Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 18, 2026

On January 18th, 1591, during the Burmese-Siamese War (pictured) King Naresuan of Siam killed Crown Prince Minchit Sra of Burma in single combat. The date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day.

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January 18th, 1813, was the birthday Joseph Glidden, who invented barbed wire.

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Kevin Costner, who starred in Open Range, was born on this day in 1955.

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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.

Establishing Relationships in Your New Locale, by SaraSue

I have been on my farm for about five years, give or take.  I live outside a small town in rural Tennessee.  I didn’t know anyone when I moved here.  The closest neighbor is about half a mile away, and the rest are many miles down the road. If you are planning on moving from the suburbs or cities to the countryside, you might glean something from my experiences.  I hope this helps.

The first neighbor I met was an older widow, and the circumstances weren’t great.  My big dogs (German Shepherds) had a habit of escaping the property and racing around the countryside before I got a good gate in place and remote controlled e-collars around their necks.  I would race after them in the car because they were fast and the roads were long and winding.  She was absolutely terrified of them when they arrived in her yard.  I quickly retrieved them and gave her my phone number.  I apologized and promised to fix the problem as soon as possible.Continue reading“Establishing Relationships in Your New Locale, by SaraSue”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Ryan Gosling And Ryan Duckling

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:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” – 1 John 4:1-16 (KJV)

 

 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 17, 2026

January 17, 1746: In the Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Jacobites under Charles Stuart defeated Hanoverian forces.

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And on January 17, 1950: The Great Brinks Robbery. 11 men robbed $1.2 Million in cash and $1.5 Million in securities from armored car company Brink’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1956, eight of the robbers were convicted and handed life sentences in prison.

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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.

Caltrops: Making Homemade Tire Spikes, by Joe. R.

Editor’s Introductory Warning: The devices described in this article can cause great bodily injury. We live in a highly litigious society. Employing caltrops in any situation other than a “Without Rule of Law” societal collapse would invite a lawsuit that could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or perhaps even more than a million dollars in assessed damages, attorney fees, and court costs. There is also the potential for these to be stepped on inadvertently by family members, friends, pets, or livestock.  So, ONLY use them in absolute extremis, and only in a fenced-off area that will prevent the equivalent of a “friendly fire” incident. – JWR

The best tire spikes available can be crafted by you at home. You are going to really love this one.

Making tire spikes has to be one of the most popular prepper & survival “how-to” skills out there and you are going to learn how to make tire spikes like the pros. This design that we are going to go over is by far the most effective and durable available. Both National Geographic Doomsday Preppers and the Discovery Channel Myth Busters have already released very popular tire spike video designs with over 2.5 million views, but the design I am going to reveal here far surpasses both of those featured designs.

Tire spikes are also sometimes called caltrops or road spikes. Forms of tire spikes or caltrops have been around for many ages and some of the first uses of these devices can be traced back in history to the times of medieval knights when caltrops of various sizes would be used against enemies on foot and horseback. Tire spikes are also thought of as road spikes or spike strips that law enforcement may deploy to stop fleeing vehicles effectively by rapidly deflating their tires. Tire spikes have even been featured in various Hollywood action films like the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, when tire spikes are dropped by Bond’s BMW spy car.Continue reading“Caltrops: Making Homemade Tire Spikes, by Joe. R.”

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:

We kept busy with our regular winter chores this week.  There was plenty of manure hauling and firewood stacking to do. I also had to do a bit of snowplowing and shoveling, but generally temperatures stayed above freezing.

The odd-sounding squeal of a pressure relief valve told us that the water pressure tank under our house failed, on Sunday evening. It was about 35 years old, which is about a long as those can be expected to last. Thankfully, our water quality here at the ranch is superb, so it was not sediment that killed the pressure tank. It was just rust. We were without running water for just a day and a half. The old tank had a 32-gallon capacity, and the replacement holds 83 gallons. With any luck, the new tank will still be working when I’ve gone to meet my maker.

This week, we took delivery of two Uimoso deer carts with folding steel frames.  I’ll be adding some plywood panels to make them more versatile. I’ll attach those with heavy-duty plastic cable ties, so the panels can be removed quickly, if need be. The carts were advertised as having a 500-pound capacity. They were just $75 each, so I have my doubts about their longevity and their capacity, but time will tell.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“I Am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.” – Lamentations 3:1-13 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 16, 2026

On January 16, 1605, the first edition of “El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha” (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes was published in Madrid.

