Year: 2026

The Editors’ Quote

“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 22, 2026

On May 22, 334 BC, the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeated the army of Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. — May 22, 1807: Former US Vice President Aaron Burr is tried for treason in Richmond, Virginia. He was acquitted. — And on May 22, 1842, farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discovered Howe Caverns in New York state when they stumbled upon a large gaping hole in the ground. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This is the final round of …


Post-SHTF Lighting: Testing My Preps – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) Solar Panel Inventory As mentioned, to make this test more valuable to the majority of the readers I didn’t use my 3,000-watt home solar-panel system for lighting or charging batteries. I did, however, use a few smaller portable solar panels I have. 1 – 100-watt panel 1 – 15-watt panel 1 – 20-watt panel 1 – 1.8-watt trickle charger As you’d expect, the larger a solar panel is the more quickly it’ll charge a battery. For preppers who are currently without any solar panels, though not ideal, inexpensive 15-to-25-watt panels could be purchased and tucked away …


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. The photo above was taken in 2022, during another fuel price spike. Economics & Investing Links of Interest Gas surges past $4 a gallon while tomato and beef prices notch new records. A look at rising costs amid the Iran war. Video (sorry, this one is partly AI-generated): What a Dollar Bought You in 1955. JWR’s Comments: The video illustrates that we have been robbed by inflation and currency debasement.  By the way, we compensate for inflation …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 21, 2026

On May 21, 1840 Captain William Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over New Zealand; the North Island by treaty and the South Island by discovery. Pictured above are the Humboldt Mountains of South Island. — May 21st is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a semi-automatic “trench broom.” — Take Note: Our editorial calendar is now filled for May. Any articles received will be considered guest articles and not eligible as …


Post-SHTF Lighting: Testing My Preps – Part 1, by St. Funogas

‘This is another installment of my series of articles on how to light up our lives in TEOTWAWKIville. This article covers the results of my week-long experience testing my lighting preps. I expected this preps test to be a fairly simple but, as always, it proved to be more useful and eye-opening than I would have guessed. As with other tests I’ve done, it showed where my preps were insufficient, but more importantly, I learned several things I hadn’t even considered with respect to lighting and therefore hadn’t even thought about preparing for. Another testimony to the importance of testing …


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, the Billionaires’ Plan B. Five Billionaires Making Doomsday Plans You might want to skip forward to the 6-minute mark on this one: The Leaked Billionaire Doomsday Plan Interview …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 20, 2026

On May  20, 1875 the International Bureau of Weights & Measures was formed by the signing of the Metre Convention treaty by 17 nations, in Paris. The prototypes of the meter and the kilogram were selected. — May 20, 1916: Codell, Kansas was hit by a tornado. (Quite oddly, it was hit again on the same day in 1917 and then again in 1918.) — May 20th is also the birthday of my lifelong friend Brad C.  I wish him a happy 65th birthday! – JWR — Take Note: Our editorial calendar is now filled for May. Any articles received …


The Prepared Homeowner’s Workshop, by Richard T.

A lot of mundane people have workshops, and a lot of preparedness-minded people have workshops, but not all of those preppers have a workshop that is properly prepared for many of the scenarios that they are concerned about. Perhaps this is because they do not see the role a workshop plays in preparedness. What distinguishes the prepared workshop from others is that the owner has: Learned key skills Acquired apropos tools, and has, Stocked hardware on a “just in case” footing. This approach differs from the ordinary workshop that is inadequately prepared and hopefully will never going to be needed …


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. — Chris in Kentucky was the first of several blog readers to send us the link to this anti-gun slanted reporting: Muskets like those from 1776 are mostly exempt from today’s gun laws.  I’m fairly certain if that hoplophobic journalist saw the pre-1899 guns that I sell with no paperwork at Elk Creek …


Editors’ Quote:

“I never could believe that Providence had sent a few men into the world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled and bridled to be ridden.” – Richard Rumbold (c.1622-85). On the scaffold, as quoted in T. B. Macauley’s ‘Histories of England’ Volume 1 (1849) Chapter 1


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 19, 2026

On May 19, 1828 U.S. President John Quincy Adams signed the Tariff of 1828 into law to protect industry in the North. The bill was vehemently denounced in the South and escalated to a threat of civil war in the nullification crisis of 1832–33. The tariff was replaced in 1833, and the crisis ended. The Tariff of 1828 was called the “Tariff of Abominations” by most Southerners because of its drag on the Southern economy. It set a 38% tax on some imported goods and a 45% tax on certain imported raw materials. The South was also harmed indirectly because …


Staying Home For TEOTWAWKI, by Jason H.

Opening caveat: A lot of what I describe below is highly illegal in normal times. It might even be frowned upon during semi-normal times. Only you, as a logical and thinking adult, can make a decision to take actions that could result in potential prison time. But this article is for those bad times, a true WWOTROL (World Without The Rule Of Law) scenario. Like many here, I’m an older gentleman, having retired almost 20 years ago after a 25 year law enforcement career. I’ve also been a faithful Survival Blog reader from almost the beginning. And like many here, …