Year: 2025

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 24, 2025

On December 24, 1651, Jan van Riebeeck departed for the Cape of Good Hope to˜found the first permanent European settlement in southern Africa. — And on December 24, 1818, the Christmas carol “Silent Night” composed by Franz Xaver Gruber was first sung at St. Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, Austria. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), A Peak …


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by St. Funogas

In case the Powers That Be ask our opinions about how the world as we know it should end, I’m going to recommend the slow-motion kind that takes a few weeks, rather than an instantaneous welcome-to-Teotwawkiville atomic explosion or EMP. That will give die-hard preppers time to top off their supplies and buy that extra pallet of Thin Mints, but more importantly, give those with a bug-out retreat time to get there before the final SHTF events usher us into TEOTWAWKI. For those who find themselves up Schumer Creek with no reliable means of travel to their bug-out location; for …


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. — Reader F.J. suggested this food for thought, over at Big Think: America’s post-apocalyptic maps reveal eerily familiar fault lines.  (Image Credit: ThaDrummer at DeviantArt.) o  o  o Reader J.L.S. wrote: “Good evening Mr. Rawles I want to make a recommendation for you to add to your list of books on your Bookshelf …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 23, 2025

On December 23, 1913,  US President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, creating the central banking Federal Reserve System. This law granted extraordinary monetary and economic power to a private banking cartel. The destruction of the purchasing power of the U.S. Dollar was a key result. (It has declined 98%, since 1913.)  I recommend the book The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve. – JWR — December 23rd is the birthday of Founding Father and Supreme Court Justice John Jay. (Born 1745, died May 17, 1829.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we …


Using GSSF Matches to Prep, by Iowa Dave

Author’s Note: I am not affiliated with Glock or the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation other than volunteering as a range officer at their matches and shooting their matches. JWR likes to say that owning a gun doesn’t make you a shooter any more than owning a surfboard makes you a surfer. You need to learn, train, and practice. Practical pistol disciplines such as International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) and International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) are outstanding ways to practice, but they can be intimidating to the novice. That’s where the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation, or GSSF fits in. Glock started …


SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

This weekly column 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. Today, a Creative Commons photo by Justin Fincher of Glacier National Park, Montana.  The “Weeping Wall” can be seen alongside the Going To The Sun Road at the far right side of the photo. The thumbnail below is click-expandable. American Redoubt Links of Interest Massive Train Derailment Occurs 17 Miles Northwest Of Cheyenne.  (A tip of the cowboy hat to D.S.V. for the link.) Video: Big Sky Country – …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 22, 2025

December 22nd 1849: The planned execution of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky by firing squad was called off, at the last second. JWR’s Comment: Novelists tend to thrive on drama, but that was a bit too intense. — December 22nd is also the anniversary of the death of SP4 James T. Davis, the first uniformed American combat casualty of the Vietnam War, in 1961. This ASA soldier (of the 3rd Radio Research Unit) was killed in a Viet Cong ambush on a road outside Saigon. — For those who have been waiting, the special 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB …


The Go-Kot, by Thomas Cristianson

Handmade in the USA, the Go-Kot was designed by scoutmasters in 1978 in order to provide better cots for their scouts. The Go-Kot is compact. When packed in its 28 x 8 x 3 inch carrying bag, the Go-Kot takes up less room in a trunk or cargo compartment than the typical camping cot. The Go-Kot is rugged. It is constructed of heavy-duty nylon fabric, an aircraft-grade aluminum frame, and spring-steel legs. The Go-Kot is easy to assemble and disassemble. It takes about a minute to take it out of the carrying bag and set up. It takes about another …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Balkan Stew (aka Survival Stew) is from SurvivalBlog reader Greg M. Greg’s Note: “The ingredients can include any substitutes you have on hand if fresh items are missing.” Ingredients Thick pork chops (or meat of your choice) Olive oil Greek seasoning Hungarian paprika Black pepper Garlic salt Ham bullion soup base Turnips, onions, potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms Whole tomatoes Fresh garlic Parsley Directions Sear pork chops (or chosen meat) in olive oil; season with Greek seasoning, paprika, pepper, and garlic salt. Place the meat in a slow cooker with ham bullion base. Add chopped turnips, onions, potatoes, …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: The geographic population center for the United States has been in Missouri since 1980. As of 2020, it is near Interstate 44 in Missouri as it approaches Springfield. (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 — December 21, 2025

Today marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the first day of winter. The Winter Solstice is the day of minimum insolation, each year. The painting above, titled Winter, is by Ivan Shishkin, circa 1890.  Because of Seasonal Lag, even though the days will start getting longer tomorrow, the coldest days of the year are typically in January. — On December 21, 1620, William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round …


Prelude to World War – Part 3, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Timelines Given As we listen to all the chatter, day in and day out about a widening war in Europe and war with China, we can see some recurring messages in the reporting.  How many times have you heard that NATO needs to be ready for a war with Russian in 3-5 years or that China will likely invade Taiwan by 2030.  There are a few variations of the dates but regardless of the actual dates we need to ask why NATO and our Asia-Pacific Allies need to be ready by those …