Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 11, 2025

On October 11, 1923, the hyperinflated German Mark issued by the Weimar regime fell to 10 billion per British Pound and\ 4 billion per U.S. Dollar. — October 11, 1138: A massive earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, killed an estimated 230,000 people. — Today is the 75th birthday of novelist William R. Forstchen. He is best known for his survivalist novel One Second After. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used …


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 …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 10, 2025

October 10, 732: The Battle of Tours. The Umayyad army led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi was defeated by the Frankish Aquitainian force led by Charles Martel. — Today is the birthday of the late singer-songwriter John Prine (1946-2020). — And this is also the birthday of composer Giuseppe Verdi. (Born 1813, died 1901.) — On October 10th, 1913, the Panama Canal officially linked the Atlantic to the Pacific. — Today’s feature article is a guest post by A.C. of the Stakeholder Prepping Podcast. Since he is a SurvivalBlog advertiser, this article is not eligible for our writing contest. — …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, more coverage of the bull market in gold and silver. Precious Metals: On Thursday, spot gold was at $4,076.10, and spot silver hit $51.42 per Troy ounce.  This eclipsed the record high price set in January 17, 1980, when the Hunt Brothers attempted to corner the global silver market. When I last checked, it took …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 9, 2025

On October 9th, 869: Charles the Bald (a.k.a. Charles II of West Francia) was crowned king of Lotharingen. — October 9, 1000: Leif Ericson discovers “Vinland” (possibly at what was later named L’Anse aux Meadows, Canada) reputedly becoming the first European to reach North America. — And on October 9, 1999, the last flight was made with a Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any …


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:  Louder War Drums, in Europe. A Run on Canned Goods and Radios Over In Denmark: A Run on Canned Mackerel and Emergency Radios. The Reason? Drones. The BBC …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Citizens were truly free when they could engage ‘what is just and good without fear.’ Liberty was therefore a positive act of will. Liberty was not an ‘enemy of all authority’ but ‘a civil and moral’ quality that made it possible for individuals, singly or in groups, to realize their potential. Tocqueville, who believed in the possibilities of human achievement, embraced the idea of liberty as capable of fostering equality. With liberty empowering individuals, equality could spread. There began the great challenge of modern history, that of balancing liberty and equality. Tocqueville kept arguing in successive formulations that the two …


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 8, 2025

October 8, 1480: Great Stand on the Ugra River: A standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and Ivan III, Grand Prince of all Rus (pictured), ended with a Tatar-Mongol retreat, leading to the disintegration of the Horde. Ivan III, a.k.a. Ivan The Great, sometimes referred to as the “gatherer of the Russian lands”, tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde over the Rus, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. — October 8th, 1947 was the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. …


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. — Blizzard traps nearly 1,000 hikers on slopes of Mount Everest.  (The Creative Commons photo above is by Göran Höglund.) Update: Mount Everest rescuers battle heavy snow with hundreds still stranded — BBC News. o  o  o Reader Richard T. was the first of several readers to mention this video: After 5 Years, …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — October 7, 2025

On October 7, 1826, the Granite Railway began operations. It was the first chartered railway in the United States. It was built to carry granite from a quarry in Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton. From there, boats carried the heavy stone to Charlestown, for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument. The railway ran three miles (4.8 km) from quarries to the Neponset River. Its wagons had wheels 6 ft (1.83 m) in diameter and were pulled by horses. Pictured is the railway’s incline section, photographed in 1934. — On October 7, 1909, the British …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements 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. We also mention companies located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, news about some CH-47 Chinook firefighting helicopters based in Montana.  (See the Montana and Wyoming sections. The photo above is courtesy of Billings Fyling Service and Lost In The Woods Photography.) Idaho Idaho’s small arms market anticipates more growth. o  o  o Reader C.B.  flagged …