Day: July 7, 2026

Preparedness Notes — July 7, 2026

This Week in History: On July 7, 1850 Scottish explorer Edward John Eyre (pictured above) reached Albany, Western Australia. — July 8,1731: Theologian Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon “God Glorified in Man’s Dependence” in Boston. This was later his first published sermon. — And on  July  10, 1553 Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was proclaimed Queen of England, succeeding Edward VI,. In June, the dying Edward VI had written his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, whereas Jane was a committed Protestant …


Thoughts on Prepping and on America’s Drug Addicts, by Big John

Pre-1965 silver is kinda like buying a fire extinguisher. Whether you pay $14 or $40 for the fire extinguisher is not really relevant. If it prevents a $4,000 kitchen fire is the point. There is a saying in the stock market: A bull makes money, and a bear makes money but a pig never makes money — It gets slaughtered. Point being, you can make money by going long or going short, but if you try to catch the absolute top or bottom, then you are bound to mess up. So you just go get some Pre-1965 silver, just close …


CRKT Drifter Liner Lock Folding Knife, by Thomas Christianson

I had two major surprises as I reviewed the Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT) Drifter Liner Lock Folding Knife: one positive and one negative. The positive surprise was the durability of the gray titanium nitride finish on the blade. It showed absolutely no signs of wear after more than a month of regular use. I was very impressed. The negative surprise was the country of origin. I ordered the knife because a knife-seller’s website indicated that it was “made in Taiwan”. When the knife arrived, the words “Made in China” were clearly printed on the box. The actual CRKT …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map showing how the USA would have looked like if every historic treaty made with Native American tribes had been fully honored and implemented. The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.         (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.


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 Links of Interest Newsweek: From $71 Million to $39 Trillion—U.S. National Debt’s 250-Year Climb. First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax “Must Not Stop At Billionaires”. “Big Short” Investor Michael Burry Is Now Betting Against Micron, Nvidia, and Tesla. Should You Be Worried? The UK’s Latest “Debanking” Scandal Should Give Everyone Pause. Reader K.D. in Montana sent this: Millionaires in America: How common is it to have a 7-figure net worth? JWR’s …


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, more about both drones and Flock cameras. Drone Crime May Be Coming To A Sky Near You This article is a bit dated, but still useful: Drone Crime: It …


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. — From the right-leaning Issues and Insights site: Two SCOTUS Wins For Gun Rights, But Questions Remain About The ‘History And Tradition’ Test. o  o  o U.S. murder rate approaches a record low. JWR’s Comments: The statist/socialist NPR editors surely had to grit their teeth to report that news.These same anti-gun leftists at …


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. REDOUBT NEWS LINKS Idaho Registration Stickers Discontinued; Nampa Police Explain Manual Plate Checks. Montana: Photos show impressive size of grizzly bears. In Spokane: Man who threatened a Gonzaga student with a gun will serve 4 and a half years. (Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a 1-year sentence for manslaughter.) Oregon’s minimum wage has increased. But in rural eastern Oregon, not so much. Holy Cow! Montana Rancher Spots ‘Herd’ Of …


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 …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: NPR’s “Veteran Correspondent” Incorrectly Reported The Retirement of 76-Year-Old Justice Samuel Alito. Perhaps it is Time for 82-Year-Old Nina Totenberg to Announce Her Own Retirement News Link: NPR reporter explains retracted story on Alito’s retirement. 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 Week: 

“We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction. We maintain that this counsel, as regards the elect, is founded on his free mercy, without any respect to human worth, while those whom he dooms to destruction are excluded from access to life by a just and blameless, but at the same time incomprehensible judgment.” – John Calvin