Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 13, 2026

On January 13, 1404, The Act of Multipliers was passed by the English Parliament, forbidding alchemists to use their knowledge to create precious metals. (It was feared that if any alchemist should succeed, it would bring ruin upon the state.) — January 13, 1733: British officer James Oglethorpe and 130 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina — And January 13, 2023, China reported 60,000 COVID-19-related deaths in just over a month, while another report estimates 900 million people have been infected, 64% of the country’s population. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 122 of …


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. Recent Redoubt Links Congrats to gun trainers Clint & Heidi Smith, who are opening a new shooting school at the Cody Shooting complex, near Cody, Wyoming. Video: 15 Wyoming Freedoms That Would Be Illegal Almost Everywhere Else. JWR’s Comment:  Interesting… It appears that they sped up the video by 10% or more, to match the short attention spans of some contemporary viewers. Breakthrough: Idaho Lab Produces World’s First Molten …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 12, 2026

On January 12, 1528, Gustav Vasa, Gustav I of Sweden was crowned King of Sweden. He ruled for 37 years, and became known as the “father of the nation.” His coronation started a succession of 23 monarchs with many of them known as “Gustav/Gustaf”. Their current king, Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus, was born on April 30, 1946. He ascended the throne on September 15, 1973. Carl XVI Gustaf is the seventh king of the House of Bernadotte. He is the longest-reigning king in Swedish history. — And on January 12, 1913, after using other pseudonyms over the years, Josef Dzhugashvili …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Rich Amish Cornbread is from SurvivalBlog reader Tractoguy.  He says: “I love the taste of cornbread, but don’t eat much of it because it is usually so heavy. This is the lightest, fluffiest cornbread that I have ever had, probably because of the sour cream in it.” Ingredients 1/2 cup wheat flour 1/2 cup cornmeal 1 egg 2 Tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 cup milk 1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick) Directions Combine ingredients, mixing briefly. Pour the batter into a greased 7-inch square baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week 

Today’s graphic: A map showing recent U.S. Internal Migration — The Geography of Choice. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) Note that majority of the states that are gaining population are conservative “Red” states.  Preppers moving to the American Redoubt, Texas, The Ozarks, and to the Cumberland Plateau undoubtedly were a contributing factor in these population shifts. The thumbnail below is click-expandable.       — Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 11, 2026

On January 11, 1571 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II granted Austrian nobility freedom of religion. — January 11, 1966: 550 people died in landslides in the mountains behind Rio de Janeiro after a huge rainfall. — The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are available for Pre-Ordering.  Orders should start to be mailed in the last week of January.  To be sure that you get yours, order soon! — Although it is quite blatantly pro-monarchist, the only fairly complete coverage of the anti-Khameni revolution in Iran seems to be coming from the YouTube channel Tousi TV. – JWR …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Learning Center Leering Center Learing Center King Learing Center News Links: Daycare accused of multimillion-dollar fraud shifts blame for ‘revealing’ mistake above its front door… as kids are suddenly ‘trucked in’. Minnesota’s infamous Quality ‘Learing’ Center is now closed, records show. 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:

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 10, 2026

On January 10, 1776, the “Common Sense” pamphlet by Thomas Paine was first published, advocating American independence. — January 10, 49 BC: Julius Caesar defied the Roman Senate and crossed the Rubicon, uttering “alea iacta est” (the die is cast), signaling the start of civil war and his appointment as Roman dictator for life. — And January 10th, 1776, was the day that North Carolina Governor Josiah Martin issued a proclamation calling on the king’s loyal subjects to raise an armed force to combat the “rebels”. This ultimately led to Colonel Donald McLeod leading the men on an assault on …


The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 9, 2026

On January 9th, 1580, Francis Drake‘s ship the Golden Hind struck a reef off the Celebes islands. It fortuitously slipped off the reef at high tide the next day and sailed onward to Java, and then around the Cape of Good Hope and back to Plymouth, England. — January 9, 1839: Louis Daguerre demonstrated his ‘daguerreotype‘ photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences. — The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are selling rapidly, in pre-ordering.  The limited number of them packaged in steel keepsake tins have sold out. But there are still plenty of the standard sticks …


Economics & Investing Media of the Week

After some huge price swings in the last week of the year, the Silver Bull has resumed his charge. As of Tuesday afternoon (January 6, 2026), spot silver was at $82.06 USD per Troy ounce.  I expect a few gasps of short-selling today, but $70 seems to be the new floor for silver. I’m holding to my prediction that silver and platinum will continue to outperform gold’s gains. The formerly languishing price of nickel has spiked.  Surprisingly, we still have the opportunity to stack Nickels (U.S. 5-cent pieces) at face value.  The U.S. Mint recently stopped producing pennies.  I believe …