Day: July 21, 2026

Preparedness Notes — July 21, 2026

This Week in History July 21, 1403: The Battle of Shrewsbury. An army led by the Lancastrian King of England, Henry IV defeated a rebel army led by Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy of Northumberland thus ending the Percy challenge to the throne. This was also the first battle English archers fought each other on English soil. — 1669: John Locke‘s constitution for the English Province of Carolina was adopted. — July 23, 1764: James Otis published “The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved,” in which he argued against taxation without representation. — And on July 24, 1847,  Brigham …


Mastering the P.A.C.E. Model for True Self-Reliance, by A.C.

Most people live in a state of perpetual psychological comfort known as Normalcy Bias. This is the deeply ingrained, warm, fuzzy assumption that the systems keeping us alive today will function indefinitely tomorrow. We unconsciously believe that the grocery store will always hold a fresh supply of organic kale, the kitchen tap will never run dry, and the wall outlet will indefinitely pump electricity on demand. Spoiler alert: It won’t. When we analyze why individuals, organizations, or entire societies collapse during a crisis, the root cause is rarely a complete lack of preparation. Instead, failure occurs because someone mistook a …


Fire-Fast Trekker Fire Starter, by Thomas Christianson

“As the twilight drew on, [the dog’s] eager yearning for the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet, it whined softly, then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man. But the man remained silent. . . . [The dog] caught the scent of death.” (Jack London, “To Build a Fire”). Fire is important. It is so important that I recommend carrying at least three different tools for starting a fire while in the field. I recommend that one of these tools be a ferrocerium (ferro) rod. The Fire-Fast Trekker Fire …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map that shows U.S. counties by the number of weeks experiencing extreme drought, as of mid-July, 2026. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.       — If any SurvivalBlog readers have personally taken or otherwise hold the copyright to a particularly nice landscape photo or other photo of particular interest to preppers that is in a wide horizontal format (to match our blog template) then please send it in as an e-mail attachment, and I will consider posting it as a Graphic of the Week, or as a Top Note photo. …


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 Wall Street expert says a massive stock market crash is coming and this tech company will be the ‘first domino to fall’. Mapped: Where Food Inflation Will Hit Hardest in 2026. 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Reaches Highest Level In Almost A Year. A 28 Item Grocery Order From Target That Cost $64.50 In 2020 Now Costs $158.30. At Contrarian Thinking: The Delusion Premium. CBS: Student loan defaults hit record highs in wake …


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, Data Center Power Demand. Normalizing Martial Law in America Reader Mark in Florida recommended this article: The Great Normalization (Nobody Declared Martial Law… Yet America Began Looking Like …


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. — First up, over at The Washington Post: The death of the stick shift is almost here. “Driving a manual vehicle is a lost art. Hopes of a revival have fallen flat. With the rise of EVs and autonomous vehicles, only a few die-hards are holding on.” o  o  o House passes Trump’s plan …


SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

REDOUBT NEWS LINKS Video of a classic graceful plane in gorgeous scenery: Catalina splashing in Priest Lake. (Ignore the inane, tipsy chatter.)  “Princess of the Stars” is one of North America’s last flying Catalinas. Oregon petition to ban hunting, fishing fails first round of signature vetting. The latest video from Expedition Rove in North Idaho: We’re Building This From the Ground Up… Jackson Couple Gives Historic Flat Creek Ranch To Longtime Caretakers To Save It. Two structures lost in over 6,000-acre wildfire southwest of Inchelium in Ferry County. This weekly column features media from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho,   Montana, …


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: I Voted…  But It Was For Huckleberries 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.