Ive been thinking about nuclear war quite a bit lately, I dont feel anxious but I do like to feel prepared. While I think the main priority should be food and water for the ensuing famine, having a laptop might be beneficial (obviously no internet though).
Ive heard about bombs knocking out telecommunication, but do they also fuck up the personal electronics permamently of people who are far enough away not to be killed by the blasts?
I can answer your electronics worry, but not the nuclear one. A small Faraday cage would work to protect your devices.
A tutorial on Faraday cages:
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=EiNQbWZFe-E
Something that I’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t talk about is that feraday cages need to be grounded. The most reliable way to do this is probably by connecting it to the ground prong on your wall outlet (be extremely careful not to connect it to the live prong or you will die!) A metal cold water (not hot water) pipe could also work, or as a more “idiot proof” option, take an old computer power supply with a non-painted metal casing, plug it in with a three prong grounded power cable (but turn OFF the power switch on the back of the PSU), and use an alligator clip to connect your Faraday cage to the metal casing, being careful not to touch any of the internals. Before plugging the power supply in though, you might want to use a multimeter to check for conductivity between the ground prong on the PSU itself and the connection to the feraday cage.
Though, some places, like Japan, straight up doesn’t have a ground prong on their outlets. I have no idea how to do this for those, or honestly, even how the hell they keep their electrical systems safe
I fail to understand why it needs to be grounded. I tried to search a bit but no one seems to have a physical account for their claims.
Basically, the energy needs to go somewhere. A feraday cage isn’t meant to absorb EM energy, but to redirect it safely away from sensitive electronics. Otherwise, itcoulds still transfer that energy into your electronics.
For example, EMI shields inside your electronics, which are technically feraday cages, are grounded.
Video explaining the physics of feraday cages: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=eNxDgd3D_bU
Even when you can save your computer, how will you save electric power plants or server stations? In case of an EMP atack, the PC is useless, apart your minor problem. Happy those who live on the outskirts on a farm with orchard, chickens and a well with water, to have to eat and drink, all this in an EMP attack is no longer available.