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. — Tennessee Republicans Pass Bill Allowing Lethal Force for Protection of Property. (Pictured above is the  Tennessee capitol building — a public domain photo by euthman.) A quote from the article’s opening: “WSMV noted that if Gov. Bill Lee (R) signs the legislation into law it means “property owners will be allowed to …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 28, 2026

On April 28, 1910 the first-ever nighttime airplane flight was made by Claude Grahame-White, in England. According to Britannica: “Educated at Bedford in engineering, Grahame-White owned one of the first gasoline-driven motorcars in England and worked at a motor-engineering business in London until he became interested in aeronautics in 1909. On Jan. 4, 1910, he gained the first English aviator’s certificate of proficiency. Also in 1910, he entered many flying races in Europe and in the United States, where he won the Gordon Bennett Cup.” — April 28th is the birthday of Aimo Johannes Lahti. (Born in 1896.) This inventive …




Gardening and the Struggles – Part 1, by SaraSue

I am going into my fifth year trying to garden here on my farm.  I have ranching and farming neighbors who have been at it for generations, and their gardens are amazing.  Mine?  Not so much.  There also exists a large Amish and Mennonite presence here in this area.  They have large and productive gardens.  I could just buy from all the neighbors!  But, I wanted to have my own garden, which gives one a sense of security and food system control.  It has been a several year struggle. The 2025 gardening season was a positive change from previous years, …




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 end of an era of informal transnational civility, near Havre, Montana: New reaction as construction of new border road ramps up amid concerns.  JWR’s Comments:  I have an friend who is a rancher on Montana’s High Line, who is also a volunteer firefighter.  He told me that it is not uncommon for firefighters to cut border fences when fighting fires. Wildfires pay no attention to national borders. …







Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 27, 2026

On April 27, 1667, at age 59, blind and impoverished, English poet John Milton sold his copyright to “Paradise Lost” for just £10 Sterling. — April 27, 1789: he crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. — On this day in 1861, West Virginia seceded from Virginia after Virginia had seceded from the Union. — The last day! We have been running a two-week-long sale on all of our pre-1899 antique shotguns at Elk Creek Company, with deep discounts. This sales ends at midnight tonight, …




Spartan Blades Talos Folding Knife, by Thomas Christianson

Spartan Blades makes some really nice knives. Unfortunately, most of them are a little pricey for plebeians like me. But beginning in 2019, Spartan Blades was purchased by KA-BAR and expanded their product line to include the more affordable Field Grade models. Spartan Elite and Pro models are manufactured in the USA, but their Field Grade line is made in Taiwan. The intent is “to provide a dependable knife or tool for anyone regardless of budget.” The Talos Folding Knife is a good example of the Field Grade line. It has a 3.12 inch long, 0.12 inch thick, straight back …




Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Cashew Nut Butter Bread is from SurvivalBlog reader A.S., who writes: “This is super yummy and it is quick and easy to make if you have a food processor.” Ingredients 1 cup cashew nut butter 5 large eggs 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ¾ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt Directions Using a food processor, pulse together cashew butter and eggs until very smooth Pulse in apple cider vinegar Pulse in baking soda and salt Transfer batter to a greased 9 x 5 inch breadloaf dish Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes Cool for 2 hours …







The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man….It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty… [who] mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, — to oppress without control or …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 26, 2026

On April 26, 1777, it is claimed that 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode all night in a rainstorm for 40 miles to warn her father’s New York militia of the approach of the British army. — April 26, 1937: The German Luftwaffe’s “Condor Legion” destroyed Basque town of Guernica, in Spain. — Just one day left! We are running a two-week-long sale on all of our pre-1899 antique shotguns at Elk Creek Company, with deep discounts. This sale will end on Monday, April 27th, 2026. Please note that some of these guns have been re-sleeved and re-proofed for modern shotshells! — …




The Springfield Armory M1A, by Pat Cascio

I was introduced to the M14 rifle in Basic Combat Training (BCT) in the summer of 1969, at Fort Ord, California and I fell in love with it. I was only 17 years old and weighed a whopping 135 pounds at the time. But when I graduated from Infantry School in December of 1969. I had beefed up to 165 pounds. I longed for my very own M14 – however it was not to be, you see the US military M14 was a select-fire rifle, capable of fully automatic fire. When I returned to my National Guard unit in Chicago, …




JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: My Wife Asked Me To Surprise Her With an Expensive Dinner Date on Her Birthday. So… That Was Weeks Ago, and She’s Still Mad About It. News Link: The “Taco Bell Index” highlights a hard truth: a chicken quesadilla rising from $1.89 to $6.19 represents a 327% increase. 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 …




The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore …