Preparedness Notes — November 10, 2026 

This Week in History:

On November 8, 1602, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, founded by Thomas Bodley, formally opened.

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November 8,1967: Silver hit a record $1.95 per Troy ounce in London. By then, nearly all of the 90% silver coins had been pulled out of circulation by the citizenry in the United States, but some 40% silver half dollars were still being minted and in circulation.  But circulating alongside silver-flashed copper tokens, most of those 40% silver coins were snapped up, on sight, and tucked away at home.

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November 9, 1799: Napoleon Bonaparte pulled off a coup to become the dictator of France under the title of First Consul.

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November 10, 1908:  The first Gideon Bible was placed in a hotel room.

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And on November 11, 1918, the World War I Armistice was signed by the Allies and Germany and came into effect, with hostilities ending at 11 a.m., “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

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Patriots Revised Edition CoverA Reminder: A revised hardback edition of my first novel, Patriots — with a spiffy new cover and a Foreword written by Michael Z. Williamson — should be available from Ulysses Press on December 8, 2026.  But please wait until that day to place your order. (Mark your calendar.) – JWR

The Art of the Barter: Your Most Vital Survival Skill, by A.C.

Editor’s Introductory Note: This article was based on research done for Episode 84 of the Stakeholder Prepping Podcast.

In the prepper community, we spend an inordinate amount of time discussing calibers, water filtration, and the caloric density of freeze-dried beef. But there is a glaring hole in the standard survival curriculum: the psychology of the trade.

When the grid goes dark and the global financial system becomes a historical footnote, the dollar doesn’t just lose value; it becomes fancy kindling. In The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI), your most valuable asset isn’t your stockpile; it’s your ability to negotiate. If you can’t navigate the human element, you don’t just need to worry about being a “loot drop” for your local gang of marauders, you also need to word about being nothing more than a well-stocked warehouse waiting for a more charismatic person to take your inventory. To survive the long emergency, we have to look past tactical gear and toward the practical application of Harvard Business School theories and FBI hostage negotiation tactics.Continue reading“The Art of the Barter: Your Most Vital Survival Skill, by A.C.”

Charter Arms Pathfinder II in .22LR, by Thomas Christianson

The Charter Arms Pathfinder II is a rugged, eight-shot revolver chambered in .22LR. It has a stainless steel barrel and an anodized aluminum frame. It runs reliably on inexpensive bulk .22LR ammo that many semi-autos find difficult to feed consistently, and is reasonably accurate. Like many handguns chambered in .22LR, it is also a lot of fun to shoot.

The single action trigger is a delight, while the double action trigger is a little heavier than I could wish. The compact rubber grip feels just a little too small in my hands (I wear gloves sized large to extra large). At 20 ounces not counting ammo, the Pathfinder II is easy to carry.

The Pathfinder II comes in three models with black passivate, stainless steel, or OD green & black passivate finishes. Each model had a manufacturer suggested retail price of $510.61 at the time of this writing.Continue reading“Charter Arms Pathfinder II in .22LR, by Thomas Christianson”

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map showing the 11 megaregions of the United States.  Notably almost absent is the lightly-populated American Redoubt. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)  The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

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If any SurvivalBlog readers have personally taken or otherwise hold the copyright to a particularly nice landscape photo or other photo of particular interest to preppers that is in a wide horizontal format (to match our blog template) then please send it in as an e-mail attachment, and I will consider posting it as a Graphic of the Week, or as a Top Note photo. I can of course credit you by name — or pen name —  if you’d like. Many Thanks! –  JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation, under your copyright or uncopyrighted in the public domain. Thanks! – JWR

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. This week, a map showing Alaska’s Population Distribution. Mainly due to transportation limitations and climate, the majority of the state’s population lives inside city limits in just four metropolitan areas!  “Rural” Alaskans are clearly a minority. The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

Alaska's Population Distribution

 

 

 

(Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)

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!

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, age verification for smartphones.

