The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 4, 2025

Today is the 100th birthday of famed Navy fighter pilot Royce Williams. From Wikipedia: “He is known for his solo dogfight with seven Soviet pilots during the Korean War, which, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, has been called “one of the greatest feats in aviation history” by military experts. A retired admiral and multiple members of Congress have been campaigning for him to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploit. On January 20, 2023, he received the Navy Cross—the second highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. Navy—from Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. In 1952, then-Lieutenant …




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 we report on the final death knell for FinCen’s domestic reporting requirements. (See the Financial Privacy section.) Precious Metals: The Precious Metals Bull is picking up speed. On Thursday, March 27th, spot gold was under $3,052 per Troy ounce.  But by Monday (March 31st) spot gold touched an all-time high of $3,148.88. Meanwhile, silver was …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025 is the 60th anniversary of the first attack on the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The Vietnamese called it the Ham Rong (Hàm Rồng) — or Dragon’s Jaw. It spanned the Ma River in North Vietnam, and had been built by the French during their colonial period in Indochina. The U.S. Air Force and Navy launched hundreds of sorties against it, losing at least 11 aircraft in the effort. After the 1968 to 1972 bombing pause on missions against North Vietnam, the U.S. finally took the bridge down with laser-guided munitions in 1972. The bridge was rebuilt and still …




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, news of a bid solar flare, and we look at some global conflicts. Sun Unleashes Powerful Earth-Facing M5.6 Solar Flare Reader Mike in Alaska sent this news: Sun …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 2, 2025

On April 2, 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de León claimed Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach Florida. — Today is the birthday of Sergei Ivanovich Mosin. (April 2, 1849 – February 8, 1902.) He was a Russian military officer, engineer, and a co-designer of the Mosin–Nagant rifle. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first entry for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could …




If I Could Do It Over, by 3AD Scout

My son played lots of sports growing up and had/has a very competitive nature. Very seldom did his teams lose. When his teams lost, he was a very poor sport about it. I used to tell him winning is easy, but you learn more from losing. That is, we learn what we need to do better or differently, thus making us stronger. The same can be said about preparedness, we learn more from our failures than our successes. Here are some of my prepper follies and what I wish I would have done differently. First and foremost, I would not …




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. — The Economist reports: The prospect of war has turned Europe into a continent of preppers. o  o  o From Deutsche Welle (DW): EU crisis preparedness: Bulking up states’ disaster response. o  o  o Meet Britain’s Doomsday preppers stockpiling for World War Three. o  o  o Here is a partly tongue-in-cheek account recently published …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 1, 2025

On April 1, 1905, “SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) was first adopted as a Morse Code distress signal by the German government. April 1st is both April Fool’s Day and (unofficially) Molly Ivins Day. The latter refers to this key verse: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1 KJV) April 1st, 1886 was the birthday of Arthur W. Pink, who died July 15, 1952. He was an English Christian evangelist and excellent Reformed Biblical scholar. It was his meticulously referenced arguments in his book, The Sovereignty of God, that …




Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced for Round 117

We’ve announced the winners of Round 117 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The top three prize winners will each receive some great prize packages. The winners for Round 117 are… First Prize Winner: First Prize goes to M.B., for:  3D-Printed Gun Components, for a six-part article posted March 11-16, 2025.  See:  Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.) He will receive as prizes: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy …




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 Idaho’s new immigration enforcement law. Idaho U.S. district judge temporarily blocks Idaho immigration enforcement law hours after it’s signed. The aricle begins: “Hours after Governor Brad Little signed into law a controversial immigration enforcement bill, a United States district judge granted a Temporary …