A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 2, by Mike in Alaska

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Once you have cut, stripped, and made the proper ring terminal connections to the wires, then the  next job is to solder them to the various locations as required; this will involve soldering the 6.0” wire and two other wires twisted together as one wire onto the variable capacitor of the kit.

I used a dab of Kester 186 solder flux on the wires before I tinned them and then after I crimped the wires onto the terminals, I put a very small drop of the flux on the crimp connection and then soldered that joint. CML Supply is where you can buy flux. Solder flux makes the soldering job so much easier and helps the solder to flow smoothly into the areas you need it to flow into.Continue reading“A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 2, by Mike in Alaska”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

This week, we did some organizing here at the ranch.

I slaughtered and butchered seven older laying hens. It was only  25 degrees F. out in the barnyard, so I had to make quick work of it.

I did a big Apple Sort in one of our cool storage rooms this week. We still have about 150 pounds of apples remaining from the fall harvest.  I culled out any that were going bad. We do this sorting a couple of times every winter. The really icky-looking ones went in a couple of buckets to be dumped in a compost pile. The “so-so” looking ones with brown spots went to the horse and cows.

On New Year’s Day, I went on a hunt for old C-Cell and D-Cell Maglite flashlights in our shop, house, and vehicles. I also ordered a few more, via eBay. I plan to register them as suppressors, with the ATF.  (We already have a family firearms trust, so they will be registered in the name of the trust.) As of January 1st, 2026, the Federal “silencer” tax dropped from $200 to $0, for each “can.” After I have their Form 1s approved, I may then legally rebuild the flashlights into functional suppressors.  There will be a mix of .22, .300, 9mm, and .45 models. That should be a fun and thankfully now quite inexpensive project. And, unless some draconian legislation comes along, it will also leave a lasting legacy for our children and grandchildren, who are named in the trust.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord‘s anger come upon you.

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord‘s anger.

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.” – Zephaniah 2:1-7

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 2, 2026

On January 2, 1890, a record 19.2-foot alligator was reportedly shot in Louisiana by American businessman Edward Avery McIlhenny. That claim is now disputed.

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January 2,1906: Willis Carrier receives a US patent for an “Apparatus for Treating Air,” the world’s first modern air conditioner.

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And on January 2, 1974, a nationwide speed limit of 55 mph was imposed by President Richard Nixon.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  2. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  3. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  4. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
  5. Harvest Guard is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is offering a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 122 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

 

A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by Mike in Alaska

Imagine a time when radio was just some experiment in the labs or basements of inventors trying to figure out the phenomenon of sounds being heard over the air. Seems a bit of a stretch? During the period of 1904 to 1915 the first types of radio transmitters were developed which produced continuous sinusoidal waves: the arc converter (Poulsen Arc) and the Alexanderson alternator. These slowly replaced the old damped-wave spark gap transmitters. Besides having a longer transmission range, these transmitters could be modulated with an audio (voice or music) signal to transmit sound by amplitude modulation (AM) radiotelephony.

So why bother with such an archaic form of technology when modern electronics offer so many finer ways to listen to music or voice programs? Imagine a world that would have very few radio transmissions going because there is no electricity. Think TEOTWAWKI: Something has happened, we may or may not know what but no matter the reason for some time there is no electrical grid and may not be one coming back for who knows how long. You say, well then if there’s no electrical grid then we won’t have to worry about listening to the radio will we? And you would be correct to some degree; however, sooner or later someone, the “nice government folks” or maybe someone setting in their basement (or cave) is going to start broadcasting something that you will be able to hear.Continue reading“A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by Mike in Alaska”

Economics & Investing Media of the Week

In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers.  This week, some market and economic predictions for 2026.

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

(Graphic courtesy of Visual Capitalist.)

Economics & Investing Links of Interest

Economics & Investing Media Tips:

Please send your economics and investing links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Thanks!

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“If I ask anybody who learned to ski after the age of five, they can remember their first day of skiing…I believe that’s because that first day on skis was the first day of total freedom in their life.” – Filmmaker Warren Miller (Pictured is JT Holmes from a Warren Miller Squaw Valley Segment, 2011-12 season.)

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 1, 2026

On January 1st, 722, Frankish Hofmeister Charles Martel fled from Bishop Willibrord. Ten years later, Martel’s army defeated the Muslim army at Poitiers.

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January 1, 1785: John Walter published the first issue of his newspaper “The Daily Universal Register,” which was renamed “The Times” of London in 1788.

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And on January 1, 1928, the first US air-conditioned office building opened, in San Antonio, Texas.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  2. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  3. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  4. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
  5. Harvest Guard is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is offering a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 122 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

 

SWL Receiver Considerations and Buying Advice, by Sarge B.

The following is my list of recommended features and some features to avoid, when looking  for a general coverage receiver. This is based upon my personal experience over the years as a shortwave listener (SWL) and Amateur Radio operator.

