Day: January 2, 2026

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 2, 2026

On January 2, 1890, a record 19.2-foot alligator was reportedly shot in Louisiana by American businessman Edward Avery McIlhenny. That claim is now disputed. — January 2,1906: Willis Carrier receives a US patent for an “Apparatus for Treating Air,” the world’s first modern air conditioner. — And on January 2, 1974, a nationwide speed limit of 55 mph was imposed by President Richard Nixon. — 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 …


A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by Mike in Alaska

Imagine a time when radio was just some experiment in the labs or basements of inventors trying to figure out the phenomenon of sounds being heard over the air. Seems a bit of a stretch? During the period of 1904 to 1915 the first types of radio transmitters were developed which produced continuous sinusoidal waves: the arc converter (Poulsen Arc) and the Alexanderson alternator. These slowly replaced the old damped-wave spark gap transmitters. Besides having a longer transmission range, these transmitters could be modulated with an audio (voice or music) signal to transmit sound by amplitude modulation (AM) radiotelephony. So …


Economics & Investing Media of the Week

In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers.  This week, some market and economic predictions for 2026. The thumbnail below is click-expandable.         (Graphic courtesy of Visual Capitalist.) Economics & Investing Links of Interest JWR’s 2026 economic predictions in a nutshell:  Repeated Fed interest rate cuts with little effect. Renewed inflation. A major stock market correction, but a continuing boom in defense stocks. A continuing precious metals bull market led by silver, and then a metals price crash.  Expect a weaker U.S. …