Faraday Zone lab method
Category authority requires original tests, not copied spec sheets. This page is the method. Results will be dated and tied to a specific SKU. There are no Faraday Zone scores yet.
What we measure
Shielding effectiveness in decibels (dB) across the bands people actually use: cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and RFID/NFC. A bag that blocks one band and leaks another is not a Faraday product for that use.
Closure is part of the cage. Fold, roll, zipper, and magnet seals fail in different ways. We test sealed, as sold, not a fabric swatch on a bench.
Published references: IEEE 299 for enclosure shielding and MIL-STD-188-125 for high-altitude EMP shielding of small enclosures. We will cite the standard, the lab, and the date — not a marketing “military grade” line.
First queued test: JACKET Pro phone bag
The first Faraday Zone protocol is written against Faraday Defense JACKET Pro Phone Bag. We chose it because it is a high-volume EMP-kit phone bag with a magnetic fold, which is a common failure mode.
Status: queued. No Faraday Zone score. Do not read maker claims on that product page as our numbers.
Setup
- One retail JACKET Pro phone bag, unused, photographed, serial or lot noted if present.
- Phone fully inside, case on if that is how buyers use it, then a repeat with the case off if fit allows.
- Magnetic double fold fully seated. A half-closed bag is recorded as a fail, not as “user error” hidden from the score.
- Control: the same phone, same place, bag open and bag absent.
Checks before a dB curve
- Voice call from a second phone.
- Cellular data session and SMS.
- Wi-Fi associate and Bluetooth pair from outside the bag.
- Find My / location ping if the device supports it.
- NFC / payment terminal if the phone supports it.
A leak on any of those is a field fail for that check. A clean field check is still not a shielding-effectiveness number. The dB score waits on a controlled measurement we can date. See how to test a Faraday bag.
What we will not do
We will not invent dB numbers. Until a SKU is tested, Faraday Zone will say “untested here” and link the manufacturer’s report if one exists.
We will not score clothing as a bag, a window bag as a non-window bag, or a fabric kit as a finished cage.
Brand pages stay up either way. See the brand directory, best Faraday bags, and the Faraday bags hub.