Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 13, 2025

On November 13, 1789, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, Benjamin Franklin wrote: “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” — Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was born in Scotland on November 13th, 1850. — And on November 13, 1861, a letter was written by Reverend Mark R. Watkinson petitioning the Treasury Department to “recognize Almighty God” on American coins. The department eventually decided on the motto “In God We Trust”. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 …


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, we look at Russia’s new hybrid mechanized warfare. Putin’s “Mad Max” Infantry In the UK Daily Mail: Putin’s “Mad Max” Infantry.  (The screenshot above is courtesy of Kanal …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 12, 2025

On November 12, 1900, the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) in Paris closed after receiving 50 million visitors. Art Nouveau style dominated the World’s Fair. — Today is the birthday of USMC Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph “Dan” Daly (born 1873, died April 27, 1937). He was one of only nineteen men (including seven Marines) to twice receive the Medal of Honor. — November 12th, 1950 was the birthday of Corporal John Alan Coey (died 19 July 1975). He was the first American volunteer killed in Rhodesia. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog …


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. — Version 1.0 of Elon Musk’s AI-generated Grokipedia has gone live. At first glance, it appears to be a far less biased alternative to Wikipedia. The mainstream/statist Le Monde of France had this report:  ‘With Grokipedia, AI will be trained using the world as Elon Musk describes, perceives and desires it. JWR’s Comments:  Without …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Awake, my soul, and with the sun thy daily stage of duty run; shake off dull sloth, and early rise to pay thy morning sacrifice. Lord, I my vows to Thee renew. Disperse my sins as morning dew; guard my first springs of thought and will, and with Thyself my spirit fill. Direct, control, suggest, this day, all I design or do or say, that all my pow’rs, with all their might. in Thy sole glory may unite. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heav’enly host; praise Father, Son, …


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 11, 2025

Today is of course Veteran’s Day. If you value your freedom, then thank a veteran. — Today is also the birthday of General George S. Patton, Jr..  He was born in 1885 and died December 21, 1945. — Today is the birthday of Hugh Everett (born 1930, died July 19, 1982), the American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, which he termed his “relative state” formulation. — November 11th also marks Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), in 1965. Remember Rhodesia. — Today’s feature piece is a brief update from JWR. — We still need …


Where Have All The Real Prepper Blogs Gone?

I recently visited the Gun Blog Blacklist site.  One of its key features is lists of gun and prepping blog sites. The “Prepper Blogs” are linked down in their lower-right column.  I was taken aback when I found that the majority of those linked sites are now either offline, or they haven’t had any posts in more than two years. And of the few that are still active, many of those have switched to all un-dated posts, presumably to obfuscate a bit on how often they post. (Which in fact is infrequently.)


SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

This weekly item 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 photo of the Veseth Ranch, below, is click-expandable:       Redoubt Region News Links: Couple Donate Legacy 38,000-Acre, $21 Million Cattle Ranch To Keep It A Ranch. No, Zelenskyy Isn’t Buying 916,000-Acre Pathfinder Ranches — But Someone Is. Flitner Family Buys Bighorn Mountain Ranch Back From Kanye West. As Idaho Grows Ever Redder, Boise Worries About Its Isolation. Send Your Media Links Please send your links …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 10, 2025

50 years ago today, the Great Lakes freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald, sank with the loss of all on board. The ship is pictured in 1971. — On November 10, 1619, René Descartes had a dream that inspired him to write his “Meditations on First Philosophy”. — November 10, 1911: The Chinese Imperial army recaptured Nanking, during the 1911 Republican Revolution.  The Xinhai Revolution (or Hsinhai) Revolution, ended China’s last imperial Qing dynasty under the Manchus. They had been in power for 268 years. — November 10, 1933: The “Black Blizzard” snowstorm-duststorm began in South Dakota. “The size of the ominous black …


Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Parmesan Chicken is from SurvivalBlog reader “Sis”. She notes: “This recipe uses boneless chicken thighs, but you may instead use bone-in thighs, chicken breasts, or drumsticks if you desire.” Ingredients 1 family pack of boneless chicken thighs (8) 3 sticks ( 1 1/2 cups) of butter 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers ( regular long sleeve) 1 jar (10-to-12 oz) Parmesan cheese. Directions Butter a 8″ x 9″ , roll chicken in butter, then in Parm/cracker mixture, place in baking pan. Top with the remaining butter. Then sprinkle with 5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped. Drizzle with a …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: Countries Where Over 90% Of The Population Can Speak English. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) JWR’s Comment: Note the lack of shading for Canada. 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.