A Faraday bag is an absolute must-have for any disaster prepper who wants to protect their valuable electronics from a man-made EMP (electromagnetic pulse) or a solar CME (coronal mass ejection). We compiled a definitive list of the best faraday bags for use by law enforcement, military personnel, and cautious netizens.
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1. Mission Darkness X2 Faraday Duffel Bag
Pros:- Detachable faraday pouch
- Large storage capacity
- Free app tests signal blocking strength
Cons:- Only 2 compartments
- Shoulder strap is not padded
- Not padded
The Mission Darkness X2 Duffel Bag is a military-grade faraday bag that offers modular storage.
It is ideal for your most sensitive devices. The X2 bag comes with a detachable faraday pouch that snaps onto exterior MOLLE webbing on the outside.
The pouch itself is 8 x 6 x 2 inches and can be attached to other bags with MOLLE webbing to protect your phone and smart keys while traveling. The duffel bag is appropriately sized for travel as well at 26 x 13 x 13 inches. Its ballistic nylon material is water-resistant and rip-resistant, but neither the shoulder strap nor the bag’s two main compartments are padded for shock relief.
Of course, this bag isn’t designed to protect from impact. It’s designed to protect your property from electromagnetic and radio-frequency interference, and it definitely succeeds at that. The bag has two insulating layers, which protection from wireless intrusion right down to the bag’s dual paired seams.
As an added perk, Mission Darkness has a free app on Android and iOS to help verify that the bag is blocking all varieties of signals from your phone. If you are buying a bag for peace of mind, this is a great feature to have.
Dimensions: 26 x 13 x 13 inches
Weight: 2.7 pounds
Storage capacity: 72L
Find more Mission Darkness X2 Faraday Duffel Bag information and reviews here.
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2. EDEC Duffel Faraday Bag
Pros:- Compact and durable
- Large storage capacity
- Padded shoulder strap
Cons:- High price tag
- Only one compartment
- Not padded
If you plan to store essential tech for survival in a faraday bag, it should always be packed and ready to go. EDEC’s faraday duffel bag is just the right size to fit the essentials without slowing you down.
This bag has internal dimensions of 22 x 10 x 10 inches, meaning you have about as much room as a camping backpack provides to store electronics that you want to shield from electromagnetic and radio-frequency interference. Of course, the difference between using this bag and an ordinary camping backpack is that this bag is completely shielded from intrusion by EMPs, CMEs, and more.
The EDEC Duffel Faraday Bag is protected by four layers of proprietary ISOTech shielding, which is rated to protect from frequencies with a 70dB average attenuation, same as other brands. The bag has dual paired seam construction as well.
The bag is fairly durable too, as its canvas outer shell is both water and wear resistant. The shoulder strap is nicely padded although the bag itself is not. You’ll have to handle the bag carefully if you don’t want to damage your electronics within.
The EDEC Duffel RF-shielding bag, might not be the best price value in its class, but it is probably the faraday bag best suited for grab-and-go travel, and that alone scores it major points. Its four layers of protective coating don’t hurt either, especially because you never know how well a bag will perform until there is an actual EMP event.
Dimensions: 22 x 10 x 10 inches
Weight: 1.8 pounds
Storage capacity: 36LFind more EDEC Duffel Faraday Bag information and reviews here.
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3. Mission Darkness Padded Utility Faraday Bag
Pros:- Removable faraday liner with extra padding
- Thick padded walls
- Free app tests signal blocking strength
Cons:- Shoulder strap is not padded
- Limited storage capacity
- Side compartments are unshielded
This padded utility faraday bag from Mission Darkness is portable, durable, and offers military-grade signal blocking for its contents. That makes it an ideal bug-out bag for a post-EMP emergency state.
Like all Mission Darkness bags, this one meets all standards for military and law enforcement use. It has a removable liner with two layers of high-shielding RF fabric. It has dual paired seams and the liner folds twice before you velcro it shut to fully seal the contents. Each bag is even uniquely serialized for asset tracking.
You can confirm its signal blocking strength with the free MD Faraday Bag Tester. Or you can double check it with your own tests.
The MD utility bag has extra padded walls to protect the contents from being crushed or bumped in transit. Its outermost material is ballistic nylon, which partially helps against intrusion by water. It is quite durable as well. The shoulder strap, unfortunately, is not padded.
The one shortcoming of the bag is that its dimensions are specifically designed for packing optics like night vision goggles and other digital optics. Of course, you can easily fit other items like a hard drive, a phone, and a two-way radio. The bag even comes with a padded insert with dividers to encourage this style of use.
