Month: November 2025

Dakota Power Bank and PV Panel – Part 1, by Mike in Alaska

As the saying goes “One is none, two is one, three is two …. and if you are building your preparations with only one back up then you have failed to prepare.” Disclaimer: I purchased the system with my own funds. I am not being paid by the company for this article. We live in the Arctic area of Alaska. Our winters here are long and dark, and they can be brutal. For us it starts in mid-August when the sun begins to set earlier and rise later in the day, and the truth be known, it starts June 21st …


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. — Version 1.0 of Elon Musk’s AI-generated Grokipedia has gone live. At first glance, it appears to be a far less biased alternative to Wikipedia. The mainstream/statist Le Monde of France had this report:  ‘With Grokipedia, AI will be trained using the world as Elon Musk describes, perceives and desires it. JWR’s Comments:  Without …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Awake, my soul, and with the sun thy daily stage of duty run; shake off dull sloth, and early rise to pay thy morning sacrifice. Lord, I my vows to Thee renew. Disperse my sins as morning dew; guard my first springs of thought and will, and with Thyself my spirit fill. Direct, control, suggest, this day, all I design or do or say, that all my pow’rs, with all their might. in Thy sole glory may unite. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heav’enly host; praise Father, Son, …


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 11, 2025

Today is of course Veteran’s Day. If you value your freedom, then thank a veteran. — Today is also the birthday of General George S. Patton, Jr..  He was born in 1885 and died December 21, 1945. — Today is the birthday of Hugh Everett (born 1930, died July 19, 1982), the American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, which he termed his “relative state” formulation. — November 11th also marks Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), in 1965. Remember Rhodesia. — Today’s feature piece is a brief update from JWR. — We still need …


Where Have All The Real Prepper Blogs Gone?

I recently visited the Gun Blog Blacklist site.  One of its key features is lists of gun and prepping blog sites. The “Prepper Blogs” are linked down in their lower-right column.  I was taken aback when I found that the majority of those linked sites are now either offline, or they haven’t had any posts in more than two years. And of the few that are still active, many of those have switched to all un-dated posts, presumably to obfuscate a bit on how often they post. (Which in fact is infrequently.)


SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

This weekly item 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. The photo of the Veseth Ranch, below, is click-expandable:       Redoubt Region News Links: Couple Donate Legacy 38,000-Acre, $21 Million Cattle Ranch To Keep It A Ranch. No, Zelenskyy Isn’t Buying 916,000-Acre Pathfinder Ranches — But Someone Is. Flitner Family Buys Bighorn Mountain Ranch Back From Kanye West. As Idaho Grows Ever Redder, Boise Worries About Its Isolation. Send Your Media Links Please send your links …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 10, 2025

50 years ago today, the Great Lakes freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald, sank with the loss of all on board. The ship is pictured in 1971. — On November 10, 1619, René Descartes had a dream that inspired him to write his “Meditations on First Philosophy”. — November 10, 1911: The Chinese Imperial army recaptured Nanking, during the 1911 Republican Revolution.  The Xinhai Revolution (or Hsinhai) Revolution, ended China’s last imperial Qing dynasty under the Manchus. They had been in power for 268 years. — November 10, 1933: The “Black Blizzard” snowstorm-duststorm began in South Dakota. “The size of the ominous black …


Demko Shark-Cub Knife, by Thomas Christianson

The Demko Shark-Cub AUS10A Slicer Shark is a great knife for everyday carry (EDC). Its 2.5 inch drop-point, saber-ground blade is 0.13 inches thick at the spine and has a stonewashed finish. Deep jimping along a longer-than-average segment near the base of the spine of the blade provides extra control during delicate cuts. A thumb notch makes ambidextrous one-handed deployment simple, while presenting a thinner profile than thumb studs. The glass reinforced nylon (GRN) handle has a canvas-micarta-like finish with contours that fit the index and middle fingers. The scales are reinforced by a steel liner that extends half of …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Parmesan Chicken is from SurvivalBlog reader “Sis”. She notes: “This recipe uses boneless chicken thighs, but you may instead use bone-in thighs, chicken breasts, or drumsticks if you desire.” Ingredients 1 family pack of boneless chicken thighs (8) 3 sticks ( 1 1/2 cups) of butter 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers ( regular long sleeve) 1 jar (10-to-12 oz) Parmesan cheese. Directions Butter a 8″ x 9″ , roll chicken in butter, then in Parm/cracker mixture, place in baking pan. Top with the remaining butter. Then sprinkle with 5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped. Drizzle with a …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: Countries Where Over 90% Of The Population Can Speak English. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) JWR’s Comment: Note the lack of shading for Canada. The thumbnail below is click-expandable.       — Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — November 9, 2025

November 9, 1330: The Battle of Posada. Wallachian voievode Basarab I defeated the Hungarian army (led by Charles I of Hungary) in an ambush. The 1855 imagining of the Battle of Posada above was by József Molnár. It is titled Dezső sacrifices himself protecting Charles Robert. — After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on November 9, 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans from the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. — Today is the anniversary of …


Update: On Spring Water, Well Water, and Water Treatment Basics

This article is an update and expansion to a brief but important piece that I wrote for SurvivalBlog back in 2007. –  JWR Plentiful fresh drinking water for drinking, cooking, washing, and gardening is the most critical resource for all societies. The vast majority of the residents of First World countries are dependent on grid power to supply their water. When the grid goes down for more than a few days, water towers will soon be drained and huge numbers of people will be forced to draw water from open sources. Thankfully, there are streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds in …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Zohran “The Commie” Mamdani Has Just Been Named Florida Real Estate Salesman Of The Year News Links: More New Yorkers? More redistricting? Election results to ripple through Florida. A news report from 2023: The ‘Great Sort’ draws transplants pushing Florida to the right, experts say. Fortune: Escape from New York: Impending election of a democratic socialist mayor has the wealthy fleeing to the suburbs. Will Staten Island finally secede if NYC elects Mamdani? Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble …