Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 31, 2025

On December 31, 406, “The Great Invasion” sent a vast mixed horde of barbarians that included Vandals, Alans, and Suebians across the Rhine River, at Mainz (pictured). Thus began the invasion of Gallia. — December 31st 1564: William I of Orange demands freedom of religious conscience for his subjects in dramatic speech to the Council of State. — December 31st is the birthday of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008). — December 31st, 1851 was the birthday of Frederick Selous. (He died on January 4th, 1917.) — The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are available for Pre-Ordering.  This year, we …


Regional and Seasonal Camouflage Clothing and Gear

As 2025 draws to a close, I’d like to revisit a topic that often comes up in SurvivalBlog: camouflage clothing and equipment. Note: To see examples and variants of the camouflage patterns that I’ll mention in this article, see the comprehensive Camopedia.org website. They are to be commended for maintaining a great reference site. I will begin with some history: Camouflage uniforms were not standard issue for all but a handful of the world’s armies until the mid-1960s.  Experimentation with modern printed camouflage fabric as we now know it began with the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS, circa 1942-1945.  They …


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. — Where Are People Moving Most in the U.S. in 2026? o  o  o CPRC’s Lott Calls Out Wall Street Journal’s Fear Mongering Over Concealed Carry. o  o  o 31 Indoor Woodworking Projects to Do This Winter. o  o  o SurvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson spotted this: Burundi: Farmer finds new technique for …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 30, 2025

On December 30, 1861, Associated Banks in New York City — innovators in credit clearing circles (pictured above) — halted gold payments to government and investors, to disrupt Abraham Lincoln‘s US bank reform program. — December 30, 1865 was the birthday of Rudyard Kipling. — Today’s feature article is a product review, written by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We need more entries for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 122 ends on January 31st, 2026, so get busy writing and …


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. News Video: Montana rancher begins to excavate potentially record-setting T-Rex. (Pictured above is a smaller T. Rex that was found in Alberta.) In north Idaho, two new Destination Rove videos: New roof before winter hits?, and  Bonus: Yamaha vs. Arctic Cat ATV. Fascinating video: Montana Predator Trail Camera Videos. Send Your Media Links Please send your links to media from the American Redoubt region to JWR. Any photos …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 29, 2025

December 29, 1812: The USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captured the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle. — This is also the birthday of inventor Charles Goodyear (1800–1860.) — The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are now available for Pre-Ordering!  This year, we are also offering a limited number of them in steel keepsake tins, with keychains.  Orders should start to be mailed in the third week of January.  To be sure that you get yours, order soon! — With the exceptionally large moves in the silver market, …


The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog Archive USB Sticks

I have some great news: The new batch of 32-gigabyte waterproof SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks is now available for pre-ordering. To order, see the 2005-2025 SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick ordering pages: Standard Edition Keepsake Edition in a custom steel tin, packaged with a keychain Many folks have asked about what is included in the new 20th Anniversary  2005-2025 SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. There certainly is a lot! Of course, these sticks will have everything that has ever been posted in SurvivalBlog, dating back to its launch in August, 2005, and up to December 31, 2025. In my humble opinion, the …


How Long Will The Silver Bull’s Rampage Continue?

Spot silver jumped 10.35% to $79.59 per troy ounce in just one day, on Friday, December 26, 2025. On that day, there were new all-time highs set for silver, platinum, and gold. Spot silver has gained a phenomenal 166% in value in 2025. And now, amazingly, a $1,000 face value bag of pre-1965 non-numismatic “junk” 90% U.S. silver coins now sells for $56,840. Though prices vary, that effectively means that the melt value of one U.S. pre-1965 silver dime (10-cent piece) is now $5.68. And today? In Monday morning trading in China, (that was early Sunday evening, in the United …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Senator Dan Sullivan’s Alaska Seafood Newburg comes to us by way of SurvivalBlog reader Mike in Alaska. Mike writes: “I got this in an e-mail from my friend U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska. He has given permission for publication. We used some Copper River Silver Salmon we caught fresh from the river, one very large fillet in our recipe. It was absolutely wonderful. My wife made the sauce, baked the salmon in the oven and then poured the sauce over the salmon. Fresh caught salmon has a taste that is impossible to beat.” Ingredients 2/3 …



The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“For all being Kings as much as he, every Man his Equal and the greater Part no strict Observers of Equity and Justice, the enjoyment of the Property he has in this State, is very unsafe, very unsecure. This makes him willing to quit this Condition, which however free, is full of Fears and continual Dangers: And ’tis not without Reason, that he seeks out, and is willing to join in Society with others, who are already united, or have a Mind to unite, for the mutual Preservation of their Lives, Liberties, and Estates, which I call by the general …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — December 28, 2025

On December 28, 1867, the United States claimed Midway Island, the first territory annexed outside continental limits. — December 28, 1793 was the day that Thomas Paine was arrested in France for treason. The charges against him were never fully detailed, but he was tried in absentia on December 26 and convicted. Best known as the author of Common Sense, he moved to Paris to be part of the French revolution. Initially welcomed, the tide soon turned against him, because he was opposed to the death penalty and the French revolutionaries were sending hundreds to the Guillotine. — SurvivalBlog Writing …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: The Artist, Formerly Known As Prince The Commoner, Formerly Known As Prince News Links: Andrew stripped of ‘prince’ title and will move out of Royal Lodge. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faces ‘real blow’ as ex-prince has ‘gun licence revoked’. 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.