Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced — Round 119

We’ve announced the winners of Round 119 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

Note to the top three prize winners: Please contact me and let me know your UPS and USPS address(es), for your prizes. Thanks. – JWR

The top three prize winners will each receive some great prize packages. The winners for Round 119 are…

First Prize Winner:

First Prize goes to A.F. for Preps Starter Kits for Reluctant Families. See: Part 1 and Part 2. It was posted July 8-9, 2025. He will receive as prizes:

  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.
Second Prize Winner:

Second Prize goes to N.C. for Preparing To Go To Gunsite.  See: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. It was posted July 1-3, 2025.  He will receive:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels, plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com.
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  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 Winner:

Third Prize goes to R.H. for A Primer on Backup Power. See: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. It was posted June 18-20, 2025. He will receive:

  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.
Honorable Mention Prizes

The writers of the Round 119 Honorable Mention articles will each receive a transferable $100 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 in most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

There were 10 Honorable Mention prize-winning articles in Round 119. They are:

Get Busy Writing!

Round 120 began on August 1st and runs for two months, so please get busy writing and e-mail us your entry soon. More than $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. 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. 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. Thanks, – JWR

Commonality Across Your Preps, by A.C.

Let’s face it, the world we live in is defined by the staggering variety of choices we have. A that is why the simple concept of standardization (the deliberate choice to use common platforms and equipment) might seem like a limitation. However, as large government organizations and individual preppers alike have learned a strategic commitment to commonality offers immeasurable benefits in efficiency, cost, and safety.

By examining the lessons from military programs I have been personally involved with and applying them to our own lives, we can see how thinking about standardization is a powerful way to enhance our readiness, whether for daily routines or for unforeseen events. As a defense contractor, I’ve worked on many programs and have seen governments all over the world waste money with reckless abandon, but I’ve also witnessed some simple, pragmatic tools the military has used as a true force multiplier; one of those is standardization and I want to show you how to apply that to your path through preparedness.Continue reading“Commonality Across Your Preps, by A.C.”

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 the manhunt for an Anaconda, Montana quadruple murder suspect. (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

Throwing Away The Key: Bryan Kohberger transferred to long-term isolation in ‘restrictive housing block’.

o  o  o

Sun Valley Tour de Force survivors heal and inspire. “What started as a charity car race in Sun Valley turned into a fight for survival for two Idaho friends, Ron Martinez and Zach Alder.”

o  o  o

Emergency road closures in place for wildfire near Hope, Idaho.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 4, 2025

On August 4, 1735, a jury acquitted John Zenger of the New York Weekly Journal. (A sample issue from the previous year is pictured.) He had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. This was a key victory and legal precedent for freedom of press.

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August 4, 1900:  An allied expeditionary force, made up of Japanese, Russian, British, French, and American troops, set off from Tientsin for Peking, China, to put down the Boxer rebellion.

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And on August 4, 1961 Spokane, Washington reached an August record high temperature of 108° F.

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Today’s feature article is a review authored by SurvivalBlog staffer Tom Christainson.

Jase Medical Antibiotic Kit, by Thomas Christianson

Editor’s Introductory Note:  In January 2025, about a month after Tom sent in this article, Jase became a SurvivalBlog advertiser.  We do our best to keep advertising and editorial as separate spheres. – JWR

Author’s Note: I am not a medical professional. The information included in this article is not intended as medical advice. It is just an account of my own personal experiences. Please seek competent medical advice as you formulate your own emergency medical plans.

A number of years ago, the area where I was living was swept by a Category 5 blizzard. All of the roads in the area were closed by the State Police for five days. Drifts more than six feet deep accumulated across roads in many locations. Civil Defense workers had to risk their lives to bring people needed medications.

More recently, the Covid scare resulted in supply chain disruptions. Some people were unable to obtain needed medications.

In light of the fact that similar future emergencies may disrupt access to life-saving medications, it seems prudent to obtain a supply of some of the more commonly used medications ahead of time.

Jase Medical offers antibiotic kits “to be better prepared medically for purposes of future travel, residing in an underserved medical area, to protect myself against potential supply issues, or due to mobility issues.”

