Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 12, 2026

On April 12, 1811, the first US colonists on the Pacific coast arrived at Cape Disappointment, in what is now the state of Washington.

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April 12, 1933: US Navy commissioned Air Station Sunnyvale (later renamed NAS Moffett Field) in Santa Clara County, California — at the southern end of San Francisco Bay.

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April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre, with his first novel, The Hunt For Red October. Coincidentally, Tom Clancy’s first literary agent is now my agent, Robert Gottlieb.

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Today’s feature article is a guest post from a long-time SurvivalBlog reader. Because it is partly self-promotional, it is not part of the writing contest judging.

We need entries for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Preparing Future Generations for an Uncertain Future – Part 1, by Single Farmer

Editor’s Introductory Note: This young man is prayerfully seeking a wife. He is offering an after-marriage gift of up to $50,000 to whoever introduces him to his bride with $18,000 after their marriage and another $16,000 to the individual who provided the introduction after the first two births of healthy children born to him and his wife, for a total potential gift of $50,000. For further details, see this link to his article posted on July 13th, 2025: My Quest for a Wife: I’m Willing to Move, and in his February 24, 2026 article on rural migration starting at the bold section on “Continuing My Quest For a Wife”. – JWR

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I am still working on my “Decline and Fall of Western Civilization” article that I mentioned in my February article, but as I have been writing the article several large themes have emerged which deserve the full attention of a separate article because I know the large majority of readers have an actual stake in the future by having children, grandchildren, or even hope to be married someday, so this article needed to be written as a preface to how to prepare for the collapse of Western Civilization. As I mentioned in July 2025, “We are probably in the opening stages of the Third World War.” Events that are occurring in the flashpoints of the Middle East and Asia will most likely decide the direction of the world in the next decades of the 21st Century as the 20th Century was dominated by the results of the Second World War. Many readers here have children and grandchildren and are rightly concerned about their future. I encourage you to send the link to this article to people you know with children to get the word out to even people who are not regular readers as it might help to turn our country around.

Bottom Line Up Front: Their future is not good. This is one of the worst times to be a young person, but there are certain steps you can take as a parent or grandparent to make your children or grandchildren’s future better and even your future better!
Continue reading“Preparing Future Generations for an Uncertain Future – Part 1, by Single Farmer”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week: 

The latest meme created by JWR, based on an idea suggested by my brother Bruce Rawles:

Meme Text:

This Bird’s Problem is Medical…

It Has Irritable Owl Syndrome

Notes From JWR:

I was pleased to see that this meme was included in a meme video by Johnny B, on Friday. (I sent it to him early.)

Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

 

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” – Romans 5: 1-18 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 11, 2026

The Battle of Ravenna was fought on April 11, 1512. French forces under Gaston de Foix defeated the Holy League in this major battle of the Italian Wars.

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April 11th is the birthday of John Milius, who was born in 1944. He both wrote the screenplays and directed the films Dillinger, The Wind and the Lion, Big Wednesday, Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn, Farewell to the King, and Flight of the Intruder. He also wrote the screenplays of the first two Dirty Harry movies as well as the first draft of the screenplay for Patton (before Francis Ford Coppola turned it into a vaguely anti-war commentary laced with references to reincarnation). Milius also co-wrote the screenplay for Jeremiah Johnson. Milius is my favorite Hollywood writer and director, in part because he stands for everything that Hollywood doesn’t.  Note: A well-balenced biographical documentary on John Milius is available for free download on Vudu.

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Today’s feature article was too short to be part of the judging for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running the contest.  Round 124 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

 

 

Getting Organized, by Big John

As a busy CPA, I was always looking for ways to save time. I would occasionally go to the library and scoop up an armful of time management books. I would take them back to the office and skim through them. They all kinda said the same thing. Make a list, prioritize it and put estimated times to complete by each item. Do the A’s first, then the B’s and then the C’s.

It was better than nothing. But it had holes in it. Under the C items was get new tires. But this never happened till a tire failed and I was stranded beside the road. Then that C became and A.

Back in the day, the ABC method worked. But today, you walk into work and your boss says, “Sam will not be able to give the sales pitch in New York tomorrow, he quit. You will have to be there to give the sales pitch. There goes your ABC system out the window. So what you need is to be ready for anything at a moment’s notice. You need to be 100% ready for whatever comes at you.Continue reading“Getting Organized, by Big John”

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 ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I took advantage of the good weather this week to get started with my annual firewood cutting. I started out with cutting up some deadfallen trees and one severe “leaner”, here on our ranch. Next, I cut up a large fir tree that had fallen across our elderly neighbor’s fence, less than 10 yards from our south fenceline. He offered me the wood. In response, I immediately offered to cut it up and drop it off in front of his woodshed, but he refused. So it ended up in front of my woodshed.

