Year: 2025

Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 17, 2025

November 17,  1774: First City Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry formed at Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia. It is one of the oldest US military units still in service. — On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. — Be sure to mark your calendar for February 1, 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 well as Horace Kephart’s classic book on Woodcraft, and the USMC’s …


Mantis TitanX 702, by Thomas Christianson

The new Mantis TitanX provides a training pistol that is compatible with both motion-based and laser-based training systems. The MantisX motion-based training system is freely available for iPhone, Android and Kindle devices. It is a sophisticated app that provides an extensive collection of drills and courses. The TitanX pistol is also compatible with the Mantis Laser Academy Kit, which cost $159 at mantisx.com at the time of this writing. As a dry-fire training aid, the TitanX does not expend ammo, can be safely used at home, and provides immediate feedback. In this way, it improves marksmanship while saving both money …


Recipe of the Week:  

The following simple and largely forgotten recipe for Eggs in Brown Butter 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 6 eggs Salt Pepper 3 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vinegar Directions Sauté the eggs in one tablespoon butter or butter substitute until set. Season wiih salt and pepper, and place on a platter. Brown two tablespoons butter in the …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map that shows that only 33 of the world’s 195 countries are in the Southern Hemisphere. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) 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 16, 2025

On November 16, 534, the Second and final revision of the Justinian Code (“Codex Justinianus“) was published. This was a codified set of imperial and classical laws that initially began in 528. — November 16, 1933: Swiss physicist Fritz Zwicky published the first evidence for the existence of dark matter in his seminal article “The Redshift of Extragalactic Nebulae”. — November 16th was the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as …


The Foreign Worker Scam Exposes Trump’s Economic Achilles Heel, by Brandon Smith

If you really want to counter the chaos grifters of the political left in the US, then you have to be willing to offer a coherent and consistent plan which dissolves the chaos they thrive on. Planning eases instability. Consistency defeats confusion. Clarity squashes disorder. The public needs to see a comprehensive list of standards, actions and goals and they don’t like it when their leaders suddenly derail the train. When it comes to economics, vision is meaningless. Every idiot out there has an economic “vision”, very few people have any idea how to get from Point A to Point …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: An Alarming Statistic: 1 in 8 Liberal Women Will Be Diagnosed With Prostate or Testicular Cancer A Relevant Link: Cancer Screenings in the Transgender Community. 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.  


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 15, 2025

On November 15, 1720, pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read (pictured in a woodcut), and Calico Jack were captured by Captain Jonathan Barnet and brought to the Spanish Town of Jamaica, for trial. — Today is birthday of David Stirling. (15 November 1915  – 4 November 1990.)  He was a Scottish officer in the British Army, mountaineer, and the founder of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. — Today’s feature article was too short to qualify for the writing contest judging. — We need a few more articles for Round 121 of the …


Experimentally Reloading Aluminum Case .45 ACP, by Aging Plinker

In the past if anyone had asked me if it were possible to reload aluminum-case autoloading pistol rounds I would have said no. Is it possible? Yes and no is my answer now. It’s not a good idea though, in my opinion. In the milder seasons of the year we do a lot of pistol shooting. Recently, at a spot that at least three generations of shooters use I noticed a pile of spent aluminum .45 ACP cases. I knew the ammunition existed but had never seen any for sale in this area. Examining one, I noticed that it had …


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 …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. When they were …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — November 14, 2025

On November 14, 1908,  Albert Einstein presented his quantum theory of light. — On November 14th, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano erupted in Colombia, killing over 20,000 as nearby towns are buried in mud, ice and lava. Scientist studying the volcano believed an eruption was imminent and had recommended an evacuation of the area which was largely ignored, resulting in the high number of casualties. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This …


Bullet Drop: It’s About Time, by Mr. Wobbet

This article gives another perspective on understanding ballistics charts. Introduction I am not much of a hunter. Over the past five years going up to my in-law’s place, I’ve taken about a dozen shots at the feral pigs that root up sections of their land. I have zero hits on running pigs. If you line up a handful of soda cans filled with water at 25 yards, I can go town on those. But with the pigs out at 200 yards, I am about useless, even when the neighbor has lent me his really nice hunting rifle. A few weeks …