Will Your Electronic Safe Open After An EMP?


Did you know that if you own a safe with an electronic lock that you might be locked-out of it after an EMP? And that’s not exactly good timing. That’s right folks! Depending on who made the safe, its model, where the safe is located, and the distance away from the EMP source, you may or may not be able to access the goodies that you have tucked away in that fancy electronic safe!To get more news about smart home accessories, you can visit securamsys.com official website.

A good friend of mine who is trying to be as prepared as possible called me the other day and asked me about his electronic safe and how it would handle a possible EMP. Jerry is a smart guy so when he had this question, I figured there may be others out there wrestling with this same question, so I decided to address this question as well as adding the additional advice I provided to my friend about protecting his supplies and gear…
Let’s start by looking at what one manufacturer has said about their electronic safe. I found this email response to a consumer’s question about Barrett safes and their ability to withstand an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)… here is the reply that was on the company forum:

“Thank you for your inquiry. Currently our electronic locks are not EMP rated or tested. If the lock were to fail electronically, a safe technician would still be able to open the lock by penetrating the door and lock casing to move the bolt. If there is concern regarding the accessibility of safe contents following an EMP situation, it would be recommended that a mechanical lock be used in this case.
So, from the terms ‘not EMP rated or tested’ I think we can assume the answer is that; their safe is not EMP-proof. And ‘they’ recommend safes with mechanical locks for EMP situations. OK, so we see there is some potential vulnerability at least with the electronic safes at one major company. And it’s probably reasonable to assume that may be the case with many other companies, and their safes may also be vulnerable to EMP, unless they will warrantee the safe as being EMP hardened.

So how does an EMP damage the integrated circuits like the ones inside your cell phones, computers, car & truck ignition systems, and dozens of other everyday items, including that fancy electronic safe? That was also part of Jerry’s question, and the full answer is by its nature highly technical. Of course this is an excellent question, and it’s the kind of question that more people need to be asking!

Disaster preparedness planning is not a one-size fits-all paradigm… there are many variables, and the trick is to solve as many potential problems with the best planning and the least amount of equipment and related costs.