And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים׃ אֹתֹת sign, signal a distinguishing mark banner remembrance miraculous sign omen warning token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof. Strong’s Definition: ʼôwth, oth; probably from H225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:—mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token. מועדים The KJV…

We’ve announced the winners of Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest, which ended yesterday. 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 123 are… First Prize Winner: First Prize goes to Lodge Pole, for Raising, Hunting, and Harvesting Animals. It was posted Feburary 11-16, 2026. See: (See: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.)  He will receive as prizes: A…

A few years back, I had the privilege of visiting the NRA Whittington Center, a 33,000-acre stretch of high desert beauty tucked into the foothills of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just southwest of Raton. I came away in awe of what the center offers adult shooters: an unrivaled collection of ranges, world-class competition venues and the kind of wide-open Western landscape that makes you feel like you’re back in time on the Santa Fe Trail. But since my visit, I’ve learned that one of the most compelling reasons to make the trip to Whittington has nothing to do…

Price is often considered to be a solid indicator of a firearm’s potential for good performance. If that were a hard-and-fast rule, my highly customized competition and carry model 1911s would shoot circles around my well-worn Springfield XD-S in .45 ACP, even with its aftermarket trigger. But, in reality, the XD-S offsets its lower capacity and slower split times by holding its own in accuracy and reliability at any distance. Don’t ask me how or why, it just does—and at a fraction of the cost. The last few years of my Army career were spent neck-deep in the rapid prototyping,…

Some members of the U.S. Army will begin receiving a new XM8 carbine for testing in October 2026, a shorter, lighter version of the M7 rifle introduced under the branch’s Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program. The carbine version was developed by SIG Sauer as part of its joint Product Improvement Effort with the U.S. Military. The gun received the official XM8 designation and stock number from the U.S. Army in March, according to Soldier Systems. The XM8 trims one full pound off the M7’s 8.3-pound heft. Its shorter barrel contributes to the weight savings, along with modifications to the…

Two things taught me to be a much better turkey caller. The first was when I started to semi-regularly kill bucks by snort-wheezing at them. Now I know that might seem disconnected from turkey hunting, but hear me out. Most hunters look at the snort-wheeze call as a dominant buck vocalization that is a straight-up challenge to fight.Because of this, hunters will spot a buck, snort-wheeze at it, and then usually get a negative or neutral response. They’ll reason that the buck isn’t a fighter, or isn’t in a mood to scrap, and give up on that call. I’m not…

On March 31, 1917, the Danish West Indies were officially ceded to the US for $25 million and renamed the Virgin Islands. Pictured is St. Thomas Island. — March 31 is the birthday of the late economist Dr. Walter E. Williams, PhD., who was born in 1936. He passed away in 2020. His book American Contempt for Liberty is highly recommended. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present teh final entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any…

Armed Citizen® Today In Rancho Cordova, Calif., a man approached a home on the evening of March 19 and allegedly began threatening to kill the occupants inside. They called 911 and repeatedly told the man to leave; however, he reportedly broke a window and entered the home, whereupon one of the residents shot him. The alleged intruder was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and booked in jail on suspicion of felony burglary and making threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury. (sacbee.com, Sacramento, Calif., 3/20/26) From the Armed Citizen® Archives – March 1987 Charles…

If there are two things that are popular in the firearms world right now, it is suppressors and pistol-caliber carbines (PCC). Silent Steel USA has both bases covered with its new Streamer Series PCC suppressors. Silent Steel USA is adding a new line of pistol-caliber carbine (PCC) suppressors to its Streamer series. A Finnish company that has been in the suppressor business for more than a decade, Silent Steel opened its U.S.-based manufacturing subsidiary in late 2025. The company’s Streamer line of suppressors use a controlled gas flow design with the company’s patented FLOW-IQ technology. This is a baffleless filter…

00:00:01 Speaker 1: Welcome to Backwoods University, a place where we focus on wildlife, wild places and the people who dedicate their lives to conserving both. Big shout out to ONEX Hunt for their support of this podcast. 00:00:12 Speaker 2: I’m your host, Lake Pickle. 00:00:14 Speaker 1: And on today’s episode, we’re gonna be talking about the liquid that fuels life itself, water, but even more specifically, we’re gonna be talking about a water crisis, one that’s been going on for over a century really, and to do this story justice, we’re gonna have to head south, and…