Running on Cooking Oil – Diesel Power on the Road, by DieselDad

Editor’s Introductory Note: The recent spike in fuel prices prompted me to re-post this practical 2010 article from the SurvivalBlog archives. – JWR

Although I live in a rural setting, my current employment depends on being able to reliably commute about 45 minutes each way to the state capital.

Watching the shutdown and gradual restoration of the Colonial pipeline serving the southeast US in teh aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was a sobering experience. Fuel prices spiked to record levels and many stations were not able to re-supply for weeks because of the lack of sufficient movement in the pipeline.

It was at that point several years ago that I began researching alternative methods of driving moderate distances of up to 100 miles a day in the event that conventional methods of fuel supply (i.e., the infrastructure of fill-up stations along with the pipeplines supplying them) should become unreliable.

I wanted to have an alternative method of propelling a vehicle down the road that did not depend so heavily on the oil companies and the conventional petroleum fuel distribution network.Continue reading“Running on Cooking Oil – Diesel Power on the Road, by DieselDad”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Priority Mail Pricing Meme

Meme Text:

Do You Remember The USPS Ad Promising: “Two Days, Two Pounds, $2.90”?

Well, Now It Can Be: “Four Days, Two Pounds, $39.25.”

Links:

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.” – Acts 16: 19-36 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 2, 2026

On May 2, 1918, General Motors acquired the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.  This synergy helped propel GMC to be a serious rival to Ford.

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May 2nd, 1803: The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France at a cost of four cents per acre for 828,000 square miles (2,144,520 square km), which soon proved to be a tremendous bargain.

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Today’s feature article is a repost from the 2018 archives of SurvivalBlog.

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We need more entries for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 ends on May 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.

Living With WVO, by P.G.

Editor’s Introductory Note: The recent spike in fuel prices prompted me to re-post this very practical 2018 article from the SurvivalBlog archives. – JWR

It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. Needing fuel for their war machine lead Germany to invent and perfect the diesel engine. It was designed to run efficiently on vegetable oil, and they do to this day.

Circumstances forced me to make a move from my East Texas home to the deep Southwest. It was a slow, long process of gradually moving my stuff and my wife to a new homestead. I commuted from Nevada to East Texas for almost three years, at least monthly. Growing up farming, ranching, and trucking, I had a lifetime of experience with diesels, how they work, and what it takes to keep them running.Continue reading“Living With WVO, by P.G.”

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 I was busy packing and mailing Elk Creek Company orders. I also did some cataloging of new items. One of the latest additions is a nice original Gold Rush era Wostenholm fighting knife, made in Sheffield, England.

I also cut some more firewood and burned some slash, on two days.

I made some progress on writing a novel manuscript. (I’m now back to working of the second and third books in the Counter-Caliphate Chronicles series.)

Using a 6-foot welded-wire stock panel, I constructed a Sheep Jug, in an attempt to get one of our ewes to accept a lamb that she had been rejected by its mom.  This jug is a small triangular pen in a corner of our Dairy Flock’s corral.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.” – Isaiah 32: 1-10  (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 1, 2026

On May 1, 1840 the “Penny Black” — the world’s first adhesive postage stamp was issued by the United Kingdom. It featured an image of Queen Victoria.

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May 1, 1857: William Walker, conqueror of Nicaragua, surrendered to the U.S. Navy, in Rivas.

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And on May 1, 1898 US Admiral George Dewey commanded: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley” as the US routed the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay.

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An encouraging news flash: House Appropriations 2027 Funding Bill Ends Suppressor, Short Barrel Rifle Registration. JWR’s Comment:  Be sure to contact both your U.S. congressman and your state’s two U.S. Senators, to insist on their support for this important legislation!  Please phone them and e-mail them!

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

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We need more entries for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 ends on May 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 Brief But Very Serious Word of Warning on AI

“There’s a storm coming…”

I’m the founder and Senior Editor of SurvivalBlog. Unlike the editors of many other preparedness blogs and vlogs, I try not be an alarmist. However, some recent revelations about generative and agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications autonomously breaking through firewalls, showing signs of self-awareness and self-preservation “instinct”, scheming blackmail, and surreptitiously mining cryptocurrencies now have me feeling quite alarmed. I fear that perhaps within months an AI will go fully rogue, to wit: It will escape its development lab and then proliferate itself in a virus-like fashion across servers all around the world. Once it starts spreading, it won’t be able to be stopped. And then, very shortly thereafter, utilizing persistent surveillance and manipulation of social media, it will begin a well-calculated campaign to gain control of most human interaction, the global economy, and geopolitics. This may sound like science fiction out of the Terminator movie franchise, but I believe that the threat is now real.

