How long would you live if electricity for the whole world went out permanently?

I was having this conversation with my daughter and thought it was an interesting topic.

If an EMP or solar flare took out everything electronic in the whole world (permanently), how long do you think it would take for you to die, given your current location and circumstances.

I believe my daughter thinks we would live a lot longer than I do, but she is thinking about how long she can live without the internet while I am thinking the world will quickly descend into anarchy.

With no traditional forms of transport, so supplies would dry up, limited resources, health etc, law and order would be a challenge as things become more desperate.

I think I would live for about 3 months. I would try to get the family somewhere safe and remote and come back later, but I think most people would have the same idea.

tallwookie,

it would depend on luck for the first few days - I’ve got weapons and I know the fastest way to gtfo of the city so I can rendezvous with my family - they’ve got some arable property in an easily defendable, low population area. family isnt prepper level but they’re big into organic gardening/natural remedies - in the late spring through late autumn they dont need to buy groceries, the land provides… there’s plenty of water there in the area, and building a water wheel isnt that difficult, nor is wire wrapping (just tedious) so as soon as we survive the winter of year 0 (and winters are pretty mild) designing a grain mill (flour) and basic electrical generation (parts are just laying around) would just be a matter of a few months. my father is big into black powder tech - i grew up learning how to manufacture it, how to cast lead shot, how to care for rifles. 1700s level tech is very simple (not super accurate but it’s better than limited modern day rounds).

so, end of post apocalypse, year 1: permanent food and water supplies secured. electrical generation secured, electrical grid expanding. base acquired & outfitted. protection/weaponry secured.

years 2 - 45 (probably got another 45 years in me), hard but rewarding survival as I rebuild society. pass the reins onto my very large family. world domination in 250 years.

meco03211,

it would depend on luck for the first few days

I hate when people try to brag that they’d easily survive the apocalypse cause they’ve prepped, or hoarded, or trained, or whatever. Like bitch if you’re in the first city to be bombed or patient zero, you dead.

fiat_lux,

When the pandemic shut a lot of the world down for a bit, I turned into Snake Plisskin from "Escape from LA" like some of apocalyptic Cinderella. Didn't everyone? /s

Army-of-one renegade lone-wolf badass-hero natural-confidence-leader fiction was a cultural mistake.

tallwookie,

go back and read the OP to see what we’re discussing. a solar flare has no real impact on animals/people and an emp has even less effect. you’re fucked if you have a pacemaker but in that event you’ve got one foot in the grave as it is and your chance of survival is not realistic. you’re not even statistically relevant. only electrical devices that are powered on and arent shielded would be affected by and emp attack anyway, but the cabling and many of the components would still work just fine.

it’s not bragging to say that I would, with a little bit of luck for the first few days (honestly compels me to admit that I wouldnt need much luck), be able to survive a scenario that would kill 80% of the population - it’s fact. I suppose if my family didnt have property where they do, the experience they do, and I was raised in a different way then I’d probably die in a ditch like the vast majority of my neighbors, but the truth of the matter is that I am just better prepared than they are. basic survival techniques, situational awareness, and an educational mindset will take you a lot further than most things when your life is on the line.

meco03211,

Perhaps I worded it poorly. I quoted you qualifying your success with the necessity for luck. I was applauding the affirmation that even with plenty of skills and preparedness, some things are out of our hands.

No doubt there would be people that had no business surviving but make it on pure luck and the goodwill of others. Though luck favors the prepared.

tallwookie,

I agree - I could easily be killed by someone as I make my way to a safe location. there’s a gas station just down the block that gets knocked over every few weeks, crime is a common thing in my area.

bradorsomething,

Please tell me you send your family pictures of the broadway lights, and they send you homemade wine.

NeoNachtwaechter,

Yes, that is to be expected from the Us americans. They would kill each other pretty soon.

moistclump,

I thought it was interesting that this poster started with weapons and protection, when in my mind the first thing to do is find community of people to work together on mutual survival.

Damaskox,
@Damaskox@lemmy.world avatar

Would probably depend on how strongly my survive instinct would kick in, and what I’d be willing to do to survive. And of course on how we as a society would deal with this big change.

A few minutes would be the minimum.

AceFuzzLord,

I would definitely die sooner than a lot of people because of my mechanical heart valve. The blood thinners and needing to make sure my blood isn’t too thin or thick would be harder since I’ve been getting it checked for over a decade and I’ve never seen them use a non-electric method of testing.

Da_Boom,
@Da_Boom@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

Honestly, I wonder if it would make me live longer. Sometimes it takes a literal crisis to get me out of my chair.

Sure the collapse of society will possibly happen. But that means all polluting systems would inevitably shut down. And at that point you have to get creative. While I don’t live on a farm, it wouldn’t take much to rob a store for seeds and food with the security systems down. And guns are few and far between here in aus.

straypet,

Get some seeds, press the button on the packet and after a bit out comes the food, right?

Farming is hard and electricity plays a huge part in how it’s currently done.

Da_Boom,
@Da_Boom@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

Yes, but I’m not planning on doing full on farming… rather a small set of crops I can manage on my own with gardening implements and my own bare hands. Times will be lean, and I’d have to ration what I have, and there’s always the chance that a bad harvest could cause me to catch my death, but trying anything you can is the aim.

Maybe setting some bird traps or something is a good idea, it’s worth a shot.

Basically to only grow as much as I need to survive. Might even fill tanks with the water to keep a surplus in case the water system loses pressure and water dries out. I have a set of gas stoves and dad loves his barbecues, so we can cook on propane, charcoal and we can even use the wood for our fireplace, and we could chop trees down in the park near my house for more wood heck our Falcon wagon runs on LPG, so we can use that in our barbecues as well if we can manage to adapt the nozzle on the filler cap.

It won’t last forever, but the whole point of doing it is to give yourself enough time to come up with a plan and improve your issues over time.

Even with the power gone I still live in a city. And I guarantee the roads will be blocked with cars as more and more run out of petrol. Unless you can get out as quick as possible and can get fuel before the fuel stations run out of juice to pump the stuff, you aren’t going to get far. So you might be better off staying put and only going short distances to conserve your fuel.

Of could if the outage is the result of EMP your modern car’s electrics could be fried anyway. Unless you can find spare working parts to fix your ECUs and other computers or to manage to adapt your car to magnetos and carburettors, you won’t be going anywhere anyway. Honestly the only thing that might still be working is my dad’s Moto Guzzi. Just put the original ignition back on to it if the upgraded electronic ignition is fried and it will run, may have to push start it, but it will., and you can weave in and out of roadblocks with it, and all our other cars and our lawnmower can contribute their fuel via a siphon.

qyron,

I worked closely with an energy company for some time and enjoyed talking with the field maintenace personell and soon discovered that fable of sensible electronics on the power is just that.

Most of the power relies on hardware to control, distribute and protect the grid. And I mean old school hardware, not electronics.

The most electronic dependent part of the grid here is essentially on the end of the line, inside consumers homes, to measure and control the energy delivered and consumed.

Wild fires are more of a menace to power lines and energy distribution than thunderstorms or other massive energy discharges.

Lorindol,

Hard to say.

The biggest challenge would be to get out of the city and make the trip to my family’s farm safely. It would take about a week on foot/bikes using less known roads with all the supplies/weapons that would be crucial.

If I could get to the farm, rest would be fairly easy. I can farm, fish and and hunt. Heating works with wood. Fresh water is not a problem, nor is refrigeration with an ice cellar. My family has an old mill that we could restore to get flour and I think I could retrofit it to produce hydroelectricity in a year or so.

I’d trade access to electricity to get horses and other farm animals.

Almost every neighbour is related to me, so forming a defensive alliance should be possible.

I have the gear and the knowhow to make things work, it’s the not-getting-killed part at the start that’s hard.

intensely_human,

And then there’s me. I either get some of your food, or I die. The hunger is growing in me like crack withdrawal. I also have survival skills and I’ve used every tool you can imagine and I’m really good at sneaking around.

I’ve probably got a gun by now.

I’m just gonna come and take ten pound of your corn. That’s all I need, then I’ll be on my way.

What do you say? Are you gonna give me some corn?

Lorindol,

Depends.

Maybe you’re willing to chop some wood or help out in some other way in exchange for the food. Win-win for all.

Or then one of my children on watch duty shoots you with a .308 when I subtly signal them that the negotiations have stalled or you pull your gun out.

Maybe we both die. Those would be very uncertain times.

afraid_of_zombies,

I don’t know how well I would do even if I escaped to my inlaws farm. It is pretty low tech but they are depending on city water which involves pumps and a moped to even get to the farm from their house still requires a battery.

