Month: February 2026

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 28, 2026

On February 28, 1638, Scottish Presbyterians signed the National Covenant at Greyfriars, Edinburgh. — February 28, 1810: The first US fire insurance joint-stock company was organized, in Philadelphia. — And on  February 28, 1844 a 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton exploded, killing US Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer, and other high-ranking federal officials. — Today, we present a guest piece by fellow blogger Mrs. Alaska. She is a long-time SurvivalBlog reader who lives off-grid and off-road in the interior of Alaska. — We still need entries for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction …


Home Pressure Canning, by Mrs. Alaska

The following describes my approach at pressure canning meat and dairy products, with some comments on fruit, vegetables, and other preservation methods Pressure canning cookbooks, like Ball’s Blue Book, include recipes for making and canning meat broths, but, in my experience, most do not for meat itself. Similarly, they lack recipes for canning most dairy items. However, families have canned both for generations. Below, I share my positive experience of canning meats, cheese, and butter, for shelf-stable pantry items, based on the advice of friends whose families have done so for decades, and from my own experiences over many years …


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:

“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 27, 2026

On February 27, 1919, the first public performance of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” It became the inspiration for dozens of movie soundtracks, a famous English hymn, and even modern music flash mobs. — And on February 27, 1933, Nazi Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, was destroyed by fire, possibly set as a false flag attack by the Nazis. The fire occurred 28 days after Hitler was sworn in. They blamed and executed Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe. Since then, the term “Reichstag Fire” has become synonymous with False Flag Attack. — Today, we present a guest piece by our …


It’s Time To Accept That Civil War 2.0 Has Already Started, by Brandon Smith

In July of 1917 as the fires of WWI raged across Europe, the Russian city of Petrograd was facing its own special turmoil in the form of a large scale Bolshevik insurgency. Up to 500,000 protesters, agitators and provocateurs had entered the city from across the country, many of them armed. They took over large swaths of the metropolis, hijacked private vehicles and confiscated private buildings. Some soviet leaders including Vladimir Lenin called the event “premature” and did not publicly endorse it, which may have been a calculated attempt to avoid direct blowback. The official historical explanation is that the …


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. Economics & Investing News and Links of Interest DVDs the new vinyl records: Why Gen Z is embracing physical media in the age of streaming. JWR’s Comment: Real prepper families never trusted cloud storage and have held on to their DVDs and BluRays. At Zero Hedge: $845 Trillion Derivative Crisis as U.S. Banks Prepare for Bail-Ins. Just as I predicted, precious metals prices rebounded early this week. And not surprisingly, silver gained the most of them, up about …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 26, 2026

On February 26, 1929, US President Calvin Coolidge established Grand Teton National Park. — And on February 26,1935 RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) was first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Wilkins in Daventry, England. — Today’s feature article is a guest piece by a SurvivaBlog reader who is also a podcaster. — We need entries for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $981,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 123 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a …


Your “Gray Man” Camouflage, by A.C.

Background I travel for work, often traveling all over the word into some not-so-friendly environments where I don’t want to be a target but I still need to remain capable. I’ve interviewed behaviorists about the science behind being memorable and I’ve also spoken with members of certain 3-letter-agencies about what they’ve learned about traveling in austere environments. This short essay is an aggregate of that information that is easily consumable and understandable. In the world of tactical preparation and survivalism, there is a pervasive image of the “operator”, that is; someone decked out in multicam patterns, sporting morale patches, and …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, Hawaii’s planned dictatorial “Emergency” powers. Hawaii Plans Expansive Emergency Powers By way of the Whatfinger news aggregation site: Hawaii Bills Would Allow Gov’t To Quarantine People, Enter Property, …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 25, 2026

On February 25, 1791, the First Bank of the United States was chartered by the United States Congress for a term of 20 years. JWR’s Comment: Many economists point to this as the first in a chain of events that would lead the United States into perpetual debt and positioning bankers as the nation’s ruling elite, pulling strings  from the shadows. — February 25, 1855: Bowery Boys gang leader William “Bill the Butcher” Poole was shot in the back by the gang of archrival John Morrissey in New York City. (He died on March 8th of the same year.) — …


An Update on the Elenco AM/FM Radio Kit, by Mike in Alaska

Recently I wrote about the Elenco AM/FM radio kit and was pulled away from the build before I could do a full alignment of the radio. The kit was finished but my work took me out of town, and I wasn’t able to do a full and complete alignment of the kit per the builders manual. I should add that I am employed full-time as an electronics engineer and have been involved in electronics repair, design, and building for over 50 years. And as an amateur radio hobbiest, my experience goes further back than that timeline. My “shop” is equipped …


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. — This new video shows that the Gear Rack guys still have DRMO surplus stacked to the rafters, and more truckloads arriving regularly: We Bought 20,000 LBS of Military Surplus From the U.S. Military.  If you place an order with Gear Rack, then be sure to mention that you saw them linked at …