Month: April 2026

SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

This weekly column features media 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. The public domain photo above was taken Bonnie Moreland, in Eastern Oregon. Redoubt News Links A video from Our Wyoming Life: Twins Born on the Ranch… But Mom Rejected One. Love birds? Idaho Fish and Game has a livestream just for you. The latest from Destination Rove: It’s Finally Time to Start Rebuilding…+ Easter Jeep Safari. Send Your Media Links Please send your links to media from the …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 6, 2026

On April 6, 1652 Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeec. — April 6, 1768: French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville’s expedition arrives in Tahiti, claiming it for France and naming it New Cythera. — This new Southwestern Oregon listing at SurvivalRealty.com caught my eye: Turnkey Off-Grid Survival Compound — Rogue Valley — Water, Power, Food, Multi-Family Ready. — Our feature piece for today is by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We now need entries for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than …


Henry Lever Action Supreme in 5.56 NATO, by Thomas Christianson

A rifle chambered in 5.56 NATO probably offers the most widely available and varied selection of ammunition in America today. A quick visit to cheaperthandirt.com revealed a total of 144 different ammo options in a variety of bullet weights available in 5.56 NATO or .223 Remington at the time of this writing. These options also tended to be more economically priced than ammunition for other center fire rifle chamberings. Rifles chambered in 5.56 NATO also tend to produce negligible recoil and are generally light and easy to carry. Factors like these make rifles chambered in 5.56 NATO attractive options for …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Reduced-Carbohydrate Trail Mix is from SurvivalBlog reader F.C.. Ingredients 2 cups mixed dry-roasted nuts. (Any combination of peanuts (not truly a nut), almonds, hazelnuts, and/or pistachios.) 1 cup toasted seeds, unsalted. (Such as pumpkin, squash, and/or sunflower seeds.) 2 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut. 1⁄2 cup raisins and/or craisins. Sneak in a few M&Ms, if desired. Directions Just measure, and mix it up! STORAGE This stores best in airtight containers. — Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 5, 2026

On April 5, 1242, Russian Prince of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky defeated the Teutonic Knights on the frozen Lake Peipus between Estonia and Russia. This became known as the Battle on the Ice. — April 5, 1424 Scottish King James I returned to Scotland after 18 years of detention at the English court. During his captivity in England, James married Joan Beaufort, a cousin of Henry IV. On 28 March 1424, a ransom agreement amounting to £40,000 sterling, after deducting a dowry payment of 10,000 marks, was established in Durham, with James affixing his personal seal to the document. The king …


Stocking Items for Barter, by Big John

Along with all of the other items that a seasoned Prepper has, barter items are critical. You undoubtedly will need items that you forgot to stockpile during the good times. This area of prepping needs to be approached with the same meticulous logical order as all of your other prepping gear. Your trading partner, the one with those critical items that you need to survive must be satisfied. You’ve gotta have stuff that he really needs, not just stuff that fit into the category of general prepping items. He may have no need for ammo but desperately needs antibiotics. So …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: NASA Really Dropped The Ball On This One… They Neglected To Also Include A Disabled Non-Binary Multiracial Asian-Latino-Tribal Citizen News Link: Artemis II crew includes first woman, Black astronaut and Canadian ever flown to moon. Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 4, 2026

Today is the 101st birthday of famed Navy fighter pilot Royce Williams. It is great to see him still alive and kicking!  Williams was just recently awarded the Medal of Honor. The now-declassified story of his aerial combat over Korea against Soviet-piloted MiGs is fascinating reading. It is summarized in Wikipedia. Here is a brief excerpt from his biography: “The story of his battle with the Soviet MiGs led to Williams being debriefed at the time by admirals, the Secretary of Defense, and a few weeks later by newly inaugurated President Dwight D. Eisenhower. These authorities decided to cover up …


Looking Back at My Flight Training Adventures (Circa 1970), by H.L.

Editor’s Introductory Comments:  Most regular SurvivalBlog readers recognize the initials H.L.  She has been one of the blog’s most loyal and prolific volunteers, sending news and information links since around 2010. I am confident that she spritely lives to a three-digit age. But when she does pass away, I hope that her gravestone will be inscribed: “Always a Maverick.” – JWR At age 83 now. I have some very unusual memories of my early life.  I did not lead the conventional life of an American woman born in 1942.  Conventional is fine. However, there was something in my soul that …


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 the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; …