Frequency Coverage: Look for a minimum frequency coverage of 500 kHz to 30 MHz. This covers the AM broadcast band (520 – 1710 kHz) and all of the shortwave broadcast bands (2 – 30 MHz). Coverage of the FM broadcast band (88-108 MHz) is also highly desirable.

Digital frequency display: Allows precise tuning to a specific frequency. Avoid any radios with the outdated and inaccurate analog “slide rule” type of radio dial. International shortwave broadcasters are not as numerous as they were during the 1980s. You need to be able to obtain their frequencies and broadcast times from their website and swiftly tune your receiver to that specific frequency.Continue reading“SWL Receiver Considerations and Buying Advice, by Sarge B.”

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, more about the threat of AI-generated fakery.

Iran: ‘Full-Scale War’ with U.S., EU, and Israel

Reader H.L. was the first of several readers who sent us this: Iran Warns ‘Full-Scale War’ Underway with U.S., Europe and Israel. (Pictured above are some Iranian military generals, attending a parade.) The article begins:

“The U.S., Israel and Europe have been warned. Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday his country is in a full-scale war with all three ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s meeting Monday with President Donald Trump.

Pezeshkian said in an interview published on the website of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the war is worse than Iran’s deadly war with Iraq in the 1980s, AP reports.”

 

A.I.-Gen Videos Will Soon Become Indistinguishable

A video about A.I. fakery, from Canadian Prepper: ALERT: Youtube is Coming to an END. JWR’s Comments: 

“I am so glad that I haven’t done an on-camera video interview in more than 25 years. And I only have one circulating black and white still portrait image, and that is now almost 30 years old. (Although I noticed that someone recently colorized it, fairly convincingly.) They can’t create believable fake videos if they don’t have fairly recent reference footage to work from.  But I presume that I must be at risk of fake audio interviews, because there are thousands of hours of audio of me from radio interviews and podcasts for the AI Fakesters to reference.”

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Having spent 10 years studying emerging markets, I know that you have patterns repeated over and over again. A bubble is like a fire which needs oxygen to continue… when you see there is no oxygen, things change.” – Nouriel Roubini

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 31, 2025

On December 31, 406, “The Great Invasion” sent a vast mixed horde of barbarians that included Vandals, Alans, and Suebians across the Rhine River, at Mainz (pictured). Thus began the invasion of Gallia.

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December 31st 1564: William I of Orange demands freedom of religious conscience for his subjects in dramatic speech to the Council of State.

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December 31st is the birthday of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008).

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December 31st, 1851 was the birthday of Frederick Selous. (He died on January 4th, 1917.)

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The 20th Anniversary SurvivalBlog 2005-2025 Waterproof/EMP-Resistant Archive USB sticks are available for Pre-Ordering.  This year, we are also offering a limited number of them in steel keepsake tins, with keychains.  Orders should start to be mailed in the third week of January.  To be sure that you get yours, order soon!

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Today’s feature article is by SurvivalBlog Senior Editor, James Wesley, Rawles (JWR).

Regional and Seasonal Camouflage Clothing and Gear

As 2025 draws to a close, I’d like to revisit a topic that often comes up in SurvivalBlog: camouflage clothing and equipment.

Note: To see examples and variants of the camouflage patterns that I’ll mention in this article, see the comprehensive Camopedia.org website. They are to be commended for maintaining a great reference site.

I will begin with some history:

The French Lizard Pattern

Camouflage uniforms were not standard issue for all but a handful of the world’s armies until the mid-1960s.  Experimentation with modern printed camouflage fabric as we now know it began with the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS, circa 1942-1945.  They tried no less than a dozen different patterns. Also in 1942, the US Marine Corps began limited use of a camouflage pattern called Frog Skin. It had been designed by Norvell Gillespie, a civilian horticulturist and the gardening editor for Better Homes & Gardens magazine, at the request of the War Department.

But except for the camouflage used by elite units or for unusual deployments, until the 1980s, most soldiers of major armies still wore khaki, olive drab, or other solid shades of green. The French Army began limited issue of their now famous “Lizard” brushstroke camouflage pattern in 1947, but most French soldiers still wore khaki — both in garrison and in the field.Continue reading“Regional and Seasonal Camouflage Clothing and Gear”

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.

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Where Are People Moving Most in the U.S. in 2026?

o  o  o

CPRC’s Lott Calls Out Wall Street Journal’s Fear Mongering Over Concealed Carry.

o  o  o

31 Indoor Woodworking Projects to Do This Winter.

o  o  o

SurvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson spotted this:
Burundi: Farmer finds new technique for preserving tomatoes.
o  o  o

Pilot-free flying taxis revving up to traverse U.S. skyways.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“No ornament of a house can compare with books; they are constant company in a room, even when you are not reading them.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe. (The sister of Henry Ward Beecher, who was quoted yesterday. Both of them were very outspoken abolitionists.)