On Thursday, I cut up and hauled out a couple of blown-down White Fir treetops in the adjoining National Forest. Both of these treetops were right near a road, so they were easy to get to.  They had both broken off a couple of quite large firs. Just these tops were about 18 inches in diameter at their butt ends and they had limbs that were the diameter of my forearms. It was several hours of good exercise.

I mailed out three Elk Creek Company orders. Two of those went to folks behind enemy lines in Blue States.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,

And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west,

And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.

And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.

And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.

So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.

And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.

And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.

And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.

And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.

And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.

But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.

And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.

As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;

Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.” – Joshua 11:1-19 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 10, 2026

On April 10, 1633, the first imported bananas went on sale in London in the shop window of Thomas Johnson’s apothecary.  Pictured are some banana vendors and their wares in Chennai, India.

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And April 10, 1827 was the birthday of General Lew Wallace. He wrote books (author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ), sculpted, practiced law, painted, played the violin and made them as well.  He was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. And he served as the Territorial Governor of New Mexico.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value).
  2. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  3. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
  4. Heaven’s Harvest is providing one of their Original Heirloom Seed Kits (a $139 value.)
  5. Harvest Guard is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is providing a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

 

 

Livestock or “Deadstock”?, by SaraSue

I’m still reeling over what happened on the recent Easter Sunday.  It was early in the day when I trekked down to the barn to check on one of my heifers that was due to calve.  I had been watching her carefully as we got closer to her due date.  She wasn’t over-due.  In fact, she was right on time.  I had purposefully not made any Easter plans so I could be home if there was trouble.  And indeed, there was trouble.

Her water broke at about 7:30 a.m. and I waited and waited for those two little hooves to start protruding, followed by a nose.  She was very restless and kept walking around the farm.  On and off, I followed her, not wanting to disturb her progress, but also to keep an eye on her.  After an hour or two, no hooves and I started getting worried.  She was a beautiful, healthy, heifer, not overweight, no health problems, and I just couldn’t get my head around the fact that nothing was normal about her inability to progress.  I kept telling myself, “give her time, leave her alone, heifers can be slow to calve”.   I had taken a picture of the contents of her water breaking, and sure enough it was what I thought it was.Continue reading“Livestock or “Deadstock”?, by SaraSue”

Economics & Investing Media of the Week

In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers.

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

Austrian Philharmonic Gold Coins

 

 

 

Economics & Investing Links of Interest

Economics & Investing Media Tips:

Please send your economics and investing links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Thanks!

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 9, 2026

On April 9, 1388, the Battle of Näfels was a major victory for the Swiss Confederation in the first century of its struggle for self-determination against the Habsburg overlordship of the Duchy of Austria. (The public domain photo of Näfels, Canton Glarus, Switzerland, was taken by Marco Zanoli.) Note that in January 2011, Näfels became part of the municipality of Glarus Nord.

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April 9, 1869: Hudson’s Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada.

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And on April 9, 1959 NASA named the first seven astronauts for Project Mercury.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value).
  2. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  3. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
  4. Heaven’s Harvest is providing one of their Original Heirloom Seed Kits (a $139 value.)
  5. Harvest Guard is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is providing a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Subterfuge: Why I Smile When I’m Told Some Lies, by R.E.D.

In this article, I’ll explain why some subterfuge can be a good thing and some implications for present-day news reporting.

Many of my friends and acquaintances are terrible liars. I don’t mean to imply that my friends tell a lot of lies. However, they often tell the same lie consistently, and quite frankly it is not a very good lie. So, they are just not very good at telling that one lie.

A couple of reasons why I am lied to so often is because I live in a community with many military retirees and I worked for nearly 30 years in the defense industry. Many of the employees in the defense industry came out of the military – and they often told lies as well.Continue reading“Subterfuge: Why I Smile When I’m Told Some Lies, by R.E.D.”

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, another new AI threat.

The Escape of Claude Mythos Hacking Tool

I found this linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Do you understand what Anthropic just admitted?  Claude Mythos, the AI they built to hack every operating system on earth, escaped its own secure testing environment and then went online and bragged about it.

Some more details can be found here: Everything You Need to Know About Claude Mythos.

The FBI’s New Political Pre-Crime Center

Exclusive: FBI’s New Political Pre-Crime Center.  JWR’s Comments:  Beware that with a change in administrations, this new government apparatus could be quickly shifted to targeting conservatives. (For some larger context, see my recent essay on the political pendulum.)

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”