Month: June 2025

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — June 14, 2025

June 14, 1645: The Battle of Naseby, Leicestershire: Parliament’s New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax defeated the Royalist forces of English King Charles I. — During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution on June 14th, 1777, stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag– a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 …


An Amish Quantity Shopping Observation, by Richard T.

Recently, as I was waiting for our carts while parked outside of the pickup zone at the warehouse-style grocery store that we shop at our dashcam caught these Amish loading up their purchases. This was a very fascinating 10 minute episode that began before we arrived there. There was a large pickup truck with a hired “English” driver, a large rented cargo trailer and two Amish ladies and one Amish man who worked in a very energetic and organized fashion to load pallets of non-perishable goods into racks and shelving into the trailer. Since I only saw one Amish couple …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …



Preparedness Notes for Friday — June 13, 2025

On June 13, 1665: The Battle of Lowestoft was fought off the coast of Suffolk, England. The English fleet defeated the Dutch fleet. — June 13, 1777, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette landed in the fledgling United States. — June 13, 1889: Two feet of snow accumulated in Rawlins, Wyoming. — Just a few days left! We are running a two-week-long sale on all of the pre-1899 Mauser rifles in our inventory at Elk Creek Company.  There is no paperwork required to order these, in most States.  They are mailed right to your door or your P.O. Box address. The …


A Mobile Device Mounting System, by J.M.

In several previous articles on SurvivalBlog.com (Elements of a Security System, Field Intelligence Collection, etc.) several readers and I have discussed the use of various mobile electronic devices to support field operations in a post-disaster world. These can be anything from wireless cameras for security or surveillance to a simple flashlight to see what you’re doing. One common factor among all electronic mobile devices is that they need to be optimally positioned to provide the maximum benefit.


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at silver’s breakout. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Silver surges past $35/oz level to hit a more than 13-year high. JWR Adds:  When I checked on Tuesday evening, spot silver was at $36.87 per Troy ounce! There was a dip on Wednesday, but by Thursday evening (Friday morning, in Asia), silver was …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — June 12, 2025

I just heard the news: Brian Wilson, Beach Boys Co-Founder, Dies at 82. His musical genius was obvious to anyone who has heard even just one of his compositions or complex arrangements. Here is just one example. Although I must say that some of the song lyrics that Wilson wrote were not edifying and sometimes promoted loose morals (for example: “I Get Around”), his musicianship was spectacular. Goodbye, Brian. Or should I say: Hushabye. – JWR — June 12, 1792: British explorer Captain George Vancouver landed on the site of what is now Vancouver, British Columbia. — On June 12, …


Beyond Band Aids, by K.G.

Author’s Introductory Note: I am not a licensed medical professional, I am simply recounting an event that happened to me, research I have done on the subject and how it made me think differently about my own preparations. I hope you find this article interesting and informative, but please also do your own research. Recently, I experienced my own personal Schumeresque event. I was competing in a sport I have done all my life when I felt something snap in the back of my heel. It happened as I took a hard step and I immediately knew something was wrong. …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, we look at the ongoing anti-ICE protests and riots. Southern California Gamefish Carrying Parasites Most freshwater game fish in Southern California carry invasive parasites capable of infecting humans, …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — June 11, 2025

June 11, 1797: Spanish Mission San José was founded by Franciscan Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuen at the Ohlone Village of Oroysom in Alta California  (now Fremont, California) — And on June 11, 1947, WW II sugar rationing finally ended in the US. (It began May 28, 1942.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 119 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than …


Success and Loss: Hit Twice by the Same Hurricane – Part 2, by PrepperDoc

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Resolution and Improvement Plan Finally, the clouds lifted, more sun arrived, and our power problems dissipated. From that point, we did fine waiting for the utility power to be returned. Eventually it was returned. But I had learned an important lesson: I started hunting for a better charger! Much later, I learned there was a chance that my gasoline “inverter generator” could provide steady enough power to pass for “utility power” and directly power my 48V inverter/charger systems with far more power — but that hasn’t been figured out (yet). What I …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — A quite informative video:  Off-Grid Internet + Emergency Comms? Starlink Mini Might Be The Piece Of Tech You’ve Been Missing. JWR’s Comments: For storage, I’d recommend using a big milsurp 20mm ammo can with an RF gasket retrofit, for some EMP/solar flare Faraday cage protection.  I’m hopeful that the promised next generation …