Year: 2025


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 12, 2025

On March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon in northern Los Angeles County, California failed. The resulting flood killed more than 600 people. — Today is the birthday of science fiction author Harry Harrison, who is best known for his Deathworld trilogy. (He was born in 1920 and died in 2012.) — On March 12, 1850 the first US $20 gold piece was issued. — We are pleased to welcome our latest affiliate advertiser: Scheels, an outdoors outfitter online store that is headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota.  For a limited time, you can get free shipping …


3D-Printed Gun Components – Part 2 by M.B.

(Continued from Part 1.) “The price of freedom is everyone gets it, but some people will misuse it. …is that a reason to prohibit everyone from having it?” – Ian McCollum GETTING STARTED WITHOUT A PRINTER! If you’re not sure if 3D printing is for you, then you may be able to try it without owning a printer! Start by finding a fairly small and simple object you’d like to print in a database like Thingiverse. Download it, along with a free slicer program, like Cura, or Prusa Slicer. Now contact your local public library. Some libraries offer 3D printing—often …


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. — An Important Safety Note: As are approaching Spring slash-burning season, I assume that some of your slash piles are still fairly wet. Please don’t be tempted to use anything more flammable than diesel fuel, as “woof” for fire-starting. DO NOT EVER use gasoline! – JWR o  o  o The recent presidential address …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 11, 2025

On March 11, 1963, US Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara ordered the adoption of the M16 rifle by the US military. It was designed by Eugene Stoner. It was a scaled-down and improved version of Stoner’s AR-10 (pictured, in prototype form) that was already in service in Portugal and Sudan. — Also on this day, the Great Blizzard of ’88 struck the northeastern United States (1888). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 117 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are …


3D-Printed Gun Components – Part 1, by M.B.

Disclaimer This article covers information and activities that are legal under U.S. federal law and in the author’s state of residence. It is the reader’s responsibility to know and comply with applicable laws in their jurisdiction. Neither the author, nor SurvivalBlog, have any control over readers of this article. This article is therefore for informational purposes only. INTRODUCTION “Whether or not you live in England, the right of Free Speech is a universally treasured right, but sadly, a right that is still denied to millions of people around the world.” – Philip A. Luty, as quoted in L. Neil Smith’s …


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 Idaho’s big income tax cut.  (See the Idaho section.) Region-Wide Movement to break off part of Oregon to join with Idaho has legs again. o  o  o Frontier Airlines adds new routes to Spokane and Boise. Idaho Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed the …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 10, 2025

Today is the birthday of the artist Willem Roelofs (10 March 1822 – 12 May 1897.)  According to the Infogalactidc Wiki: He was a “…Dutch painter, water-colorist, etcher, lithographer, and draftsman. Roelofs was one of the forerunners of the Dutch Revival art, after the Romantic Classicism of the beginning of the 19th century, which led to the formation of The Hague school. His landscapes, especially the early ones with their dominating cloudy skies, demure bodies of water, and populated with cattle, are typical for the School of Barbizon. He unmistakably provided the spiritual impulse for the painters of nature that …


Motor City Axe Splitting Maul, by Thomas Christianson

The Motor City Axe Splitting Maul is a highly effective tool for firewood processing. It is also a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. It has a forged, tool-steel, hand-sharpened, tapered bit that is coated with boiled lindseed oil over the forged finish. It also has a beautifully-finished, 36-inch, curved, American-hickory handle. The handle has a Motor City Axe logo branded into the wood near the bit, engraved pine trees near the middle, and a hand-dipped “Up-North-Pattern” paint job in red, blue and green with a yellow stripe on the end. In my testing, I found the maul to be among the …


Recipe of the Week: Ground Beef & Tomato Pasta

The following simple recipe for Ground Beef & Tomato Pasta is from SurvivalBlog reader J.P.V.. Ingredients 3 cups of uncooked dried pasta of your choice 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon salt (or less, if you are on a low-salt diet) 1/8 teaspoon minced garlic (optional, or less, to taste) 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper (optional, or less, to taste) 1/2 pound ground beef 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs 1-1/2 cups meatless canned or jar spaghetti sauce 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided Directions Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: Death By Starvation: A simulation estimates the proportion of the population to die from starvation following nuclear war. (A Times of London/Sunday Times graphic, courtesy of Reddit.) JWR’s Comment:  This is a simulation that assumes a worst-case full nuclear exchange, an interruption of most commerce, and the death of most livestock. This underscores the importance of having a deep larder! 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 …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 9, 2025

On March 9, 141 BC, Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumed the throne of the Han Dynasty in China and ruled for 54 years. March 9, 1776: Adam Smith published the influential economics book “The Wealth of Nations”. March 9th was the birthday of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – the first man to ever travel in space. He was born in 1934 and died in the crash of a MiG-15-UTI fighter on March 27, 1968. — Today we present the last installment of a guest article from a SurvivalBlog reader that is not part of the writing …