Day: January 19, 2026

Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 19, 2026

On January 19,1937, Howard Hughes set a transcontinental flight record of 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. — January 19, 1810: On “Cold Friday”, the temperature at Portsmouth, New Hampshire dropped from 54°F to minus 12°F in one day, and many people were reported frozen to death. — This is also the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. — There were two large solar flares yesterday (Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.)  One of them was a category X1.9 Earth-facing …


EZARC ARC-Edge Reciprocating Pruning Blade, by Thomas Christianson

The EZARC ARC-Edge Reciprocating Pruning Blade is designed to make a Sawzall or similar reciprocating-blade-saw into a pruning tool. The 15-inch, chrome-vanadium-steel blade has an aggressive tooth design optimized for pruning with five teeth per inch. A shorter 12-inch version is also available. I tested the 15-inch version. Based on my testing, I would suspect that the shorter 12-inch version would work better than the 15-inch version. The extra length of blade that extends beyond the object being cut tends to whip violently to the left and right as the blade moves backward and forward. This creates extra friction, vibration, …


Recipe of the Week: 

The following delicious recipe for Smothered Chicken is from The New Butterick Cook Book, copyright 1924, now in the public domain. That is just one of the dozens of bonus books included in the 2005-2025 20th Anniversary Edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick that is now available to order. Ingredients 2 small chickens or 1 large one 2 or more tablespoons butter Salt and Pepper Flour Directions Take off the neck and split the chicken down the back, wiping it with a damp towel. Season inside and out with salt and pepper, and dredge on all sides with …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: Countries from which the U.S. resident visa applications will be paused, starting January 21, 2026. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) News Link: Visa processing from 75 countries will be paused, citing the Donald Trump administration’s desire to “end the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people.” 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.