Day: December 8, 2025

Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 8, 2025

On December 8th, 1864, James Clerk Maxwell‘s paper “A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field” was first read by the Royal Society in London. (It was published by the Royal Society in 1865.) — December 8th, 1880: 5,000 armed Boers gathered in Paardekraal, South Africa. — Today also marks the birthday of Eli Whitney, (1765–1825) the inventor of the labor-saving cotton gin, several firearms, and dozens of other mechanical devices. He was the first to demonstrate the advantages of fully interchangeable parts in firearms manufacture. — Today’s feature is by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We need more …


Diamond “Strike-A-Fire” Fire Starters, by Thomas Christianson

Each Diamond “Strike-A-Fire” Fire Starter (SAF stick) is kind of like a giant match which is 5.75 inches long, 1.13 inches wide, and 0.25 inches thick. The shaft of a SAF stick seems to be made out of some sort of pressed wood that is impregnated with a waxy substance. When the match-like head of a SAF stick is struck on the striking strip on the box, it ignites the SAF stick which then burns for approximately 12 minutes. In the process, the SAF stick creates enough heat to effectively ignite most types of kindling. [JWR Adds: The SAF sticks …


Recipe of the Week:

The following simple recipe for Sago, Rice, or Barley Soup is from The New Butterick Cook Book, copyright 1924, now in the public domain. That is just one of the dozens of bonus books included in the 2005-2025 20th Anniversary Edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick that will be available to order in January of 2026. Ingredients 1 quart brown or white stock, cleared or not cleared 2 tablespoons sago, rice, or barley Salt and pepper Directions Soak sago one-half hour in enough stock or water to cover it. After that, bring the remainder of the stock to a …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic:  An Aurora Borealis display photographed on December 5, 2025 by Vince Medina of North Pole, Alaska. (Posted with permission.) The thumbnails below are 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.


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“I think part of preparedness is always being quite cognizant of just how tenuous our lives can be. We know that there is a future where we’re huddled around a campfire of burning 2×4s where the tornado took the house, where we look in the fridge and theres nothing but a box of baking soda and ketchup, where we spend hours a day looking for a job as we watch our bank accounts dwindle, where we feel unsafe, insecure, and hopeless. That’s why we prepare…to mitigate those events, to reduce our fragility, to increase our resilience. And when you’re aware …