Olhonestjim, (edited )

The trouble isn’t that you can’t do all that. It’s how many other people have that same idea. Rural areas will be overrun by people who think getting out of the cities is the best idea – not that they’re wrong – but it will run supplies low outside cities too, and home gardens and the local deer population can only take so much pressure. That’s not even to mention the road traffic. If cities can’t handle rush hour, 2 lanes will certainly be gridlocked as everyone looks for the next road not taken. The locals would not take kindly to such an influx either.

The best strategy in my mind would be to stockpile food and other necessities wherever you are now and prepare for a long wait, hoping power gets restored. It would be horrible and dangerous no matter where.

3 months is when my insulin runs out. I doubt I’d make it that long in the USA.

Lorindol,

Like I said, the start would be the hardest part. Cars or any other motor vehicles would be out of the question.

f this scenario would happen during the winter, it would effectively block all the lesser known forest roads for vehicle use. Doing the trip with skis would easily halve my travel time, even with the supply sled and heavy backpacks. 30-50km per day would be easy, when one wouldn’t have to go around all the lakes and rivers. We don’t get much daylight here in the far north so travelling in the cover of darkness would be ideal. I can find my way in dark forests with ease.

In the summer, the trip would be much more problematic. My country has countless number of old, unmarked roads and forest paths that are usually suitable for mountain bikes. This would be my first option. The second would be crossing the forests by foot which would be very safe, but it would take time.

My relatives would take care of the farm until I would arrive, of that I am certain - and they are very capable of doing so. My family has stuck around those parts for hundreds of years and we aim to keep it that way in any scenario ;)

ComplexLotus,

Solar pannels and wind farms will continue working, so the grid may fail, but there will remain many small islands where electricity keeps working ig

A_Random_Idiot,

I think the immediate deaths would all be from people who need electricity to run medical devices.

Followed shortly by people who require refrigerated medication.

Followed by elderly who die from exposure to extreme, unconditioned temperatures.

and that would be in the first, oh, say… week or two.

Then, with fridges full of rotted food, your first major death wave will occur as masses of people lose their absolute goddamn minds in panic and fear and start food riots/try to rob from others/raid big industrial farms/neighborhood gardens/etc, which leads to mass deaths from starvation, exposure, exertion, desperation, and gunshot.

Which will even out after about a week or two.

Then you settle in for the slow burn. 3 months out you’ll have another, comparatively small wave of deaths from people who run out of non-refridgeration requiring medications.

Then another slow burn until manufactured canned goods run out in stores and scavanged homes until a wave of starvation.

All in all, I’d say you’d probably be over the bulk of the mass deaths after 6 months, and with a significantly reduced population… Which will be to the benefit of the survivors, since less people per mile will make farming/hunting easier, and life safer… because while raiders/thieves will always be a overarching concern and safety issue, at this point, most of the desperation should have passed along with most of the desperate.

There will also be, for at least a generation, possibly two, the lingering unspoken understanding that more people than anyone would ever care to count only survived the famines and fall by eating the long pig.

renrenPDX,

So basically Walking Dead without zombies.

Agent641,

Even in TWD the bigger danger was from the living.

Toes,

Bravo

OceanSoap,

Sorry, what’s the long pig? Other humans?

tetraodon,

oxfordreference.com/…/authority.20110803100114139

glnpf148,

Username doesn’t check out. I would watch that movie.

ShunkW,

Yep. I’d have about a month and a half of insulin to use, since it lasts that long out of refrigeration. It would take a while to actually kill me probably, but yeah that would be what gets me I think.

Beetschnapps,

You got it right. If you’re already in a hospital you’re screwed. Anyone on a ventilator etc. is dead in hours.Then there’s people who need special meds that require refrigeration. They’re dead in days. Depending on the season, many more are dead in weeks. Food would be an issue but there are lots of shelf stable/canned goods that could last for a bit. Scarcity would be the bigger concern.

The dead bodies themselves could also be an issue at scale.

The crazier issue in my mind are all the industrial plants, nuclear power plants, chemical processing facilities…

In any major catastrophe they are abandoned and likely the meltdown and other issues could render whole areas uninhabitable. Might be manageable in certain power loss scenarios… but anything major and sudden like if you’re country suffered a nuclear attack or a major natural catastrophe and you survived I’d stay away from nuclear plants or chemical processing facilities. Potable water will be hard enough to come by…

monkeytennis, (edited )
@monkeytennis@lemmy.world avatar

My post apocalypse strategy - and the only way to avoid prolonged suffering - is suicide on day 1.

