I tested and did a review on this excellent but somewhat pricey jacket over at my other blog:
http://brawnyview.blogspot.com
The actual product page with the company's own specs can be found at:
http://brooks-range.com/cirro-jacket.html
I love this jacket and plan to take it with me on my drive out west. I'll be gone for six months and put over 5,000 miles on behind the wheel.
This jacket will be my mainstay because of the warmth to weight ratio, how sharp it looks, and the generous pockets. It really packs down small, feels luxurious, and never binds. That's very important on road trips. I believe it will look great with jeans.
I have the small jacket. For my personal thoughts on the sizing, check out my other blog. Basically, when in doubt, take the next larger size. I have a small, it weighs 10.6 ounces.
Cirro Jacket-Brooks Range Gear Review
What Will the Future Look Like?
We seem to have various views of what our future, as a world, a country, a communtiy, an indivigual may be.
The acronym : TEOTWAWKI is fun to pronounce. Try it Tee-oh-Twaw-Key. Thats how I'm saying it.
I found it at : http://thesurvivalistblog.net/
He's got some great links, too, and the Winterizing a Travel Trailer was a good read. This couple went up to Stevens County in Washington State, lived in a modified 18 foot travel trailer with temps getting down to minus 3. Thats serious stuff.
Anyways, in a discourse on future urban survival, the scenario mentions eating cats and dogs.
The End of The World As We Know It (Teotwawki) will bring out all our survival instincts, and its uncertain what humans will resort to.
In the book and movie by the same title, The Road, Cormac MaCarthy shows the cannibalism and farming of human which includes maintaining life while slowing harvesting food. Pretty gross, but profound thoughts here.
We all know about the Donner's Pass Party, and reduction to cannibalism. This is not unusual historically. And if we can eat humans, we can sure eat cats, dogs, rats, insects.
Its a disasociation, I believe, that evolution has allowed for us to move forward as a species.
If I am ever reduced to eating non typical food sources, the first step is bringing that item into a generic form: killing, skinning, and cutting into pieces of standard shapes. I don't want to spend any time looking at eyes and taste buds, at fingers or fur.
Thats just me, from a point of plenty, without necessity or hunger.
Watching the distruction in Japan, first massive earthquakes and after shocks, then devastating tsunami, and worst of all nuclear disaster with long term impact, we're prompted to ask ourselves questions on survival.
How secure is my water? How are my adapting skills being developed? How long will civility hold out while people are living in cramped conditions?
I noticed families building cardboard homes inside the building for mass housing. I loved it. They found ways to feel privacy, create polite boundaries, re establish family life.
What will our future look like? Will we be able to recognize ourselves?
Interestingly, on the survivalistblog website, the question is constantly posed: What did you do to prepare today?
Interesting food for thought.
Eureka Casper Sleeping Bag Review
I love this sleeping bag. It is 100% synthetic, with extra fill for feet and chest area, a true woman's bag.
It is the first bag that's ever fit me just right. That means as soon as I get in it, the warmth is felt because I'm not heating up that extra foot at the bottom or that extra width at the shoulders.
My bag and the specs can be seen at :Women's Casper Sleeping Bag
I've modified a lot of other sleeping bags, and they've been good, but if you want one that fits from the start, check it out.
Eureka
makes a lot of gear. I have a Spitfire I tent, and it is very well made too.
The three-quarters zipper is two way, with a substancial draft tube, triple stitched in a fabric which feels luxurious. I slept in shorts and sleeveless t-shirt, no socks needed. 
The zipper can open all the way, without any stress on its componants because of the triangular web in place and seperation feature. This allows you to use it as a quilt on warm nights.
A specially designed hood gives comfort and warmth. This 15 degree bag weighs 2 pounds 15 ounces, and came in a serious compression sack. I'm using a silnylon stuff sack however, and keeping the compression sack for clothing. 
I love the color, a deep gray, mint green top tone. The bottom has a circular footbed, which kept my feet toasty, yet not feeling claustrophobic. I appreciate that.
I keep it hung up using the two loops sewn into the bottom when not in use. Other features include an inside chest pocket for those nighttime things.
I found turning over was easy, not getting twisted up in a too large bag.
