Preparedness Notes — Monday, June 1, 2026

June 1, 1676: The Battle of Öland: Allied Danish-Dutch forces defeated the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea during the Scanian War (1675–79).

June 1, 1861: The US and Confederacy simultaneously stopped their mail interchange.

And on June 1, 1880, the US census reached 50,155,783.

A reminder that we will be switching SurvivalBlog to weekly postings, tomorrow. Thenceforth, you can look for SurvivalBlog “Fresh Every Tuesday.”

Just one day left! The big sale on all of our blackpowder rifles, all of our pre-1899 cartridge sporter rifles, and selected Mauser rifles at Elk Creek Company ends tomorrow night. There are some very deep discounts, so take a look! Update: I’ve added another M1891 Argentine Mauser sporter and a LHR Sporting Arms Redemption .50 Caliber Blackpowder Rifle to the catalog. This sale will end at midnight Eastern Time on Tuesday, June 2nd, so place your order ASAP!

Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog’s Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. But first, we are posting the results of the writing contest judging.