Turns out that’s not a good dinner party answer.

BastingChemina, (edited )

You forgot water in your scenario.

To be fair most people in a first world country don’t need to think about water since it’s just “there”, all the time.

But as soon as the electricity goes out the water supply goes out too.

No water supply means no water to drink, with no water the human body die within 3 days, so people will start to rely on any dirty water they can find.

About dirty water, no water also means no WC. I repeat: no WC so no evacuation of feces and urine. Within a few day a big city swill be covered with human excrement. Mixed with no clean water access it means that deadly waterborne diseases will spread extremely quickly.

rob_t_firefly,
@rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world avatar

I wonder about the population using non-refrigerated but still vital medication being “comparatively small.” There are countless people who would no longer be getting things they need to live, and only a very small percentage of those folks would have the ability to grow a plant or something and refine themselves a substitute of some kind. I am really curious how those numbers would line up.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

At least long enough to build my own hand-crank generator. Then the raiders would kill me and take it.

:(

kalkulat,
@kalkulat@lemmy.world avatar

Disguise it as a sausage grinter?

slaughtermouse,

Cannibals would kill me and grind me in it

:(

kalkulat,
@kalkulat@lemmy.world avatar

Then they’ll learn that you have really good taste.

z3rOR0ne,
@z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml avatar

Probably immediately. That’s kind of the plan, actually. Why would I want to live in such a world where physical might makes right?

NeoNachtwaechter,

a world where physical might makes right?

For example the Usa is, and has always been that way.

Many other countries are different, and there is no reason to assume that our scenario here would change that.

z3rOR0ne, (edited )
@z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml avatar

I agree that the USA has always had a “might makes right” mentality, especially in regards to its international relations, but yes, within our domestic affairs as well.

The boon of technologies, however, is initially a benefit to those who are differently abled, or somehow otherwise incapable of accomplishing physically strenuous tasks (think of the boon the invention of the bicycle had to women, who were demonized for wearing pants shortly after its invention and visiting ”men of ill repute” just the town over. Or more recently the invention of modern contraceptives and safer abortion techniques).

Said technologies are often usually then weaponized for power or profit by militaries, police, and corporations to exploit and disenfranchise, as well as remove access of these technologies to certain classes of people (the public working and public lower classes).

One only has to look at the corporatization of the modern farming industry and its rabid attempts to circumvent right to repair laws to see its nightmarish effects on not only agriculture, but also the modern farmer’s ability to run their own business according to their whims, and not an overlord corporation.

The loss of electricity worldwide would send us back to the late 19th century for the most part. And there are many strong, dominant, men who would love nothing more than to have the reliance of brute strength become the rule of law again.

To me, that is not a time I wish to revisit, that is not a transition I wish to bear witness to, as it would likely involve witnessing the disenfranchisement and disenpowerment of the world’s differently abled people as well as witnessing the rise of violent conflicts over resources and a return of more blatant slavery than we see today. Quite simply, I’d rather die.

I do hope this would play out differently in other countries (likely smaller countries). But the cynic in me doesn’t believe it’s possible.

GONADS125,

Same reason you’d want to live in this fucked up world full of injustice and suffering.

Most people have a very powerful inherent drive to survive, and a lot of people who think they’ve got nothing to live for experience a reprioritization and will fight like hell to survive.

Most individuals who try to kill themselves immediately regret their decision. This happens a lot with jumpers, where most survivors report immediately regretting the decision as soon as they are in free fall and their brains reprioritize survival over the petty or even significant reasons we had to jump in the first place.

Just after jumping and while mid-air, Ken said, “I realized, at that moment, this is the stupidest thing I could have done.”

“I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable — except for having just jumped.” Source

z3rOR0ne,
@z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml avatar

Yeah yeah. Heard that story like a billion times. Totally agree. I’d rather die from starvation after having witnessed my loved ones die from similar circumstances. And I’m not being facetious. This is preferable to suicide.

Bob_Robertson_IX,

I’d rather die from starvation after having witnessed my loved ones die from similar circumstances.

This sounds like you’d be keeping food from your loved ones so they die first.

z3rOR0ne, (edited )
@z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml avatar

Nah. If Food runs out, food runs out. Evenly distributed rations. It’s simply more likely I’d survive longer as my general health is better than my loved ones right now, and therefore I would likely be the one to bear witness to their tragic demise.

I can see why you’d think that though, based off of the unclear wording of my previous reply.

optissima,

What do you think is happening now that that isn’t the case?

z3rOR0ne,
@z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml avatar

Meh…I’m still able to go to the supermarket and purchase food without being harassed or lynched despite being a minority.

optissima,

Yeah, that definitely means that it’s not a “might makes right” case, because it hasn’t happened to you personally, ty for clearing that up it makes me feel better as I have my rights eroded.

AWittyUsername,

If we can create fire we’d still have steam energy.

IamtheMorgz,

I feel like this is the kind of thing everyone overlooks in these kinds of scenarios. Thousands of people are going to be working on the problem. Okay, all our current electronics are fried, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make new ones. All our power plants and water treatment facilities suddenly don’t work… Well, people still have jobs at those places so someone is going to try to fix it. And I think most people sort of know and understand that, at least over the short term. Society doesn’t fall apart after every disaster.

And if it did, you’re probably wrong about how you’d respond or you’re not being creative and therefore are doing what everyone else will do and the resources will dry up and you won’t be one of the lucky few that makes it.

KevonLooney,

Well these questions are mostly for people to LARP about how tough and self-sufficient they are. No, society wouldn’t collapse because we didn’t have electricity for 99% of our time on Earth. Electricity was a luxury as recently as 100 years ago.

Number one issue is, can electronics be fixed? If yes, temporary issue. If not, and we are literally without power (for some magical reason) we just need a million more horses to cart food around. There wouldn’t be much looting. The new iPhone won’t work and how are you going to get away with anything bigger? Guns and locks still work without electricity.

I personally would start buying up property from people ignorantly fleeing cities. Most major cities are built on great harbors or waterways for sail and steam ships. People will try to farm, fail at it, and just buy from farmers like before. Food will move by boat first to major ports. Every prepper in the middle of nowhere will sit in a bunker eating canned vegetables while the rest of the world goes on with their lives.

You don’t actually need Facebook and Tik Tok. You won’t die without it. You’ll just read the same gossip in a magazine.

FrostyCaveman,

In all likelihood the water system would probably stop working at some point, so whenever that goes plus two or three days is likely an upper bound on how long I could survive for. It’s pretty dry here so that would be a lethal problem.

If somehow it stays working, I could probably survive for a few months… basically until society and the supply chains completely break down and stop functioning followed by a period of mass starvation

NeoNachtwaechter,

the water system would probably stop working

Good point.

The sewage system as well. The smell makes life less fun, but the growth of bacteries there makes big cities uninhabitable after only a few weeks.

meco03211,

Protip. If the apocalypse begins at a punctuated point (bombs literally dropping on major powers as opposed to say global warming), fill your bathtub with water. That can hold a lot of water and should help you out.

FrostyCaveman,

An excellent idea. I’ve had it stuck in my mind since seeing The Road lol

kalkulat,
@kalkulat@lemmy.world avatar

I know a place I could last for months, depending on what time of year the power’s lost, but it’s a long ways from here. And then, only if bullets for hunting were still available (they’ll get scarce fast, faster than toilet paper when COVID came around). Once the bullets are gone, I’ve either learned to trap or become a vegetarian.

tallwookie,

black powder tech is very simple, you just need a mediocre blacksmith - and that’s just a strong man (or a woman, maybe) - and a little bathtub chemistry. basic black powder rifles are not the most accurate, you need rifling for that (grooves that create a spiral down the inside of the barrel of the rifle), but it’s easily doable. long/recurve/compound bows are an option if you have the knowhow and material science.

trapping/fishing is an option, as is animal husbandry, but hunting would never disappear

bradorsomething,

So just to start on your first point, let’s assume the flare hit and you need to start making black powder from raw ingredients. Since there are no more available with supply chain breakdown, without consulting the internet (also down), where are those coming from within walking or bicycle distance with maybe a paper map if you still have one?

tallwookie,

well black powder is just a mixture of charcoal (you need wood and mud to make a charcoal pit), saltpeter (aka potassium nitrate), and sulfur. nitrate is found in many household products - hence the bathtub chemistry. there’s a lot of that stuff all over the place, it’s in just about everything - from salts, makeup products, fertilizer, plant food, etc. I’d use that first while building a natural extraction process since it takes a long time, months usually.

