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.

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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.

 

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?

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

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31 Indoor Woodworking Projects to Do This Winter.

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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.)

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 30, 2025

On December 30, 1861, Associated Banks in New York City — innovators in credit clearing circles (pictured above) — halted gold payments to government and investors, to disrupt Abraham Lincoln‘s US bank reform program.

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December 30, 1865 was the birthday of Rudyard Kipling.

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Today’s feature article is a product review, written by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

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We need more entries for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 122 ends on January 31st, 2026, 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.

FrogLube Gun Care Products, by Thomas Christianson

I recently tested a number of FrogLube products for effectiveness for firearms cleaning, lubrication, and corrosion resistance. I tested FrogLube Lubricant-Protectant and FrogLube Extreme Lubricant and Preservative for corrosion resistance. I tested FrogLube Super Degreaser and FrogLube Solvent for cleaning. I tested FrogLube Extreme Lubricant and Preservative for its effectiveness as a lubricant.

My standard gun care products are kerosene for cleaning and Breakfree CLP for lubrication and corrosion resistance. I found the performance of FrogLube products to be roughly comparable to my standards under temperate conditions. In my limited testing, I felt that FrogLube Extreme Lubricant and Preservative was slightly more effective than BreakFree CLP as a lubricant. I concluded that BreakFree CLP provided marginally better corrosion resistance than either FrogLube Extreme Lubricant and Preservative or FrogLube Lubricant-Protectant.Continue reading“FrogLube Gun Care Products, by Thomas Christianson”

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.

Send Your Media Links

Please send your links to media from the American Redoubt region to JWR. Any photos that are posted or re-posted must be uncopyrighted. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact form.

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” – Henry Ward Beecher