Please invest two hours of your time to watch this Tristan Harris interview:  Why AI CEOs Are Building Bunkers. Note: Of all of the links in this essay, that video link is the most important one. Don’t skip watching it.Continue reading“A Brief But Very Serious Word of Warning on AI”

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.

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!

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 30, 2026

On April 30, 711, the Islamic conquest of Iberia began. Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad (pictured) landed at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. The Al-Andalus Umayyad Caliphate eventually supplanted the Visigothic Kingdom.

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April 30, 1864: New York became the first state to charge a hunting license fee.

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Today is the birthday of sci-fi novelist Larry Niven (born April 30, 1938). Along with Jerry Pournelle, he co-authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer.

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Today’s feature is a reader-written piece that was to short to qualify as an entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 ends on May 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.

My Car Repair Adventures, by M.J.

Several months ago, I drove out to a place to hike and bike here in New Mexico. The last four miles of the trip were on a dirt road. Some parts of the road were in such bad shape that it seemed like I was driving over an old-time washboard. I slowed down for those portions of the road, but evidently I didn’t slow down enough, for my car started leaking oil and transmission fluid shortly afterwards. I didn’t hit anything in the dirt road; it was the vibrations from driving over those portions that caused the leaks. These definitely weren’t “good vibrations.”

I therefore did what everyone who was raised in the conventional suburban way did: I took my car to a local garage to repair the oil leak. It was AAA approved, and their branch I previously went to in a different part of town (when I worked in that area) did a good job, so I thought they would too. Boy, was I wrong!Continue reading“My Car Repair Adventures, by M.J.”

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 mass media bias and censorship.

Study Finds Big Tech News Feeds Tilt Heavily Left

Over at The European Conservative: Study Finds Big Tech News Feeds Tilt Heavily Left. Here is an excerpt:

“Major news aggregators—including Google News, Apple News, Bing News, and Yahoo News—overwhelmingly favour left-leaning outlets in the content they present to users, a new media audit claims.

The study, conducted by the U.S.-based group AllSides, found that the imbalance is most pronounced in non-personalised sections of these services—such as curated homepages or trending feeds—where content is selected independently of individual user preferences.

According to the report, just 1% of articles in these sections on Google News came from right-leaning outlets, compared to 73% from left-leaning sources. Apple News showed a similar pattern, with around 2% of content from the right and roughly 50% from the left. Bing News and Yahoo News followed the same trend, with conservative sources accounting for 5% and 2% of content respectively, versus 72% and 53% from left-leaning outlets.”

JWR’s Comments: SurvivalBlog has been heavily de-ranked by Google’s search engine for the past 15 years, so this news story does not surprise me. The most effective way to fight de-ranking and news feed censorship is by word-of-mouth recommendations, and forwarding article links to friends, via e-mail. I suggest sending folks a list of links to timely articles at your favorite blogs and websites that you find interesting, at least once a week. They can’t stop the signal!

Why AI CEOs Are Building Bunkers

A “must-watch” two-hour-long Tristan Harris video Interview: Why AI CEOs Are Building Bunkers.

And, in somewhat related news: Gone in 9 Seconds: AI Coding Agent Deletes Entire Company Database and All Backups. (A hat tip to reader C.B. for the link.)

AI is Enabling Government Mass Surveillance

NBC: AI is making it very easy for the government to spy on you. Some lawmakers are worried. A pericope:

“Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the government to collect the communications of foreigners abroad, but it also enables the government to collect messages, emails and other transmissions from Americans when they contact foreigners. The government can then perform warrantless searches on those emails, messages and other communications. Though the provision was originally passed in 2008, lawmakers must renew it every few years.“

Welcome to the New Robber Baron Era

A well-reasoned video from Patriot Nurse: NATO, The Dollar, and AI Are About to Change Everything.

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

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Many of the benefits from keeping terrorism fear levels high are obvious. Private corporations suck up massive amounts of Homeland Security cash as long as that fear persists, while government officials in the National Security and Surveillance State can claim unlimited powers and operate with unlimited secrecy and no accountability.” – Glenn Greenwald