Age Verification in Apple IOS 27.2 Using Camera

Reader D.S.V. sent this news: iPhone Dystopia: Age Verification Baked Into IOS 27.2 Using Camera. Here is an excerpt:

“When Apple released iOS 27.2 on Sunday, it crossed a threshold no major operating system had crossed before: embedding a government-compelled biometric age gate directly into the OS layer itself — not inside an app, not inside a browser, but in the platform that every app runs on top of. For the first time, accessing adult-rated content on an iPhone or iPad in Australia, Brazil, Singapore, or the United Kingdom now requires passing a facial age estimation scan administered by the operating system before the App Store will proceed.”

JWR’s Comments:  I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that a new category of “adult content” will soon be defined: Anything related to firearms. One goal of the statist socialists is to create a generational break in the continuity of family firearms ownership. This what they gradually accomplished in England, between the late 1940s and the early 1990s.  In the long term, they want to also eliminate “the gun culture” from American culture. We can combat that with the way that we develop our family gun collections — by purchasing and setting aside guns and magazines for not just our children, but also for our nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

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

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.

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Video from former CIA Officer Jason Hanson: Four Things I’m Doing Immediately After This Election.  JWR’s Comment:  I find it interesting that he pointed out the importance of owning some Pre-1899 guns.

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Mark in Florida suggested this video:

Counter Drone Technology Has Come to Deer Hunting and Landowners Are Starting to Fight Back.

Mark also provided a link to their website: Drone Detection System.

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Has your car or truck (or its tires) been recalled?  You can check here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls

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Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

This weekly column features media from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest.

Send Your Media Links

Please send your links to media from the American Redoubt region to JWR. Any photos that are posted or re-posted must be uncopyrighted. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact form.

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 have been busy packing a lot of Elk Creek Company orders in the past few days.  Folks seem particularly interested in snatching up guns and magazines — especially after the midterm election results were announced.  I just had a consulting client call from Montana, asking to schedule a face-to-face consultation in a nearby town, this weekend. He sounded very anxious about buying buying ammunition, a Vortex scope, and a pile of Glock and AR magazines. He is making a 400+ mile round trip drive, in part to see me, and I’m assuming in part to stop at several well-stocked sporting goods stores. He asked me to bring along several legally antique Chilean Mauser 7.62mm NATO arsenal-converted Model 1895s that he says he will be buying, to hedge his bets.

I’ve also been busy with various preps for winter. But no major projects.  The next big project will be moving my office and my Elk Creek Company inventory into a more secure location here at the ranch. That process will probably begin in December, starting with some carpentry…

I’ve also organized my bins and display cases of merchandise for the Lewiston, Idaho gun show on November 21st and 22nd.  I will have four tables there, with about 80% of my inventory.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

AOC SUV Meme

Meme Text:

AOC: I Went Shopping For A SUV. But I Knew The Salesman Was Lying When He Said The Words “Cargo Space'”. There Is No Way It Could Fly, And Certainly Not Into Space!

Notes From JWR: 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.

Editors’ Quote:

“The best camouflage pattern is called, ‘Sit down and be quiet!’ Your grandpa hunted deer in a red plaid coat. Think about that for a second.” – Noted archery hunter and bow maker Fred Bear (1902-1988)

Preparedness Notes — November 3, 2026 

Today is election day. Please get out and vote. I know that our votes don’t mean a lot in some instances, but in many mid-term races they still do. (For example, pro-gun candidate Brandon Herrera is running for Congress in Texas’s 23rd District.) Also, please pray for smaller and more responsible government. – JWR

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Soon after last Tuesday’s blog was posted, I heard that Walter Koenig passed away. He will be missed. Ironically, he long outlived Anton Yelchin, who also played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the much more recent Star Trek movies. (Yelchin was accidentally crushed to death at age 27 by his own car, in 2016.)

