Year: 2025


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 11, 2025

September 11, 1297: The Battle of Stirling Bridge. Scottish rebel William Wallace defeated the English. — September 11th is of course the anniversary of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the U.S., but it is also the anniversary of the Benghazi Embassy attacks, in 2012. (Those events were recounted in the Hollywood film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.) Please remember the sacrifice of J. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, and CIA (former Navy SEAL) agents Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. Between them, Woods and Doherty reportedly dropped at least 60 of the attackers, before their position was overwhelmed. Please …


A Three-Year Window or a Three-Month Window?

As an observer of contemporary politics, economics, and emerging threats, I have come to the conclusion that the last three years of Donald John Trump’s second term as President may provide a potential window of opportunity. If we were now living under a Harris-Walz Administration, we would surely be out of time to prepare. I have my doubts about Trump’s sincerity when he talks about scaling back the size and power of government. Alarmingly, the gains of the DOGE project were wiped out by the huge deficit spending included in the recent  “Big, Beautiful Bill”.  But I don’t consider DJT …


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, a link to another mainstream media documentary on the growing prepper movement. Meet the ‘Preppers’ Stockpiling for Doomsday A British television journalist meets American survivalists: Meet the ‘Preppers’ …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 10, 2025

On September 10, 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown Colony Council, Virginia. — September 10,1813: American naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. — A sad farewell: Edward Faulkner, Actor in John Wayne and Elvis Presley Films, Dies at 93. — We are running a week-long sale on all of our Swedish Mauser rifles at Elk Creek Company. Until Monday, September 15th, 2025, the prices of all of our 6.5 x55mm “Swedes” have been reduced by 10 to 25 percent. These are all pre-1899 (no paperwork) guns that can be mailed right …


Maximizing Prepping Storage Space – Part 2, by Iowa Dave

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Here are the steps that I followed in this project: Figure out how much space is available. Don’t just think in two dimensions (length and width), look up and consider how tall the available space is and what is above it. You are essentially playing a three-dimensional version of the old two-dimensional Tetris game in this exercise, while factoring in the features of your home. My basement shelving has been constrained by things like water lines, waste lines, propane lines, and HVAC ducts. Consider how wide any aisles between rows of shelves …


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. — Russia’s mysterious ‘Doomsday Radio’ broadcasts two new codewords. o  o  o Several readers mentioned this news: French hospitals told to prepare for war in Europe by next year in leaked Government letter. o  o  o Putin needs to agree to an unconditional ceasefire and withdraw forces from all of Ukraine: UK statement …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 9, 2025

On September 9, 1543, Mary Stuart, then just nine months old, was crowned Queen of Scots in the central Scottish town of Stirling. — September 9, 1830: Charles Durant, the first US aeronaut, flew a balloon from Castle Garden, New York City to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. This was a distance of about 25 miles, covered in three hours. — And on September 9, 1908, Orville Wright made the first hour-long airplane flight at Fort Myer, Virginia. His flight lasted 62 minutes and 15 seconds. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 120 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …


Maximizing Prepping Storage Space – Part 1, by Iowa Dave

Author’s Introductory Note: I am not a carpenter or engineer. I am simply sharing concepts that have worked well for me and can be applied by anyone. Beans, bullets, and band aids. Their volume grows over time, and we all need somewhere to put them. Mr. Rawles calls his storage space Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR). I call mine The Temple of Doom. Managing the storage of these items is a challenge faced by all preparedness-minded individuals. Most of us have limited resources, and few would say they have enough storage space. The concepts in this article …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements 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. We also mention companies located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, news about several ongoing wildfire battles. But rainy weather is expected soon in most of the American Redoubt. Idaho Island Creek Fire burning 14,000+ acres north of Elk City. o  o  o Idaho’s only woman on death row moves closer to firing squad after Supreme …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I am proud to have been born in Iowa. Through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy, it was a place of adventure and daily discoveries – the wonder of the growing crops, the excitements of the harvest, the journeys to the woods for nuts and hunting, the joys of snowy winters, the comfort of the family fireside, of good food and tender care.” – Herbert Hoover


Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 8, 2025

On September 8, 1628, Dutch privateer Piet Heyn captured the Spanish silver fleet in the Bay of Matanzas, Cuba. — September 8, 1860: The excursion steamer Lady Elgin sank after being rammed in a storm on Lake Michigan, drowning about 300 people. This was the largest loss of life ever recorded on the Great Lakes. — And on September 8, 1892: The first appearance of “Pledge of Allegiance” was published in the Youth’s Companion. — Just in time to be ready for deer hunting season, we’ve just started a week-long sale on all of our Swedish Mauser rifles at Elk …


Bear & Son 112A Framelock Assisted Opener Knife, by Thomas Christianson

With a rugged stainless steel handle, a 2.88-inch drop point blade made of high carbon stainless steel, and an assisted opening mechanism, the Bear & Son 112A Framelock Assisted Opener Knife has the right stuff for a solid everyday carry (EDC) knife. Since it is made in the USA and has a price at the time of this writing of $59.99 it is a good value for your hard-earned dollars. It is available at BearAndSonCutlery.com . I only keep a small number of the knives that I test. Most of them I give away to family, friends, and acquaintances. I …