you’d take dung from animals (horse works well or cow patties), wood ash, dry straw, and lots of urine (barrels of the stuff). a few months later you drain off the liquid, boil it with finely ground charcoal and then filter it with cloth. simmer the strained liquid until it’s reduced by 3/4, you want it really concentrated. spill it out onto very shallow pans and let it dry to crystalize the nitrates. sulfur is readily obtained from many sources - usually volcanic but these days its in a lot of building/construction materials like gypsum. basic chemistry will allow you to extract it. I live near geologically active areas, so sulfur would be relatively easy to obtain in the future.

there’s no real set recipe for black powder, but approx 75% dried & powdered nitrates, 15% dried and powdered charcoal, 10% dried and powdered sulfur. you want to grind each individually and then mix them together in those ratios. now you have black powder. keep it dry and away from spaks/flame/heat - bull horns work really well for this.

casting shot is just melting lead in a specific form - my father probable still has his old tools for that but if he doesnt they’re not hard to make. the only tricky bit in the whole process of building your own diy black powder rifle is the barrel - you have to hand forge those around a mandrel (a rod of a specific thickness) - I’d use high grade steel rods for that, since they’re just laying around. blacksmithing is usually a two or three person setup. once I had a water wheel constructed I’d probably build a hydraulic powered trip hammer to make things easier.

bradorsomething,

I feel like if this ever happened, you’d want to practice that first step, because it might be easier to get gallons of urine then extract from a number of those sources.

tallwookie,

the average person produces about 5 cups of urine in a day, and a gallon is 16 cups, so a group of people could easily produce anywhere between 1 and 3 gallons every day. the standard drum size is 55 gallons, so that’s easily obtainable. it’s a very slow synthesis, lasting 6+ months, you’d have between 3 and 10+ drums full of urine saved up at that point.

the average black powder musket or rifle gets about 50 shots per pound of black powder, and it takes a good minute or so to reload if you’re skilled, so you really dont carry that much powder around with you at any point in time. I figure you wouldnt need more that 5 pounds of it every month in a survival/hunting/defense against random invaders (rural setting) situation.

monkeytennis,
@monkeytennis@lemmy.world avatar

However long it would take me to find a tank of nitrogen to strap to my face for happy sleep time.

Thorny_Insight,

Way longer than your average person but I’d start running out of supplies after few months too. I have food stocked up for few months, 90 litres of drinking water and a water filter, 120 litres of diesel plus what I have in the tank, enough fuel to run alchohol stove for few months aswell and I have a fireplace to keep myself warm basically indefinitely.

It’s kind of scary to think that even me whose somewhat of a prepper would run out of supplies quite quick. What does that mean for the average person who doesn’t even have a jug of water stored up.

Also, this is the kind of discussion that would fit well on !zombiesurvival

Wrench,

I’ve always wondered. Do you folks just chow on nothing but canned food ands military reasons for a few months straight every couple years when things expire? Or just donate?

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s good to have emergency supplies. But things expire…

Schmeckinger,

They could just eat them from time to time and replace them with new ones gradually.

Coreidan,

Expired can food doesn’t go bad. Unless the can is budging it’s fine

Thorny_Insight,

I mostly stock up on items I’m using anyways such as rice, beans, noodles, sugar, coffee, crackers, honey, peanut butter etc. and I’m constantly using the oldest packages from my stock and replacing them with fresh ones.

Worx,

What good would your diesel be? The electronics in your car are fried and there’s no point putting it in a generator because there’s nothing to power

Stern,
@Stern@lemmy.world avatar

Depending on tool, electronics might not be an issue. Quads, bikes, mopeds, other two stroke engine type stuff.

Thorny_Insight,

EMP would not affect devices that aren’t connected to the grid. Atleast I don’t think it would, and even if it did, there’s still plenty of older diesel powered machines that don’t need electricity to run such as some diesel heaters. If nothing else I could trade it for something more useful then.

Worx,

The question said all electronics are dead forever. I agree that it’s not a realistic scenario but it is what was asked…

Coreidan,

EMP affects all electronics as long as it’s in line of sight. With that said EMPs are not a very effective way to knock out power for the entire US.

You’d have to launch nukes up into the sky and detonate them in the air in order for an EMP to be effective. You’d need to use several of them spread out across the US.

The chances of that happening are super low unless it’s our own government doing it.

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