Of course, if you're a taller woman, they have those too, as well as men's bags.I'm so happy with this one it's the one I'll bring to the Grand Tetons this summer. I'll be able to test it in high elevations from May to October, the length of my seasonal job.
Gear Testing-the Woman's Bag
I have a new Eureka Women's Sleeping Bag to test this weekend.
My initial thoughts and report upon recieving it can be read on March 14th, at
http://brawnyview.blogspot.com
This weekend I'm heading out on a river trail to test it.
Photo and specs can be read at:
http://store.eurekatent.com/products/364834/Casper_15
Apparently the full moon will be closer to the earth than its been in 18 years. Some folks feel this portends disaster. I'm not that worried, whatever happens we'll deal.
Perhaps as American's we've become so complacent with past prosperity that anything new or threatening is cause for upset.
I finished reading an article in Money, August 2010, an interview with Bill Gross. He keeps mentioning the "new normal".
Will Rogers said "I'm not so much concerned about the return on my money as the return of my money".
Well spoken, and sad, because its become so normal for our investments to evaporate in the bubbles we've lived through, that just not loosing principle keeps us happy.
My strategy? Buy one quality item, learn how to fix anything that can go wrong with it (sewing, gluing, hammering, whatever) and wear it out.
Avoid any tendency to reward myself with material goods. Instead, reward myself with free time, adventure, and companionship.
Responsible consumership is the new normal.
Survivalistblog.net A Great Resourse
I came across this link while searching for tips on dealing with nuclear disasters.
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/
This is a huge issue right now, even enough for the President to do a complete review of our current emergency systems and who would do what.
The links page on this survival blog has many places to read about guns, gardening, trailer living, hand to hand fighting and self defense, food and water with calculators, trapping wild game, raising animals. Some links are for videos, some for books, some are websites.
I've become interested in skills which involve improvisation. Using only what is at hand, easily obtainable, or can be hand made are the true skills for coming disasters.
Admittedly, this type of thinking will not endure you to governments and authority figures. They want you to think things are under control, just get in the line for assistance.
Others know and have seen that only self reliant thinking will get you through when there is a true disaster. Food, water, shelter and self defense are critical elements in a catastrophe.
Pictures, Graphics, Real Information
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366308/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-Meltdown-3rd-reactor-blast-hits-nuclear-plant.html
This link has many photos, graphics, explanations and is incredibly well done.
The charts show how the one through seven level disaster number is accredited to nuclear events.
Before and after shots of the facilities, along with maps showing what it means for our west coast.
Life Post Japan-Get Ready
We're still testing gear here. I did an initial review of the
Eureka Woman's Casper Sleeping Bag at http://brawnyview.blogspot.com/
Plan to take it this weekend for a trail- real trip event.Then we'll post photos here.
I'm all about hands on testing. Just thinking about stuff, reading, and book knowledge works for starters. Then, a person has to get out and try it. Like my hobo stove, hobo lamp, survival shelters, acorn and wild food experiments.
The horrible catastrophe which befell Japan, starting with the massive 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami is causing some people to look at survivalism again.
Who knew iodine tablets taken just before exposure could assist in preventing radiation poisoning?
Not like "they" are giving us real numbers. Sorta like getting your complete cholesterol profile done only to have the doctor say, "its fine, let us worry about the actual numbers". Anybody knows that's dangerous ground. A lipid profile can vary so much, the HDL and triglycerides telling much more than a LDL reading alone.
So, I went searching for real numbers.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=400+milliseverts+per+hour+Japan+radiation&ei=utf-8&fr=b1ie7
by putting 400 millisivents per hour Japan radiation into the yahoo search engine.
I had heard yesterday the term "400 millisievents" which put me onto real information. According to experts, the sun gives us just 3 millisivents Per Year. If we get a cat scan we get 8. I've been reading warnings about that, so the number 400 sure caught my attention.
Some experts claim we lay people can't understand the "numbers". We are computer literate. I take exception to that theory.
Not to be a fear monger here. Just wondering why we are told such pacifying things when in reality we should be thinking about our own survival kits at home. Our skills in water management, food storage while people in Japan go hungry for days on end should be sending us messages about preparedness.
Japan is the third largest economy in the world, an industrialized nation. A natural disaster has brought untold suffering. Time to look at our own readiness. If they are going hungry, it could happen here as well.