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Faraday bags

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
I was wondering how many of you guerrillas use faraday bags to stay under the radar? I never carry my phone into the bush because of ping signals, but recently I've felt like it may be a good idea just in case of an emergency.

Is there any that you guys have experience with that you feel are secure?
 

Loc Dog

Hobbies include "drinkin', smokin' weed, and all k
Veteran
Buy a cheap cellphone with cash ( I used t-mobile) and load minutes with cash, and only turn it on if you need to make a call.
 
You should be able to test the faraday bag (this works the same as a cage?) by trying to call your phone/find my phone app?
Can you leave your phone in flight mode until you need it?
 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
Buy a cheap cellphone with cash ( I used t-mobile) and load minutes with cash, and only turn it on if you need to make a call.
That's not a bad idea. I'd probably also want a bag for that phone just so I'm not paranoid lol.

You should be able to test the faraday bag (this works the same as a cage?) by trying to call your phone/find my phone app?
Can you leave your phone in flight mode until you need it?
Seeing if it works or not won't be hard, just want to be safe and make sure absolutely no signals can reach or leave it.

Pull the battery out to go under the radar. :tiphat:
That's actually what I do now for my phone. The screens cracked so I plan to upgrade to a new one here soon. Not sure if the next one will be have a battery that's easily removed. The bags can also be effective for other electronics in maintaining security, so I figured I'd give them a try.
 

St. Phatty

Active member
Most of the time, aluminum foil will do the trick.

Especially if you pay attention to the edges & fold it over a few times.
 

MintyMick

Member
If you do buy a burner phone remember to pay cash and not debit/ credit. That’s really all I have that hasn’t already been covered.
 

exploziv

pure dynamite
Administrator
Veteran
Also, if they are after you, they can find the location of a sim card that is not inside a phone with the accuracy of 10 meters by actively searching for it with higher power radio output from the cell towers. And that's what they can do in my homecountry, which has old tech, altrough they are very surveilance prone.
Also, just because the people were using the prepaid simcards in burner phones a d changing them before a court could sign a new surveillance order for the new number, you can't buy prepaid sims without showing id now in my country. So that's a well known method to the police since the phones were invented most probably.
 

St. Phatty

Active member
I have a lead lined box in my car just for that.

Lead sheet is good. You can fold it over at the edges.

In general, a Box within a Box within a Box helps.

On one occasion in the past I had access to a proper EMI lab (about the size of a football field), the old TRW/NGC plant where "Falcon & a Snowman" (the original historical incident) happened.

Working with an EE, we tested a fixture I brought with me.

It was designed in conjunction with Nokia's 2.5 G base stations (2001).

It was Box (with the RF source) within a Box within a Box, next to a Box (with the antenna signal trace) within a Box within a Box.

I got 130+ dB of shielding from 10 MHz to 2+ GHz. Very cool, you could see the coupled signal crawling out of the noise floor at 2.5 GHz (might sound complicated, but with some bar room paper napkins and some good pot, it would be easy to explain.)

Long story short, RF shielding is like with keeping warm - Layering helps.

You get 20+ dB out of each layer.

If you're designing for long term use, you have to be careful about surface finishes. When corrosion starts, you lose shielding.

If you are at a house with a bunch of Stainless steel bowls, put your cell phone in the mid-size one - then put that in a bigger one, with a smaller one on top. etc.

There are a lot of ways to get the shielding you need.
 
P

psilocybevybe

lost all signal using a foil lined stink proof bag....ghetto faraday today...:)
 

St. Phatty

Active member
Budget approach -

1. Buy a whole chicken.
2. Put your electronics in a baggie. Use 2 bags to keep the chicken juice out.
3. Place your bagged electronics inside the chicken.
4. Use an orange to plug the hole in the chicken.
 

R03

Active member
A battery pull is the best advice, and easiest.
I use a Blackberry Q10 for this reason.
 

Lrus007

Well-known member
Veteran
this might work i dono.
buy a lead lined film bag for 35mm film.
the bags are pretty good sized. should wrap
at least 4 times around the phone. i would
think it would be a good shield.
 

troutman

Seed Whore
With some of the newer phones, you can't even take the damn battery out!

Get a Lead Lined Box if you want to be like James Bond. :biggrin:

They use lead to stop radiation so it should work on cell phones.

rad-1.jpg


Could always save money and build your own stylish signal blocking smartphone box in ten minutes with the following info.

Build your own stylish signal blocking smartphone box in ten minutes
 
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