Month: April 2026

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:

“And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 17, 2026

On April 17, 1935:  The first commercial flight from the mainland to Hawaii, as Pan Am’s Pioneer Clipper was flown from San Francisco to Honolulu. — April 17, 1964: The Ford Mustang was formally introduced, with a base price of $2,368. — We are running a two-week-long sale on all of our pre-1899 antique shotguns at Elk Creek Company, with many deep discounts. This sale will end on Monday, April 27th, 2026. Please note that some of these guns have been re-sleeved and re-proofed for modern shotshells! — Today’s feature article is a guest post from a long-time SurvivalBlog reader. …


Preparing Future Generations for an Uncertain Future – Part Six, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 5.) Separating the Important from the Trivial Things that usually do not matter much for most men as far as a potential wife: her height, her income, and specific traits such as hair or eye color. I have never heard a man talk about a woman’s height unless she was very tall — which is statistically rare. Men are rarely concerned about a woman’s income unless they are looking for support. I don’t have a “type” and most men do not have a type such as only blondes or redheads. Of course, a bonus is if a …


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. Today, a map showing Federal Spending Versus Federal Tax Revenues. Note that the maps shows far more than just impoverished regions. Spending levels are skewed in states with tribal lands. There is also lesser skewing in states with large National Forests and low population densities versus their miles of Federally-funded highways and freeways. The thumbnail below is click-expandable. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) Economics & Investing Links of Interest At Wolf Street: Car & Truck Inflation in America: …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 16, 2026

The Battle of Culloden was fought on April 16, 1746. Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeated the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart in the final battle of the Jacobite Rising on British soil. — April 16, 1866: Nitroglycerine exploded at a Wells Fargo & Company office in San Francisco. This reportedly shattered glass in a half a mile radius. — April 16th is the birthday of libertarian novelist J. Neil Schulman. He was best known as author of the novel Alongside Night. — I just heard that famed mountaineer Jim Whittaker passed away, at age 97. — Today’s …


Preparing Future Generations for an Uncertain Future – Part Five, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 4.) Preparations for Sons After spiritual preparation, the number one thing a parent can do is to prepare their son for life is to teach him how to make and control money. Money and resources create options. Lack of money limits opportunities. I have a collateral or lineal relative in every conflict from the Revolutionary War to the present. If you go back far enough in history, you will find multiple great-grandfathers at a distant generational level. For instance in the time period of the American Civil War, I have multiple grandfathers and collateral relatives who served …


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, some more troubling implications of AI and digital ID. Pictured above is the Dallas, Texas Fusion Center. The Digital Gulag of America: AI and Digital ID Despite its …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 15, 2026

On April 15th, 1621, Hugo Grotius arrived in France after escaping prison in a book chest. Grotius is renowned primarily for his work in philosophy, political theory, and law. This work laid the groundwork for an international law rooted in Grotius’ understanding of natural law, stemming from his Protestantism. His books with the most significant impact were De jure belli ac pacis (On the Law of War and Peace) and Mare Liberum (The Free Seas). — April 15th, 1912, is the anniversary of the sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic. 1,517 people lost their lives on the ship’s maiden voyage. — …


Preparing Future Generations for an Uncertain Future – Part Four, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 3.) Health considerations There is a saying which encapsulates a large percentage of the preparation: “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” Health is much more critical for a young woman versus a young man. I have known of individuals whose fathers died before they were born as the female’s time contribution to pregnancy is on average 65,000 times greater than the man’s contribution. In nature, male bees (drones) do not live that long after successfully mating with the queen as the insemination act if successful is the male’s swan song. Even if they …


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. — At Clark Howard’s site: Food Expiration Dates: What You Need To Know.  The included charts are quite useful. Here is an excerpt: “Here are the most common terms you’ll see: Best If Used By/Before: Peak flavor or quality, not a safety deadline Use By: Last date for best quality (safety only applies …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 14, 2026

On April 14, 1849, Hungary declared itself independent of Austria, with Lajos (Louis) Kossuth as its leader. — On this day in 1865, just after the effective end of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a production at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the next morning. — April 14, 1881: The famed Four Dead in Five Seconds gunfight in El Paso, Texas. — Today’s feature article is a guest post from a long-time SurvivalBlog reader. Because it is partly self-promotional, it is not part of the writing contest …