Category: Reader-Written Contributed Article

The Art of the Barter: Your Most Vital Survival Skill, by A.C.

Editor’s Introductory Note: This article was based on research done for Episode 84 of the Stakeholder Prepping Podcast. In the prepper community, we spend an inordinate amount of time discussing calibers, water filtration, and the caloric density of freeze-dried beef. But there is a glaring hole in the standard survival curriculum: the psychology of the trade. When the grid goes dark and the global financial system becomes a historical footnote, the dollar doesn’t just lose value; it becomes fancy kindling. In The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI), your most valuable asset isn’t your stockpile; it’s your …


Will You Survive?, by Single Farmer

The short answer is maybe. To increase your possibilities of survival, read this article. As we were reviewing our food storage and other supplies, my Mom made an interesting observation which resulted in a conversation about why many people won’t survive and a potential solution. My mother is our chief logistician–meaning that she plans and coordinates the purchasing and storage of our food and other supplies. Most women are the logisticians for their family with sometimes over 90 percent of the food purchasing done by women. When our truck or a semi-truck needs to be unloaded, the men in my …


Voluntary Associations – Shopping for Survival, by W.T.

A voluntary association begins when two or more people agree to pursue a common purpose together. That arrangement can be remarkably simple. People who already buy many of the same necessities, possess different skills, or have resources that complement one another, can decide to cooperate rather than approach every need as an entirely separate and individual household problem. The significance of that decision is economic as much as organizational. When individual households combine a predictable demand, they can sometimes obtain purchasing opportunities or services that would be difficult to obtain separately. If the resulting savings are retained rather than immediately …


My Predictions for the End of the Year 2026, by Dr. Rick

I have always had an active interest in survival. I have always tried to look at the big picture without bias. Previously, I prepared for vague, generalized threats. Within the last year, however, the world situation has dramatically changed – threats have become more specific, easily identifiable, significant, and realistic. In other words, the present world situation makes prepping more meaningful, practical, and necessary than ever before. We need to cast off our “Normality Bias” complacency of “everything is going to be okay, just like it’s always been” and take measured actions to prepare for what is probably coming. I’m …


Fall of the American Republic – Part 2, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Some of the erroneous assumptions and operating principles that Western governments of today have been utilizing in their social planning schemes are these six stupid ideas: 1. The stupid idea that people and institutions can become perfect. The perfectibility of institutions and people is contrary to all natural law and historical precedent. People are imperfect by their nature and institutions which are composed of people are imperfect. 2. The stupid idea that economic output is everything which can be expressed as a regularly reported number which can be measured, and the number …


Fall of the American Republic – Part 1, by Single Farmer

Author’s Introductory Note: Please remember all of my writings are a Gedankenexperiment, not a form of advice, but an extended thought experiment. I can safely conclude that the Republic has likely fallen just before its 250th Birthday. My ancestors were founders of the original Republic and I am one of the small percentage of Heritage Americans left with 97.5 percent of people who reside in the United States having no original colonial Patriot blood flowing in their veins. I do not make this pronouncement lightly or gleefully, but solemnly as my family has for generations warned against the dangers of …


Mastering the P.A.C.E. Model for True Self-Reliance, by A.C.

Most people live in a state of perpetual psychological comfort known as Normalcy Bias. This is the deeply ingrained, warm, fuzzy assumption that the systems keeping us alive today will function indefinitely tomorrow. We unconsciously believe that the grocery store will always hold a fresh supply of organic kale, the kitchen tap will never run dry, and the wall outlet will indefinitely pump electricity on demand. Spoiler alert: It won’t. When we analyze why individuals, organizations, or entire societies collapse during a crisis, the root cause is rarely a complete lack of preparation. Instead, failure occurs because someone mistook a …


Precision Workshop Practices, by Grandpappy

We all have should have a place where we can repair, build, or maintain our equipment and appliances. This is a workshop space for our projects, from the simplest like building a simple tool, to the most complex like rebuilding the engine of a classic car. The space needed can range from a small corner of your garage to a complete workshop facility for a fabrication or repair hobby or even a small business. After forty-five years around engines and tools, I have come to the conclusion that every man needs his own workspace where he can develop his hobbies …


A Review of AGI’s Professional Gunsmithing Course Level I, by Gunsmith

Full Disclosure: After a conversation I had with Gene Kelly of American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI), he offered me this course at no charge in exchange for an honest review in a written article for SurvivalBlog. There were no other strings attached, and I was not pressured in any way about the outcome of this review. He did not ask for a preview of the article, nor was he offered one before publication. This review is my own opinion of the course after having spent time taking it and passing the tests involved. My Background I have been interested in firearms …


Health, Fitness, and The End Of The World, by D.F.

In this article, I’ll describe how medicine and society will change, and why you should become a fitness nut and not just a prepper. There’s a stereotype of preppers, and it’s not kind: A middle aged or older man with a BMI that passed 30 before he was 30 and grew by 1% every year, a ton of guns, canned food, and a half-hearted vegetable garden. I know because I resemble that. As I’ve been struggling to recover my health, I’ve had a few realizations that have kept me on the path to fitness. Health is something money can’t buy. …


Saving Western Civilization, by Single Farmer

Editor’s Introductory Note: This young man is prayerfully seeking a wife. He is offering an after-marriage gift of up to $50,000 to whoever introduces him to his bride with $18,000 after their marriage and another $16,000 to the individual who provided the introduction after the first two births of healthy children born to him and his wife, for a total potential gift of $50,000. For further details, see his article posted on July 13th, 2025: My Quest for a Wife: I’m Willing to Move, and in his May 6, 2026 article on rural migration starting at the bold section on …


Modern Handloads for Antique 7mm Mauser Rifles – Part 2, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Considerations for Projectile Selection There are many different bullets and powders to choose from.  Given the very long throats of their chambers, we are mostly limited to heavier and flat based bullets.   Choosing the best projectiles for the antique Mausers will help us get the best all around results, quickly. For the purposes of hunting, I would like it to shoot no larger groups than 2 MOA with iron sights and that would limit my shoots to 250 yards if I had 20-20 or better vision and had the rifle on …


Modern Handloads for Antique 7mm Mauser Rifles – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit

Is the 7x57mm Mauser M1893/95 rifle obsolete?  The original 7mm Mauser cartridge is in no way an obsolete cartridge, yet it can be improved when modern powders are used.  As of this date, few handloaders are exploring what can be done with the old warhorse when modern propellants are used to make it competitive with modern cartridges such as 7mm-08, 7.62 NATO, and even .308 Winchester.  There is no discussion on this topic that I’ve yet found on the Internet.  Perhaps we are breaking new ground, as we speak.


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced — Round 124 (The Final Round!)

We’ve announced the winners of Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest, which ended yesterday. This was the final round of the contest. More than $989,000 worth of prizes have been awarded in the 20+ years that we ran the contest. My congratulations to all of the prize winners, over the years. Your articles have been a key part of what makes SurvivalBlog such a valuable reference. Your articles will remain freely available in the SurvivalBlog archives. Note: Please continue to write articles for SurvivalBlog, to share your knowledge and experience. Reader-written articles are a key part of SurvivalBlog. See …


Bicycles and Their Practical Use in Prepping, by Tunnel Rabbit

To look into the future, we only have to visit the past, and how other cultures adapt to their circumstances. Long ago and far away, I lived just south of Copenhagen, Denmark for a while, and then on the oldest and once largest farm still standing on the Island of Bornholm that was first in Swedish territory, and then Danish territory. The farm had been established in the 1700s. In the end,  I was so immersed in the culture and language that locals did not believe I was an American.  More often than not, given my accent, they thought I …