Year: 2025

Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced — Round 118

We’ve announced the winners of Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The top three prize winners will each receive some great prize packages. The winners for Round 118 are… First Prize Winner: First Prize goes to R.T. for: The Repair Teardown. See Part 1 and Part 2. It was posted April 12-13, 2025.  He will receive as prizes: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any …


Coolfab Flaretop Rocket Stove, by Thomas Christianson

Coolfab is a custom metal-fabrication shop in Zeeland, Michigan. They are putting out some of the most innovative rocket stove designs that I have seen anywhere, at quite reasonable prices. I recently had a chance to test one of Coolfab’s Flaretop stoves. It is a real beast of a rocket stove, with its cooking surface standing 27.5 inches above the ground and weighing in at 52 pounds. The flaring at the top of the stove allows for a respectable 12 by 12-inch cooking surface. This larger surface area enabled me to simultaneously roast hot dogs and boil a half gallon …


Recipe of the Week: Chicken-Pasta Salad

The following recipe for Chicken-Pasta Salad is from SurvivalBlog reader Joanna E. Ingredients 3 cups cooked, cubed chicken 16 ounces pasta  (I usually use farfale or rotini.) 1 pound asparagus or green beans 3⁄4 teaspoons kosher salt 1⁄4 cup finely chopped red onion 1 red bell pepper 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes 4 ounces ounces mozzarella pearls 1⁄4 cup cup olive oil 2 cloves garlic minced 1⁄2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1⁄8 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1⁄3 cup chopped fresh basil Directions Cook and cube (or shred) the chicken.  This can …


SurvivalBlog Graphics of the Week

Today’s graphics:  Light Pollution, Around the World. (Graphics courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnails below are click-expandable.  We usually post just one graphic each week, but this set of color images was so fascinating that we chose to post the full set. In the image of East Asia, note the dark spot, for North Korea. Truly, a picture tells a thousand words. – JWR                                       — Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — June 1, 2025

On June 1st, 1936 the “Lux Radio Theater” moved from New York City to Hollywood. — June 1st, 1947: The Office of Price Administration (OPA), which had issued U.S. wartime rationing coupons, was disbanded. Rationing continued in England until 1954. — Today’s feature article is a guest post by our friend and long-time SurvivaBlog article contributor Hub Moolman, of South Africa. — We are now seeking entries for Round 119 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 119 ends on July 31st, so get busy …


Gold and System Collapse: Charting the Bank Run of the Mighty US Dollar, by Hubert Moolman

The US dollar banking system is in the midst of a bank run by the measures that I will illustrate here. Since the 1879 gold standard was established in America, the US dollar could be directly redeemed for gold within the banking system. This continued even after the Federal Reserve was created and until it was ended for citizens in 1933. In such a system, the measure of actual gold held by the banking system ( the true monetary base) versus the gold certificates (paper dollars but measured as the monetary base) with which gold could be redeemed is a …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

A meme created by JWR, a couple of years ago, that is worthy of reposting: Meme Text: First, It Was Pride Day Then, It Was Pride Week Now, It Is Pride Month First, They Demanded Tolerance Then, They Demanded Acceptance Now, They Demand Participation 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:

“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 31, 2025

On May 31, 1669, Samuel Pepys recorded the last entry in his famous diary. He cited poor eyesight as the reason for ending his entries. — May 31, 1930, was the birthday of actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood. At age 95, he has developed some strong opinions. — On 31 May 1970, an earthquake off the coast of Peru caused a substantial section of the north slope of Mt. Huascaran to collapse. The avalanche moved downhill at a speed estimated at 175 to 210 mph. with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic meters of ice, mud, and rock. The avalanche traveled …


Using Military Principles to Improve Civilian Radio Comms – Part 3, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Antennas As an example, factory broad band antennas can suffice, yet performance in terms of propagation and receive will be lacking, and the overall range shortened, and the transceiver’s life possibly shortened. And there are other issues to consider. The crude, yet effective Baofeng UV5R does not power back given an excessively high Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) from an antenna, and this situation will shorten the life of the ‘finals’ of this transceiver. If the back side of a Baofeng UV5R becomes warm to the touch, stop transmitting, drop the power …


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:

“Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 30, 2025

May 30th was America’s original Memorial Day. By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance was held on May 30th, 1868 to honor those who died “in defense of their country” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. — And on …


Using Military Principles to Improve Civilian Radio Comms – Part 2, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 1.) Emergency Communications The Emergency level (the “E” of the PACE acronym) methods of communications are used exclusively during recovery or for link up in the field where no electronic means are possible or desirable. The injured may need to use a whistle as their only means to call for help. Linking up in the field is a very dangerous situation that carries the threat of ambush with it, or even casualties from friendly fire. How the Emergency PACE level methods are used to signal using a code or a procedure only known to friendly participants must …