The “Jase Case” consists of five commonly used antibiotics that can be used to treat over 50 different kinds of infection. It was priced at $269.95 at the time of this writing at Jasemedical.com . That cost compared favorably at the time of this writing with the cost of using www.GoodRX.com to purchase the same medications at the local pharmacy.Continue reading“Jase Medical Antibiotic Kit, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Crockpot Slow Cooker Rice Pudding is from SurvivalBlog reader P.K..

Ingredients
  • 1 can of Evaporated Milk. (Note: Use evaporated milk and not “sweetened condensed milk”. They are not the same!)
  • Vanilla Extract (enough to suit your taste.)
  • Raisins (optional, up to a large handful)
  • Long Grain White Rice – First, cook the rice according to package directions before adding it to the slow cooker. Measure 3 cups of cooked rice.
  • Brown Sugar and Cinnamon– to sprinkle on top.
Directions
  1. Mix the first four ingredients to a large crock pot slow cooker.
  2. Cook on your crockpot’s high setting for 2.5 to 3 hours. There is no need to stir it unless you notice some brown around the edges.
SERVING

Mix together a few spoonfuls of brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle that on top of the pudding just before serving.

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic:  Map of the Largest Metropolitan Areas in the United States. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)  Note that only one of them touches the edge of the American Redoubt region.

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

 

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Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 3, 2025

August 3, 1798: The Battle of the Nile. British Admiral Horatio Nelson forced the remnants of the French fleet to surrender, concluding a decisive victory for the British who captured or destroyed 11 French ships of the line and two frigates.

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On August 3rd  1914, Germany and France both declared war on each other, bringing two major combatants into the First World War.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 120 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. 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.

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. A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels, plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com.
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  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 $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 120 ends on September 30th, 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.

Herbal Medicine Basics, by Watchman H.A.

To start off, I will give a little bit of information about myself. I am in my early twenties and currently studying at a ministerial college/ seminary near a larger U.S. city. I am located in a small rural community, that is a little too close to Washington, DC for my comfort, but I am not able to relocate at this time. I have been a long-term SurvivalBlog reader, but this is the first time that I have been able to write an article for the blog.

I am by no means an expert, but I do know how to make myself useful. I live on a small homestead, and currently focus on breeding/ raising Rex rabbits and using the local flora to my advantage. I fairly recently began working on categorizing the local plants and making food, teas, and medicinal poultices with them.

I would like to take a moment to think about TEOTWAWKI. Let’s say that the power grid is down and all the manure has been shoveled into the fan. You happen to have a small child or grandchild, that has fallen and scraped their knee. Normally, this is no problem, but you have no medicine on hand. What will you do? I hate to say this, but the child could easily lose the limb to infection or even worse, die. I hate to make anyone think of such a horrible disaster, but there are ways to avoid this outcome.Continue reading“Herbal Medicine Basics, by Watchman H.A.”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:  

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans

But Greta Thunberg Has Plus-Size Greta Jeans With Room For An Extra Chromosome

Video Link: Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans – Outrage AI Parody Song.

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:

“If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” – Titus 1:6-16 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 2, 2025

On August 2, 1909, the US Mint issued the first Lincoln penny coin.

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And on August 2, 1972, Gold hit a record $70 per Troy ounce in London.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present Part 2 of the first entry for Round 120 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. 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.

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. A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels, plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com.
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  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 $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 120 ends on September 30th, 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.

 

Memoirs of a Disaster Survivor – Part 2, by AppComms

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

Remember power sources. In 1993, I did not have a generator. Batteries and their accessibility were my power source. As mentioned earlier, batteries for radios, light sources, and even appliances are a necessity. Not to mention an emotional boost for your family and friends. Rotate batteries. You need fresh batteries in your supplies, and of all the necessary sizes. Friends, don’t forget to look out for your neighbors. They may be better prepared than you are, or not, but a friendly knock on the door and a simple question about their needs is a big encouragement. I know folks who removed the battery from their snow-bound vehicle to power 12 DC devices inside. Necessity is the mother of invention. Shelter, heat, water, and food are all essential, but there is one that gets overlooked.Continue reading“Memoirs of a Disaster Survivor – Part 2, by AppComms”