With the lining in, the bag’s internal dimensions are 15.5 x 5.5 x 7 inches, so you may still be able to store a laptop in there, though. One quick note about this bag is that its side pockets are not shielded against EMI or RFI, so I did not count them in the total storage capacity for comparison’s sake.
Mission Darkness’ MOLLE strap-covered utility bag might appeal most heavily to hardcore survivalists, but their sheerly spartan designs are doing them a bit of a disservice. That’s because faraday bags are ultimately useful for anyone who respects the privacy of their digital life, whether they’re full doomsday preppers or not.
Dimensions: 18 x 9 x 8 inches
Weight: 4.5 pounds
Storage capacity: 9LFind more Mission Darkness Padded Utility Faraday Bag information and reviews here.
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4. Silent Pocket Waterproof Faraday Dry Bag
Pros:- Waterproof design
- Lightweight and durable
- Rated against 100dB EMP blasts
Cons:- Limited storage capacity
- Only one compartment
- Shoulder strap is not padded
If you live near a dam or on the coast, flooding is a very real possibility in an emergency situation. This makes including tech in your disaster strategy a little more challenging but not impossible.
The Silent Pocket Waterproof Faraday Dry Bag can protect your essential devices from water and electromagnetic interference at the same time, which makes it invaluable in certain circumstances.
The roll-down design of this dry bag lends perfectly to its use as a faraday cage, as it is required for both water-tightness and to form a full electromagnetic seal. Once you fasten the plastic buckle over the roll-down opening, the Silent Pocket bag will be completely sealed off from 4G, Bluetooth, RFID, GPS, and NFC signals.
The bag has a 100dB rating against EMP blasts, which is slightly higher than other faraday bags we reviewed. Of course, with limited conditions to feasibly test, this, it also seems like a marketing gimmick.
On top of a proprietary signal-blocking material, this bag is also coated in ripstop 210D nylon TPU, which is fully waterproof. This is ultimately the main reason you would pick this bag over the other options. Every faraday bag has about the same capacity to block electromagnetic signals, but waterproofing is a huge edge up.
Dimensions: 13 x 9 x 9 inches
Weight: 0.4 pounds
Storage capacity: 10LFind more Silent Pocket Waterproof Faraday Dry Bag information and reviews here.
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5. Mission Darkness Revelation EMP Shield Bag
Pros:- Huge storage capacity
- Thick aluminum baseplate
- Free app tests signal blocking strength
Cons:- Only one compartment
- Not padded
- High price tag
For even the most prepared citizens, the Mission Darkness Revelation bag can feel like overkill. Its high price and huge size make it impractical in most grab-and-go situations. However, this bag fills a special niche in that it is large enough to house a portable gas generator.
With internal usable dimensions measuring to 30 x 24 x 22 inches, this is one of the only faraday bags on the market that could hold a home-use generator and other bulky items. The Revelation bag would also be useful for storing compact solar panels, PC towers, and power tools.
Even though this bag has handles, it can be hard to move if it houses a 100-pound generator. The bag does include That said, this bag basically requires its own dedicated space, as you can only fold it down so much.
It is still a worthwhile investment even if you don’t use all the space, as you may come across more items you’ll want to protect as your disaster preparedness increases.
This bag has two layers of wireless signal-blocking material, rendering your electronics safe from EMI and RFI. The bag sports dual paired seam construction and a double roll velcro closure, meaning it is compliant to MIL STD 188-125 specifications.
This bag includes a removable aluminum base plate if you need extra support for heavy items, but I personally wish it included an organizer for the large single compartment. This is a forgivable oversight, though, as this bag is clearly designed with one purpose in mind. If you want to be prepared with a portable generator or solar panel in a post-EMP world, then this is the bag for you.
Dimensions: 36.4 x 24.8 x 22 inches
Weight: 15 pounds
Storage capacity: 259.5LFind more Mission Darkness Revelation EMP Shield Bag information and reviews here.
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6. EDEC Windowed Faraday Bag
Pros:- Clear window
- Lightweight and durable
- Ideal for smartphones
Cons:- Limited storage capacity
- High price tag
- Touch screens do not work through the window
If you are only interested in a faraday bag to prevent remote hacking of your small electronic devices, then it doesn’t matter much which bag you go with. We like this EDEC Windowed Faraday Bag because you can use the window to look into the bag and ensure that all incoming signals are being blocked.
This windowed RF-shielding bag measures out to 8.25 x 8 inches on the outside, but once you double-fold the top of the bag to seal it, you will only have 4.25 x 7.5 inches to work with. This means it is basically sized to fit a smartphone or a smart key for your car. You might barely be able to fit both.
