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. — Some wisdom from Temple Grandin: Recommended Basic Livestock Handling. o  o  o A video from SecDef Pete Hegseth: Our Military bases became gun-free zones—leaving troops EXPOSED. That ends today. o  o  o GOP Senator Opposes More Than 60 Days Of War On Iran Without War Declaration. An excerpt: “Curtis didn’t say whether …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 7, 2026

On April 7, 1902 the Texas Oil Company (Texaco) was formed. — On April 7, 1994, Rwandan Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, a moderate Hutu, was assassinated by Hutu soldiers—a day after the deaths of Juvénal Habyarimana, president of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, president of Burundi—as Rwanda entered a period of anarchy and genocidal killings. — April 7th is the birthday of Colonel Bob Denard (born 1929, died October 13, 2007). He had an amazing life as a mercenary, including four attempted coups in the Comoros.  The 2011 film Mister Bob is a slightly fictionalized account of his earliest mercenary adventures …


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 public domain photo above was taken Bonnie Moreland, in Eastern Oregon. Redoubt News Links A video from Our Wyoming Life: Twins Born on the Ranch… But Mom Rejected One. Love birds? Idaho Fish and Game has a livestream just for you. The latest from Destination Rove: It’s Finally Time to Start Rebuilding…+ Easter Jeep Safari. Send Your Media Links Please send your links to media from the …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 6, 2026

On April 6, 1652 Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeec. — April 6, 1768: French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville’s expedition arrives in Tahiti, claiming it for France and naming it New Cythera. — This new Southwestern Oregon listing at SurvivalRealty.com caught my eye: Turnkey Off-Grid Survival Compound — Rogue Valley — Water, Power, Food, Multi-Family Ready. — Our feature piece for today is by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We now need entries for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Reduced-Carbohydrate Trail Mix is from SurvivalBlog reader F.C.. Ingredients 2 cups mixed dry-roasted nuts. (Any combination of peanuts (not truly a nut), almonds, hazelnuts, and/or pistachios.) 1 cup toasted seeds, unsalted. (Such as pumpkin, squash, and/or sunflower seeds.) 2 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut. 1⁄2 cup raisins and/or craisins. Sneak in a few M&Ms, if desired. Directions Just measure, and mix it up! STORAGE This stores best in airtight containers. — Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 5, 2026

On April 5, 1242, Russian Prince of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky defeated the Teutonic Knights on the frozen Lake Peipus between Estonia and Russia. This became known as the Battle on the Ice. — April 5, 1424 Scottish King James I returned to Scotland after 18 years of detention at the English court. During his captivity in England, James married Joan Beaufort, a cousin of Henry IV. On 28 March 1424, a ransom agreement amounting to £40,000 sterling, after deducting a dowry payment of 10,000 marks, was established in Durham, with James affixing his personal seal to the document. The king …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: NASA Really Dropped The Ball On This One… They Neglected To Also Include A Disabled Non-Binary Multiracial Asian-Latino-Tribal Citizen News Link: Artemis II crew includes first woman, Black astronaut and Canadian ever flown to moon. 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.


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 4, 2026

Today is the 101st birthday of famed Navy fighter pilot Royce Williams. It is great to see him still alive and kicking!  Williams was just recently awarded the Medal of Honor. The now-declassified story of his aerial combat over Korea against Soviet-piloted MiGs is fascinating reading. It is summarized in Wikipedia. Here is a brief excerpt from his biography: “The story of his battle with the Soviet MiGs led to Williams being debriefed at the time by admirals, the Secretary of Defense, and a few weeks later by newly inaugurated President Dwight D. Eisenhower. These authorities decided to cover up …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 3, 2026

On April 3, 1910, the highest mountain in North America, Alaska’s Mount McKinley (aka Denali) was claimed to have been first climbed by four local men.  They climbed McKinley’s North Peak, not knowing that the South Peak is actually 850 feet higher. — This is the birthday of Washington Irving, an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for short stories like Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but he also wrote several biographies and served as the US Ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. — A …