grid and or the cell network become damaged. Still, a cellphone or inexpensive tablet will have many other uses. Well trained and prepared individuals will have survival knowledge. What about those who are new to preparedness? I suggest loading first aid books, survival books, military manuals and any general how-to books covering your weak areas of knowledge onto flash drive // memory sticks. They hold a lot of information and take up little space. Pack them in a nested fashion (see my first comment above) inside your EMP can. Include an inexpensive USB cable adapter to connect to your cell phone or tablet to the memory stick. You now have a complete survival library to reference and a "reader" to do so. Not as good as knowing what to do by instinct and practice but still a great and inexpensive part of preparation. I would also suggest adding a compact folding solar panel in the EMP can, it will charge your small devices in a grid down situation.

Most EMP protection containers are like body armor. They will only protect you to a certain level. An EMP burst comes at varying magnitude and frequency and it could be very high frequency. Because containers need to be opened and closed, they are not always fully sealed to RF. This is not a huge concern. Yes, the grounding connection should always be attached to the outer shell. The steel ammo can makes a nice EMP container.. Just a thought. Thanks for your video.

I really love your videos, you're amazing and absolutely good in everything you do👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

search the internet for arthur bradley and his great videos on emp. you need an emp gasket on that ammo can to work properly

I would not wire the ground to the lightning rod; That's like putting an EMP antennae on your box. Ground wire should be as thick and as short as possible, going directly to ground rod which should have the largest contact area with the ground.

Instead of lining my ammo box, I put each item in a cardboard box. Decreases capacity of the can, but it worked better for me. Looks good!

Thank. You Lilly!!!! You are awesomeness in a KZfaq!!!! Lol. Btw you are super beautiful!!!

You actually think your electronics will work after a nuke explosion or emp? You're better off making a bird cage. What wifi or cell phone towers are you going to use these electronics on? Cause that emp is going to fry everything that makes those said electronics work. Faraday boxes are better used for spying eyes or goverment paranoia.

I understand about making contact with the lid to the rest of the ammo can, but if you leave the seal in the lid and just add five rolled sheets of aluminum, and overlap the sides, you'll have the job completed and the aluminum foil will fill the lid and stay. then line up the inside of the can with cardboard, and it's job done !.

Lilly I use stainless steel wool at the top where the gasket was after cleaning the paint . And covered my electronic ignition boxes for my car and a radio . Also a phone . Wrapped them in heavy foil . It’s stored in a steel tool box . If that doesn’t work I’m Taking a bike . I have several of these ammo boxes. And big tool boxes .

Your car is a good faraday cage - it will withstand millions of volts and survive to tell the tale - ATB

Why are you suddenly interested on these topics? Are you expecting for a EMP (maybe) from the sun or artificially produced? It is quite different from your traditional videos :O

Lilly, great video. Since I'm kind of a prankster I would have said "now let's test it". Then I would have shown me walking into afield, set up the ammo box, camera view from a distance and showed. A nuclear exploration. Then said unfortunately placing my ammo can so close to the EMP source, I didn't calculate for high heat intensity.

Another type of therapy, just pleasure to watch, as another people working! I enjoy your video!

Are the hinges not conducting between the lid and the body?? I'm so confused

Electricity runs on the outside of a wire. Not through the middle of the wire. Same thing with a EMP. As long as your can is sealed 100% on the outside, you won't need a cardboard liner. Now when a EMP happens it will be too late to put any devices in that box. Sand the outside of the sides of the (the sides and hinges) to bare metal. Sand the sides of the box below the lid Put your devices and lithium batteries in it. Put 2 layers of aluminum tape around the seal (the lid and the can). Now you are protected. An EMP will only run on the outside of metal just like electricity. If your can is sealed it can not get in. It will not run to the core (inside the box) like a wire. It only runs on the outside of the wire (box, faraday cage). Hope this helps...

This is some seriously advanced preparedness. Nice work Lilly!

Lilly if you slide that lid to one side the lid pins will disengage, and lid will come off to make it easier to work on.

Who's here in 2023? haha you can now purchase grounding cables that plug right into the ground (third) prong of any outlet. Just get a small reader to make sure that outlet is actually grounded. Even if your house has a grounding rod, every circuit box may not be attached to it. I already had one of these cables in my house from an old grounding mat I used to use (silver impregnated fiber mat). Thanks for the video!!

Lilly is the best of both worlds, smart and super pretty!

A USA government expert on EMPs wrote a book on this subject. He stated we can use a galvanized garbage container as a Faraday Cage.

I would suggest that you put a solar-powered battery charger in the box, if it does not fit with other items, you can make a Faraday Cage just for it. A solar-powered battery charger would be good if plug-ins would be ruined by EMP as well as source of electricity. :)

After sanding all paint replace the seal with stranded copper wire, gets even more contact from the lid to the box and you wont have to worry about small gaps in the lid. Remember that a faraday cage without any wire penetrations does not need to be grounded, and any attempt to ground such an uncomplicated faraday cage is simply asking for problems. ... This may work as a static drain or to protect against electric shock; but for an EMP ground it is worse than worthless, it is an antenna.

Thank you for this excellent video. A few minor points: I would not connect the Faraday cage/box to your home ground. This would act counter to the purpose of having a Faraday cage. Keep the Faraday cage in your garden shed. Connect it only to the grounding rod you drive into the Earth. Do not attach this ground line, or any ground line, or any other conductor to the conductor that connects to your lightning rod. Given a lid and box made of some (doubtless) ferrous metal, the connection of the lid and box to the gasket made of aluminum will almost certainly corrode. Adding the copper wire in contact with the aluminum and the ferrous-metal box will also create a point of corrosion. Braze the flat heads of some steel bolts to the outside of the lid and the outside of the box. Use electrical connectors attached to the bolts to enable an electrical connection between the outside of the box and the outside of the lid. Put another connector on one of the bolts. Use that connector to attach a substantial ground wire (6-gauge) to a five-foot rod driven into undisturbed earth, which will then act as your ground. I would do this all in a shed, not in my house. Do not attach this ground line, or any ground line, or any other conductor to the conductor that connects to your lightning-rod. The conductor attached to the lightning rod is not a ground. The conductor attached to the lightning rod should not be connected to a ground/the Earth. The purpose of the lightning-rod system is not to provide nor to serve as a ground, nor as a connection to a ground/the Earth. The lightning-rod system's purpose is to gather all of the static-electric charge that develops on your house and dissipate it through the lightning rod(s). With its static charge thus dissipated through the lightning rod(s), your house presents a (literally) less-attractive target for lightning.

Some say ground it so the extra electrons can leave. Others say don't ground it so you don't help attract electrons in the first place by means of offering it that path to ground. Others say don't ground it to not attract more electrons, but then ground it after the EMP but before you open it, to get rid of the electrons that you did get.

The principle of a Faraday cage is a contiguous metalic layer surrounding the electronics to be protected. Contrary to what many say, grounding is NOT required. Ammo cans are definitely robust, stackable, and portable, but, you can achieve the same level of protection by putting your electronics into a cardboard box and wrapping it with aluminum foil ensuring no gaps in the wrap. Then, put that into another cardboard box to protect the foil skin. Cheap, simple, quick. Oh, and the currents aren't going to melt the foil. Another alternative is a galvanized ash can. Home Depot has different sizes...just make sure the lid makes a complete seal around the circumference of the top of the can and ensure the lid stays in place until access is required. If you use the ash can, make sure your electronics are not making contact with the can. Remember the principle of a Faraday cage, a contiguous metalic skin around the electronics to be protected; NOT grounded. Also, Future Weapons took a modern care, circa 1990's if I'm remembering correctly, and took it to the military EMP testing site...car was fried...no worky anymore...be warned.

I would recommend taking the antenna off of the radio. Other videos I have watched recommended an insulation layer inside the box. I was thinking about using a heavy duty trash bag.

The Box does not only have to be conductive, it also has to be magnetic and as thick as possible. Sorts of steel should be fine, check it with a magnet. EMP means electro magnetic pulse.

rubber is a better insulator for inside the box, and you can double or tripple your extension cord if you want a heavier guage ground wire. every home electrical pannel has a ground, you can use that ground wire,

Lilly, you are a smart lady! Thank you for the info that you provide to everybody.

Awesome video sister. You're the right trail with modifying original seal. Conductive silicone (metallics added in) fabrics and cords may increase effectiveness of seal and ease of build. Probably can leave original seal in and build around it. No hammering required. Thank you!

Find some cheap jumper cables they'll be extra heavy duty and have substantial clamps for grounding your container

Not many realize that PVC conducts electricity way more than almost all metals. I learned this while studying electronics, it rates a 10 out 10 while copper and other metals are less conductive, I was shocked (no pun intended) when I learned this fact.

FWIW here in the US you can buy a copper clad ground rod and purpose built clamp for grounding. Every occupied building should have one already.

If this a US GI ammo can the lids are designed to be removed. The hinge is made in two parts. Just slide it to one side, and tada. Having made a FARADAY BOX before, myself, What I used to replace the gasket material was 3-0 steel wool. Unroll the steel wool it to long strips. Also need to include a desicant moisture absorber. Yes you are correct in adding a grounding wire. But I suggest that the wire not be in side of the box, May I suggest find a bottom corner spot, remove the paint down to bare metal, and solder it on. Also need to think that you need a redundant setup in case one gets destroyed. I personally have 3 of these. Very good idea to prepare for an emergency survival.

ESD workstation ground straps are designed to safely plug into an electrical outlet.

A metal paint can works without any modification, save cleaning it out.

One would want to download local maps into their cell phone. Reason is if the cell towers are down...the GPS satellites could still work (probably). So if you have your maps on your cell phone, then mapping and destinations and walking routes would still be vital information that would work. You wouldn't have to rely on the lucky chance cell towers were working, let alone servers with mapping data, to download mapping information.

Good idea. I understand that a galvanized steel garbage barrel with a tight-fitting lid can be used as well. I would want to run a wire from it to a grounding stake pounded into the earth, and insulate the electronics inside from touching the sides or bottom of the barrel. With a solar CME, we'd have a couple of days' warning before the EMP hit. With a nuclear detonation, only minutes, if any. Hope neither one ever happens. Nice demo. Cheers.

Put a flashlight in the closed box, go into a dark room and check for openings where you can see the light through the box

If there is a sizable EMP, wouldn't the power grid be down as well. Where are you going to plug those into? Do you have some generator or a system of generating electricity. Idk about where you are but I'm pretty sure here in the US they haven't went out of their way to protect the electrical grid from sizable CME or EMP. Would a small motor be effected by EMP? Could build a little generator using a bike or something if there's no available fuel around or stored

You can use aluminum tape around the can to seal it, and you can make a grounding rode from a 4' 3/8" rebar. Make a small repairable hole in your home and run the wire through it to the outside. This kind of grounding system can also be used to protect short wave radio's from lighting strikes.