I have seen it done.

It is functional and practical.


But the Scouters who I have seen do this are also not examples I want my son to follow.

Example.......

One scouter while I was talking to him to me to wait a second he needed to change roles. Ripped off his Cubmaster patch and put on a Den Leader patch. Stupid if you ask me.
was he trying to be funny, don't know, but I was really put off by it.

I have three shirts, one cub scouting, one boy scouting and one of the crew. All have the correct positions of responsibility on them.

I am considering using this in my troop for position (POR) patches for Scouts only.
Since most boys change jobs every six months I think it makes sense.

I did my sons 21's century shirt with velcro (tan from the Mil supply store) for the POR patch on the pocket/sleeve.

I think it is a great idea and have tried to find Vecro in the correct colors but have been unsuccessful. I think it would be great for boys rank and position patches as too many change too frequently. For some boys it may not be an issue but we have some go-getters and of course every six months you have changing positions. I also like it for adult leaders because, although it is great to have a uniform for each position, that is not always practical especially in these tough economic times. I actually have 7 uniform shirts (I wear a lot of hats) but often find that I need more than one for something specific (Jambo for example) and changing patches is a pain. I am an active COR for two units, a UC, a member of the DC and an ASM. While I am an ASM I certainly don't want to wear a COR uniform because although it would be correct as it is my primary registered position, it can usurp the authority of the SM. As COR people will come to me that should go to the SM because they know "a COR is in charge". Out of respect for the SM, I prefer to not do that. As a UC I don't want to do visits with unit numbers on my shirt etc.... At this time I do have seperate shirts but it would it be nice to have shirts and patches that I can change quickly. JMO

If you do the velcro route, you will also need to do velcro numbers if you are in both unit and district PORs or involved with 2 different units ( Boy Scouts are green, Cub Scouts are red)

Me personally I don't like the velcro route, but do see it as an affordable alternative to multiple shirts.

EDITED: forgot to add you will also need to velcro the trained strip if involved in a troop and a pack( green and tan for Scouts, red and tan for cubs)(This message has been edited by eagle92)

I believe most boys would like to keep their POR badges as souvenirs for their old age. You could always have the new PORs pay for their "patches"

My thought was to have troop issued POR patches, in other words the patches with the velcro sewn on them belong to the troop and are on loan during your term. What we do now is give the Scout the patch. If a Scout wants a souvenir patch he can certainly purchase one himself. The Scout Shop is just a few miles down the road from us.

I do not intend to do this for unit numbers, Quality unit patches, rank patches, etc, only POR patches. It's certainly better than boys having their POR patch safety pinned on their shoulder!

Now if a MC or ASM wants t do this with their uniform than that's OK with me but what I'm considering here is something the troop will implement for the Scouts.

sewing isn't that hard and a good skill for a scout to have.

My scout will sew his own when the time comes.....which is soon.

Yea, sewing is a nice skill to learn. My son learned it in 7th and 8th grades when he had stuffed toy sewing projects in both grades. But I'm pretty sure most kids have their parents sew the patches on for them.

Maybe a sewing MB and making it required for 1st Class? I do remember my son sewing a button as a TC. My wolf den made red vest for their American Indian Elective in Nov. Greta skill to know

There's lots of other patches that Scouts can sew on their uniform. I don't think not having to sew the POR patch on is going to destroy a kids opportunity to sew.

Hawkrod, I purchased the Velcro Attach-A-Patch product from Industrial Webbing online. Comes in four colors, size is 4"X12".

(This message has been edited by Eagle732)

So, let me get a visual on this....

A scout who has had a POR and is not currently in any POR will now run around with some sort of half-velcro thingy stuck on his left sleeve? Does this mean that now has to come off for 6 months while everyone waits for another election? Are these velcro things glued on so we will need a come up with a new way to remove goo other than badge magic or were they sewn on?

Throwing a rock into a pond might have been a good idea at the time, but does anyone ever consider the effects of the ripples or is that someone else's problem?

Stosh

The velcro has two halves, you sew the "fuzzy" soft piece on the sleeve (or badge magic if you prefer). The velcro piece is the same color as the shirt so when a patch is removed it is just there. This is how military uniforms are done now. It is amazingly simple and if it works in heavy duty applications like it was designed for it should work well in Scouting. JMO

But thne you have a fuzzy patch in a place where a different patch is suppose to be.

Please don't tell me that Scouts today are that lazy that they cannot sew their own patches on. I know how difficult sewing a patch on a pocket can be, but it is not rocket science.

Also by using such stuff as badge bond, badge magic ad nauseum, it does leave residue that makes the shirt unserviceable when the scout outgrows it.