EMP vs digital gun safe lock

[HarryT]

Should I leave the gun safe door open Wednesday in case the North Koreans launch their war on America?
It would really suck to have most of my defensive rfles permanently locked away in a Red Dawn moment but then I'd hate to die in the initial assault and let them commie sob's get my guns.

[2wheelDuke]

There's no analog backup of any kind?

[Trey45]

A cutting torch will bypass an EMP frozen digital lock.

[HarryT]

No back up, just a 9 volt key pad. I have my handguns and a couple of short rifles in a manual combination lock safe so I'm not concerned about short range short soldiers. If I had to cut into the safe, I'd go through the bottom (supposedly the thinnest metal), the door has a glass that when broken will lock all the bolts up tight. I'm just assuming that EMP will destroy the electric lock but not sure.

[runfiverun]

put some tin foil over it..

[shooter2]

If the EMP is that high, you probably do not have long to live.

[Phoenix]

If the EMP is that high, you probably do not have long to live.

The police use EMP powerful enough to blow out your ECM in your car that is Shielded quite well. They are designed to run on a wide range of voltages and are quite resillient. If you took all the EM energy you are exposed to all day and compressed that into one short 1ms burst it would blow out just about anything at short range. EMP (electro magnetic pulse) is magnetism, if it was that dangerous an MRI one time would kill you. I used to repair them in the military when they were new technology. and MRI has IMMENSE magnetic power. far more than an EMP. Lets just put it this way. An EF111 can blow out all electronics within a few hundred yards with easy. but an MRI take 440 three phase at high amperage. that is alot more energy than an EF111 can generate without a big extension cord. They use alot less energy now than they did. But try using a metal took to work on one.

[quilbilly]

One of the things the DOD did long ago was wrap critical equipment in thin copper screen to block EMP. You won't have to worry much about the fascists coming to eliminate the counterrevolutionaries since they don't have enough vehicles either. Anything with a computer chip will no longer function unless it is stored underground so all modern vehicles will be monuments. The most effective EMP pulses will come from 20+ miles above ground so will be harmless to us organics but life will be interesting in the cities. I have two moats between me and the city, Puget Sound and Hood Canal. Problem is my well pumps won't work.

[Trey45]

A faraday box will effectively block emp. A ConEx box will work to park your car in. After the emp, start your car and drive out.

[pthunder1971]

Most electronic safes have the majority of the electronics inside the door, that is where the codes are kept. The external part is just a keypad, you can buy a spare key pad and keep that in a EMP proof area. Much cheaper then some of the alternatives. Thinking of doing the same thing myself. Not an expert so I would check with someone that knows more about safes and EMP's but seems logical.

[km101]

I like the idea of propping the door open. Makes them a lot handier! And don't forget about the time difference between here and there. It wouldn't do to try to prop the door open and find out its already too late! :kidding:

[MtGun44]

Aluminum foil will work if grounded to the door.

The biggest problem will be things that are plugged it to external power. Most stuff like
cars is well shielded enough naturally that they will likely still work. The fiction is a great
exaggeration of the problems. I have discussed this with a friend who recently retired after
a whole career as an engineer in power plants, nuke and conventional. He says the biggest
problem will be if it is big enough to blow the huge main power transformers. These are NOT
kept in stock at all, and will take a year or more to rebuild after a bunch being destroyed.

Bill

[destrux]

If the safe door isn't grounded to the safe body then the safe isn't going to work as a Faraday cage. Add a solid ground wire to be sure.

EMP jolts will follow the wires into the safe even then so either make a sheet metal lid for the keypad or get a manual lock if you're worried about EMP.

FYI military vehicles are EMP shielded and so are most newer cars. With all the vital electronics on the newer cars (like the electronic gas and brake pedals and even electronic steering) they take EMI/RMI shielding pretty seriously and that sheilding will block most low level EMP. Even police versions dont work on a lot of cars just like the nail strips don't work on run-flat tires.

Chances are if they launched anything it would be destroyed and not detonated at high altitude and there would be no EMP. If they managed a sneaky terrorist style ground detonation it would not have a wide EMP effect and if you were close enough to have EMP damage you would also be a 6 ft tall French fry.

[firefly1957]

EMP's and global warming have one thing in common few people understand them and this allows the media to scare people! Take a good look at your safe if it is like mine a EMP should not be a problem. One thing said above might have been misunderstood i do not think the writer was saying a EMP would kill a person i think he meant the blast or radiation.

[camaro1st]

pull your safe out of the ocean and i think it will be safe.:kidding:

[joesig]

EMP? What happens if the battery dies?! I would retrofit that with at least a mechanical backup if not a mechanical only option.

[xacex]

I bet there is a keyhole behind that keypad. Take it off and see if there is a slot for the key to go into.

[pipehand]

Harry, before you go to the cutting torch, and if the internet works, give me a PM. I am a bonded Safe and Vault Tech in addition to being a pipefitter. I have a technique for opening the S&G 6120 (a popular and good electronic lock) that does not even require drilling the safe. Some of the cheaper "safes" that you can get at the mass merchants don't even have a lock, per se, but a keypad operated solenoid, and are easily defeated though the keypad hole.

Guys, don't go chopping up your safes with torches and angle grinders. Worst case they can be opened with a max 5/16" hole under the dial ring and the repair will be invisible. You just have to know what you are doing. The local Locksmith may be great at getting into a locked car, but he isn't necessarily savy on safe locks and boltwork.