I didn't want to hijack another thread, but a comment was made that got me thinking, how much personalization/customization is okay within the prescribed uniforming of the BSA.
There are troops out there that wish to express their uniqueness and individual scouts within those troops do as well.
There are practical reasons for proper uniforming as well.
Because my boys always wore full uniforms, from a distance they all looked the same. Except for size, it was often difficult to tell who was who.
As other troops went to full uniforms, my boys adopted a 6' walking stick. That allowed me to tell my boys from the rest. It had a 1" hook on the end of the stick and it was always easier as I walked around to all the MB sessions and see all the staffs hanging from tree branches outside the entrance. I didn't know who the boys were, but I knew where they were.
However, the boys were allowed to customize and personalize their staff so as to be easily recognizable when mixed up with the others. Carvings, grips, medallions, paint and wood burning were the norm.
But with being boy-led, knowing the officers was important, too. So they all purchased the expedition hat with lg 1st Class emblem on it. They stood out from the rest of my boys. But then there were a lot of those hats so the SPL wore a white necker with 3 green stripes on it and PL's 2 green strips, and APL's 1 green stripe. From a distance one couldn't always tell even those stripes so the SPL also carried a bright yellow flag on his 6' staff and the PL's had their patrol flag on their staff. The background on the patrol flags were all different colored, too.
From few hundred yards I see a boy in partial uniform - not one of mine. Full uniform but no staff - again, not mine. Full uniform, with staff, expedition hat and white necker, one of my APL's! Full uniform, with staff, expedition hat, white necker and colored flag on staff, PL (Color would let me know which patrol). Full uniform, staff, exp. hat, white necker and yellow flag - That's my SPL.
All in acceptable full uniform, yet unique enough to even tell from a distance generally who was who.
At Jambo, I had SPL and ASPL carry a staff with green bar/white flags. They never carried them and the other leaders were tearing their hair out always trying to find them. When they asked me I always told them, they must be in their tent because that's where the flag was. When the boys came out of one of the major venue shows, it was a mass of humanity and the boys would follow ME out because I carried my staff high over the crowd and they could keep tabs. I would have preferred having the SPL doing his job with his banner instead of relying on the adults to babysit them.
Stosh
There are troops out there that wish to express their uniqueness and individual scouts within those troops do as well.
There are practical reasons for proper uniforming as well.
Because my boys always wore full uniforms, from a distance they all looked the same. Except for size, it was often difficult to tell who was who.
As other troops went to full uniforms, my boys adopted a 6' walking stick. That allowed me to tell my boys from the rest. It had a 1" hook on the end of the stick and it was always easier as I walked around to all the MB sessions and see all the staffs hanging from tree branches outside the entrance. I didn't know who the boys were, but I knew where they were.
However, the boys were allowed to customize and personalize their staff so as to be easily recognizable when mixed up with the others. Carvings, grips, medallions, paint and wood burning were the norm. But with being boy-led, knowing the officers was important, too. So they all purchased the expedition hat with lg 1st Class emblem on it. They stood out from the rest of my boys. But then there were a lot of those hats so the SPL wore a white necker with 3 green stripes on it and PL's 2 green strips, and APL's 1 green stripe. From a distance one couldn't always tell even those stripes so the SPL also carried a bright yellow flag on his 6' staff and the PL's had their patrol flag on their staff. The background on the patrol flags were all different colored, too.
From few hundred yards I see a boy in partial uniform - not one of mine. Full uniform but no staff - again, not mine. Full uniform, with staff, expedition hat and white necker, one of my APL's! Full uniform, with staff, expedition hat, white necker and colored flag on staff, PL (Color would let me know which patrol). Full uniform, staff, exp. hat, white necker and yellow flag - That's my SPL.
All in acceptable full uniform, yet unique enough to even tell from a distance generally who was who.
At Jambo, I had SPL and ASPL carry a staff with green bar/white flags. They never carried them and the other leaders were tearing their hair out always trying to find them. When they asked me I always told them, they must be in their tent because that's where the flag was. When the boys came out of one of the major venue shows, it was a mass of humanity and the boys would follow ME out because I carried my staff high over the crowd and they could keep tabs. I would have preferred having the SPL doing his job with his banner instead of relying on the adults to babysit them.
Stosh
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