The bag itself can easily fit in a purse or backpack, making it ideal for travel. The EDEC RF-shielding bag is a great way to keep your devices from being skimmed in public but it should be upgraded to something larger once you decide to get more serious about protecting your devices.
Dimensions: 8.25 x 8 x 0.2 inches
Weight: 0.2 pounds
Storage capacity: Small items onlyFind more EDEC Windowed Faraday Bag information and reviews here.
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7. Engpow Fireproof Faraday Bag
Pros:- Compact and durable
- Fire resistant design
- Low price tag
Cons:- Only one pocket is signal-shielded
- Limited storage capacity
- Not sure if the bag has dual seams
This compact faraday bag is designed to hold smaller items such as a tablet, a phone, or a car smart key. It has two flat zipper pockets, each about 11.8 x 7.8 inches. Both pockets are coating in a silicone material that is fire resistant up to 1022℉, however, only the rear pocket can block incoming EMI and RFI.
Even if you are skeptical about the importance of technology in a survival situation, there is no denying its importance when it comes to protecting the privacy and safety of personal data stored on your phone or laptop.
Hackers can easily access your mobile data using a spoofed GPS, Wi-Fi, or 4G signal unless you block these malicious attacks out with something like the Engpow Fireproof Faraday Bag.
This rear pocket has two layers of insulation material to help prevent hacks that involve copying the signal on your car’s smart key or connecting your phone to a malicious network.
This signal-shielding material has the added benefit of being able to prevent a damaging EMP from penetrating the bag, however, I was unable to confirm that the bag has dual seams. Therefore, it may or may not work to protect your devices in an emergency situation.
Ultimately, this faraday bag is better for protecting your vulnerable devices while you travel or storing non-essential electronics inside a bug-out bag. Either way, the fire resistance never hurts.
Dimensions: 11.8 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
Weight: 0.4 pounds
Storage capacity: Small items onlyFind more Engpow Fireproof Faraday Bag information and reviews here.
How Do Faraday Bags Work?
The history of the faraday cage dates all the way back to the mid-1800s when it was first invented by electrochemist Michael Faraday. Though it saw limited applications in the last century, the faraday box now plays an integral role in preserving your online privacy.
The basic concept is that a faraday box uses alternating layers of conductive and non-conductive materials (usually metal and fabric) to prevent charged electron particles from permeating the material. This prevents the transfer of energy, data, and anything else that can be transferred via an electromagnetic wave.
And as you can guess, there are a lot of different types of electromagnetic waves that we interact with on the daily.
Why Does Everyone Need a Faraday Bag?
Though faraday bags can serve many uses, the most important one (and the reason everyone should own one) is to prevent electronic devices from being compromised.
Advanced hacking methods can send malicious signals to your phone across almost any radio frequency. Attacks can occur over Wi-Fi, 4G, Bluetooth, you name it.
Note that there are even more elaborate hacking methods that use ultra-low magnetic frequencies to totally circumvent a faraday cage. However, a faraday box still protects vulnerable devices like phones, laptops, and car key fobs from the most common wireless hacks.
Can a Faraday Bag Stop an EMP?
Another reason that people invest in faraday cages is to protect their valuables from EMPs caused by man-made weapons or natural solar flares. That said, can a Faraday cage really stop an EMP?
Scientists aren't exactly sure, as they have never been able to measure the effects of a full-scale solar CME on modern technology. But in an emergency state, a single working electronic device could be life-saving, be it a flashlight, a megaphone, or a hard drive with map data on it. It is worth a shot trying to protect them, even if you shouldn't bank your survival on it.
Either way, an EMP event is practically a guarantee, so you can either prepare yourself for one properly or get off the grid before it happens.
Why Not Go Analog?
If you are wondering if technological devices such as these are even useful in an EMP-type scenario, then consider that a laptop is a more space-efficient way to store survival information than books. If you have a faraday bag big enough to house a power generator, then that's even better.
A bag this large is expensive, though, so we recommend working with you can afford until you can afford to go for an all-out bunker. It should be noted that you can easily make a DIY faraday cage at home by wrapping the item you want to protect in alternating conductive and non-conductive layers. However, this isn't exactly practical if you want to protect a device that you use every day like your phone or your laptop.
Instead, those interested in preserving their privacy and safety should invest in a commercial faraday bag. All of the bags we reviewed are fit for use by law enforcement or military personnel, so when you go with this option, you get the best of the best.
There are many unknowns to consider when planning for a post-EMP world, but most models suggest that a major EMP would send society back to the Dark Ages, technologically speaking. That's why a faraday bag can put you one step ahead of the game.
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