Month: September 2025

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — September 19, 2025

On September 19, 1356, English forces under Edward the Black Prince defeated the French at the Battle of Poitiers and captured French King John II, during the Hundred Years’ War. Preceded by the Battle of Crécy in 1346, and followed by the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, it was the second of the three great English victories of the war. — September 19, 1778: The Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States. — Also on this date in 1796, George Washington addressed the nation in his farewell address as President. — Today’s feature article is by JWR. …


The Meme of Crushroom: A Key Retreat Architecture Element (Updated)

JWR’s Introductory Note:  This is an update and expansion of an article that I wrote for SurvivalBlog back in 2009. I’ve corrected the article’s dead links and added some important details. — One bit of retreat architecture that I’ve often recommended to my consulting clients who are designing (or retrofitting) retreats is the inclusion of a protruding entryway foyer, that I call a crushroom. Passing this advice along to you gives me the chance to employ one of my horrible puns: The Meme of Crushroom. A crushroom is a controllable confined space, typically an entry foyer, that can be covered …


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 the return of inflation. (See the Inflation/Deflation Watch section.) Precious Metals: I noted a price jump in precious metals on Monday morning (Sept. 15, 2025) in U.S. trading. This followed strong buying in Asian trading: Gold $3,697.80  Silver $42.83  And then on Tuesday morning: Gold $3,709.90 Silver $43.17 That was another all-time …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 18, 2025

In the midst of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), on September 18, 1635, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II declared war on France. Above: Carl Friedrich Lessing’s painting The Siege. — The 18th of September is Chilean Independence Day. On this day, in 1810, Chile declared independence from Spain. — And, on September 18, 1914, South African troops landed in German South West Africa. (Later renamed South West Africa and then again, to Namibia.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 120 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite …


Improvised Shower Fixtures and Pumps, by A.F.

My first iteration of an improvised shower came about while stationed in Texas. Our unit was participating in a field training exercise and were allocated one trip to the shower point per week. As this exercise was more of a practice of our daily grind in field conditions rather than a battle simulation, our platoon of mechanics set up a minimal motor pool and for the most part spent time catching up on service work. One of the few actual repairs I was given over those days was replacing the power steering pump on a M1009 CUCV better known as …


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. At the top of today’s column, some news from the “Gunshine” State. Florida AG Announces Legal Open Carry Reader D.S.V. sent us this good news reported by The Orlando Sentinel:  AG …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 17, 2025

On September 17, 158, Dutch sailors claimed the island of Mauritius for the Netherlands. They named it after Maurice, Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau — September 17, 1776: The Fortress Presidio of San Francisco was founded in New Spain to gain a foothold in Alta California and secure the San Francisco Bay. — Today, September 17th, we celebrate Constitution Day in these United States.  This is in remembrance that on September 17, 1787, the US Constitution was signed by delegates at the Philadelphia Convention. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 120 of the …


Secure Local Comms With POTS Equipment, by Tractorguy

Land-line analog telephone service was ubiquitous in most of the 20th Century. This hardware is now commonly Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).  This was our primary means of communication. It was simple, robust, and reliable. A few users still have landline service, although most landline service has migrated to digital means over a public Internet connection, with a modem at the user’s residence converting the digital data back to analog and providing ringer voltage to operate the bell. A lot of these telephones and associated equipment still exist, and are sitting in basements and attics. They could be easily pressed …


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. — Some enthusiastic young men have just launched a new military surplus company in Tampa, Florida, called Gear Rack. Their inventory arrives in semi trailer-loads of DRMO clothing and gear, mostly in pallet boxes. What a chore to sort and catalog it all!  They also sell some foreign military surplus.  Their videos (12 …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 16, 2025

On September 16,  1782, the Great Seal of the United States of America was used for the first time. — September 16, 1919, the U.S. Congress granted a national charter to the American Legion. — And on September 16, 1940, US President FDR signed the Selective Training & Service Act. This was the nation’s first peacetime draft. — Mark your calendar for February 16, 2026, to order your 20th Anniversary Edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. The 2005-2025 edition will have at least 12 more bonus books.  These will include the 4-volume Audel’s Carpenters and Builders Guide, as …


JIT Training for Trusted Friends, Family, and Neighbors, by Dr. Bob

This article will provide some thoughts on how to address a few common problems seen in the preparedness community. The first problem involves the difficulty finding like-minded people to form a community before the Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF). The second problem is how to engage friends, family, and neighbors so that they take actions to prepare their families prior to SHTF. These problems are related and center on the realization that many people are bound by their current life circumstances and are unwilling or unable to consider that the current paradigm is in danger and, secondly, many of those …