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January 16, 1668: The Infamous sword duel between George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham and Francis Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. They fought over Anna, Duchess of Shrewsbury and mistress of Buckingham. The Earl was mortally wounded.

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The 20th Anniversary (2005-2025) SurvivalBlog archive waterproof USB sticks have arrived from the manufacturer!  Orders will be mailed out starting next week, in the order that they were received. We expect to sell out in just a few weeks, so order soon!

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Today’s guest article was written by a gentleman who has expressed an interest in advertising in SurvivalBlog, so it will not be part of the writing contest judging.

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We need a few 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, 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.

Preparedness Lessons From Communist Mongolia – Part 2, by G.K.

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

During winter, even the U.S. Embassy monitored the grid closely. The possibility of a complete system failure was taken seriously enough that commercial flights were placed on twenty-four-hour standby for potential evacuation of official personnel. We were nongovernmental residents. Those plans did not include us. Our planning had to be personal.

Cold changed how time felt. Days stretched and compressed unpredictably. Waiting became a skill. Movement slowed, not from laziness, but from necessity. Mistakes in cold were costly. Dropping something, misjudging exposure, forgetting a step could mean numb fingers, wasted effort, or worse.

At night, the building sounded different. Pipes knocked and shifted. Wind pressed against the structure. When the power was out, darkness was complete in a way I had not experienced before. There were no ambient glows, no distant streetlights filtering in. You adjusted your movements carefully, counting steps, memorizing layouts.Continue reading“Preparedness Lessons From Communist Mongolia – Part 2, by G.K.”

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. Today: A map of State Minimum Wages, in Dollars, as of January 2026.

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

(Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)

Economics & Investing Links of Interest
  • For the first time ever, silver touched $100 per Troy ounce in Shanghai on Wednesday (January 14, 2026.) Soon after, the spot price on the Comex briefly touched $93.98 per ounce — another all-time high!  This brought to silver-to-gold ratio down to around 50-to-1. (Not trying to gloat here, but I told you so.)  There was of course some profit-taking on Thursday, but what a ride.  Silver has tripled in just one year!  For those of you who missed out and are now kicking yourselves for not buying silver in the early 2020s, all that I can suggest is: Stack teller boxes of nickels. You can still get them at face value, and that is a huge bargain. – JWR
  • Video interview: Andy Schectman Silver Price Predictions.
  • And at Visual Capitalist: Charted: Where Inflation Has Hit the Hardest (2000–2025).

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 — January 15, 2026

On January 15, 1907, the first 3-element vacuum tube was patented by American inventor Lee DeForest.

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This is the anniversary of the 2009 “Miracle On The Hudson” engines-out emergency water landing.

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Today is the birthday of Dr. Edward Teller who co-invented the H-bomb and worked on the Manhattan Project.

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Today’s guest article was written by a gentleman who has expressed an interest in advertising in SurvivalBlog, so it will not be part of the writing contest judging.

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We need a few 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, 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.

Preparedness Lessons From Communist Mongolia – Part 1, by G.K.

We lived in Mongolia in the early 1990s, for a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, during a time when the system had officially ended but its habits had not yet loosened their grip on daily life. I was in my early thirties, married, with two young daughters, trying to build a life far from anything familiar. We were not passing through, and we were not insulated expatriates. We were attempting to function inside the local economy, under local conditions, with consequences that were immediate and personal.

At the time, I did not think of what we were doing as preparedness. I had no language for it. There was no ideology attached to the experience, no checklist to consult, no theory to reference. There was simply life as it presented itself each day, and life required adaptation. At first, the differences felt cosmetic. Language, clothing, food. Small disorientations that seemed manageable with time and effort. But slowly, and then unmistakably, deeper assumptions began to collapse.

Food was the first. There were no grocery stores in the sense we understood them. No aisles. No fluorescent lighting. No refrigeration cases humming steadily in the background. Food came instead from informal markets and small vendors, scattered and inconsistent, appearing and disappearing without explanation. Availability shifted from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour.Continue reading“Preparedness Lessons From Communist Mongolia – Part 1, by G.K.”