Oh, and speaking of Star Trek, I also heard that Patrick Stewart passed away. Sad. At this rate, William Shatner may outlive the casts of both Star Trek and its first sequel series (Star Trek: The Next Generation.) – JWR

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This Week in History:

On November 1, 996, there was the first recorded use of the modern name for Austria in the “Ostarrîchi Document.”  Pictured above is Vienna Austria’s Danube waterfront, circa 1920. (Photo courtesy of the Flikr Commons.)

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On November 1, 1348, the Black Death reached London. )On or about this date.)

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November 2, 1772: The anti-English Committee of Correspondence formed in Boston.

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November 2, 1880:  James A. Garfield (R) was elected 20th President of the United States.

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And on November 3,  1529, the first sitting of the Reformation Parliament, in London.

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When I switched from daily posting to weekly posting of SurvivalBlog, I was afraid that I would lose some readership and support. But thankfully that hasn’t happened.  I can assure you that I’ll continue to consistently produce the same content that you’ve come to expect, Fresh Every Tuesday. – JWR

 

Will You Survive?, by Single Farmer

The short answer is maybe. To increase your possibilities of survival, read this article.

As we were reviewing our food storage and other supplies, my Mom made an interesting observation which resulted in a conversation about why many people won’t survive and a potential solution.

My mother is our chief logistician–meaning that she plans and coordinates the purchasing and storage of our food and other supplies. Most women are the logisticians for their family with sometimes over 90 percent of the food purchasing done by women. When our truck or a semi-truck needs to be unloaded, the men in my family unload it as we purchase cases to sometimes have semi-truck deliveries to unload.

As far as purchasing, we do not purchase any large quantities of food or supplies at stores within our area. I am sure that my local grocery store would happily fulfill our large orders, but I do not need to have any local people talking. We are known as farmers/business people, not preppers and survivalists. People talk and have long memories especially when they and their kids are starving of who potentially has food. We believe very much in the concept of charity and we often discreetly and safely help others. We are currently doing this, so we would increase our efforts during any type of emergency if we were able.

Because we live on a farm, the sight of semi-trucks entering farms ia a normal occurrence and the size of our farm allows a semi-truck to be unloaded without anyone else seeing it occurring. It would be difficult to arrange a large delivery in a suburb or a city location without having people gawk and talk.Continue reading“Will You Survive?, by Single Farmer”

Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Hamburger A L’Italienne is from Good Housekeeping’s Book of Good Meals.  This 1927-copyrighted  book (now in public domain) is one of the 11 books that I paid to have professionally scanned that will be added to the extensive library of bonus books included with the SurvivalBlog 2027 Edition waterproof archive USB sticks. (Available for ordering in mid-January, 2027.)

Ingredients
  • 2 peeled onions
  • 1 cupful salad oil
  • 1 pound hamburg steak
  • 2 cupfuls stewed tomatoes
  • 1 cupful grated cheese
  • 1 teaspoonful salt
  • 1/2 teaspoonful pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cupful egg noodles
Directions

Brown the onions, cut small, in the salad oil. Add the hamburg steak and brown.  Combine with the tomatoes, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Cook the egg noodles in boiling salted water until tender, add to the meat mixture, and cook slowly, thirty minutes longer, stirring frequently. One tablespoonful of water may be added if necessary to keep it moist.

SERVING

Serve it on a platter surrounded with one cupful of grated cheese. Serves six.

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map that shows States with a smaller population (in brown) than Los Angeles metropolitan area. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.

States with a smaller population (in brown) than Los Angeles metro area.

 

 

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If any SurvivalBlog readers have personally taken or otherwise hold the copyright to a particularly nice landscape photo or other photo of particular interest to preppers that is in a wide horizontal format (to match our blog template) then please send it in as an e-mail attachment, and I will consider posting it as a Graphic of the Week, or as a Top Note photo. I can of course credit you by name — or pen name —  if you’d like. Many Thanks! –  JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation, under your copyright or uncopyrighted in the public domain. Thanks! – JWR