KA6BSA

The BSA red nylon windbreaker I have takes on a whole new set of creases each time I use it or pack it. It is usually not warm enough, has a dumb collar that won't keep your neck out of the wind, and the snaps are stone-age primative compared with modern technical clothing. I have many memories of starting out with this flimsy coat and freezing my tail off by the time the sun went down on a Scouting activity.

So I bought a bright red North Face full-featured expedition jacket with zip out down liner, zip-on external gortex shell, sleeve vents, hood in roll-up collar, etc. It was a marked down 80% as a discontinued color because nobody wanted the bright red. Then I found that the little BSA emblem patch (that came lose in the pocket of the BSA red nylon windbreaker) fits right over the North Face logo! I sewed it on there and now I have the ultimate jacket that BSA will never sell at Scout Shop!

I agree that the REI zip-offs are more in line with the use Scouts will have camping and hiking. Anyone who has used fast-drying zip-offs with practical cargo pockets for Scouting is going to have a hard time accepting the Oscar de la Renta 1970-styled BSA pants. To be really useful of course you need the other lengthwise zipper that allows taking off the lower pantleg over a pair of hiking boots. I still wear the official BSA pants for "dress" uniform situations and ceremonies but I really hate the small "merit badge card" size pockets (is that what they were designed for? must be because they just fit!) They are so tight that my car key electronic doorlock opener buttons get pressed when I sit down. Just dumb and impractical even just for around-town wear. No place to put a flashlight for late troop meetings, no place to put a cell phone, no place to put reading glasses, and even my wallet is not comfortable anywhere in them. Where are we supposed to carry this normal everyday stuff? I thought the answer was in a pants pocket but that seems too obvious. Yes you can argue about what is official and all, but the REI zip-offs come in a color called Surplus very close to the BSA olive, on sale they cost less than the BSA pants, and they make life so much easier. And REI gladly replaces them if the zippers break, the fabric frays or the color ever looks wrong. Get that kind of service from a Scout Shop!

The Wood Badge courses I am familiar with have decided at their first preliminary meeting what the official course headgear would be, as well as the belt. It is good to be practical for sun protection on a long course like Wood Badge, but the Staff may have some suggestions to put into the discussion if there is one. Generally the Staff will be looking for uniformity among the course participants, so wearing whatever you want to on your own might not work out. They will have definite ideas of the goals of the course and may have other restrictions such as use of cell phones, etc. Ask ahead of time what the plan is going to be for hat and belt and whatever else (stave?shorts or long pants? special meals? )you might be worrying about so you can get there and enjoy yourself on the course.

This seems like a nice thread but I feel I must mention that the latest round of agreements between the OA and representatives of Native Americans dictates that the word "regalia" not be used and that only Youths not Adults can wear "costumes" which are limited to the principle characters of the OA ceremonies. Those might seem to be severe restrictions but when you consider what the lawsuits did to the YMCA Indian Guides, where they have completely given up their entire Indian theme, it at least allows the OA to continue its essential ceremonies. I am not happy with the situation either, but are you aware of these developments or just choosing to ignore them? These changes will not come easy, but it seems we are stuck with them.

When I was a Boy Scout in 1957 we all wore our full uniforms to school the day of a troop meeting. We were really proud to do that and it was a perfectly normal thing to do. The true popularity test of the BSA uniform today is demonstrated by kids like my 15 year old son, who is an Eagle Scout, a troop instructor and leader, who attended the 2001 National Jamboree and has four full uniforms that are model examples of regulations... He would never dream of wearing a uniform to school... his worst nightmare if he did! He always wears a T-shirt (skateboard or electric guitar logo) under his uniform shirt and quickly peels off the Class A's as soon as he gets to the car after a troop meeting or campout. In the proper situations of Scouting the uniform is fine for him, but in the normal world it is not. With so many important issues as a parent today I have to choose my battles to make the most of my influence, so it isn't something I find essential to argue with him about. Any active Scouter knows that our older Scouts today find Uniforming as one of the most disagreeable Methods of Scouting, one they try to opt out of as soon as they can. When they do accept the need for a uniform at Scouting activities, we often find it helpful to let them express some individual preference by wearing a non-standard belt or some goofy skateboard shoes, and don't press the need for a hat that might muss up their carefully done teenager hair!

My impression of the reason for the big conspicuous white "Venturing BSA" patch on the right sleeve is that since the Venturing program is only a few years old it was judged to need a big advertisement for itself right there on the uniform. So why doesn't BSA Supply Div sew it on in the right place for us already on the shirt when we buy it? Looking at a bunch of Venturers you see that big patch all up and down their sleeves in different places. I think it shows some serious insecurity to need that big patch repeating what is already embroidered above the right pocket just a few inches away. I suppose BSA sells the white patch separately because they can discontinue its use if the program survives a few more years. But meanwhile it seems greatly redundant to me... and it certainly is conspicuous like they wanted it to be since it is too large and mostly-blank white cloth. Seems so contrary to have the shoulder loops be a dark green nobody can even notice... must have been a different committee doing that. To put it in perspective I can't visualize the same kind of patch ever being accepted by Boy Scouts... they would feel silly wearing a 3-inch size patch saying "Boy Scouts" pushing their little patrol animals farther down the sleeve. I don't remember any such silly big patch on my Expolrer shirt sleeve in 1960. But then we knew that was a go program?

Of course this question keeps coming up because it seems like almost all sporting events award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medal winners with gold, silver, and bronze... the boys and parents have all been exposed to that and expect something similar. And the relative value of gold to silver doesn't help either. Could be anything arbitrary: copper, bronze, steel was the succession of metal technology for swords and that makes about as much sense. If it was all logical we wouldn't have much to discuss here!

I was a Cub back in 1955 and earned Wolf, Bear, Lion, and Webelos rank. Am I the only one to notice that for Webelos to be an acronym for the ranks they would need to be Welf, Bear, Lion? Should have been Wobelos, or why not even more accurately Wobelis... which is also a good enough made-up Indian-sounding word. Maybe that is why it was gladly fixed to "We Be Loyal Scouts" when the Lion was dropped.