Rip Van Scouter

Doesn't this just about cover it? http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0605/d-lett.htm "First, when referring to uniforms, Class A and Class B are military terms that are not used in the BSA. The correct Scouting terms for the two versions of the uniform are "official uniform" and "activity uniform." Although less formal, the activity uniform is still considered an official uniform, and therefore it is appropriate for boys to use the Scout salute while wearing it during a flag ceremony." And from Scouting.org (National BSA website): http://www.scouting.org/CubScouts/Unifo

OK, 212! I may be slow, or sleepy, but you didn't need to post it 4 time! I must have missed the Roundtable where they made the announcement. Or maybe GSLAC is starting a rebellion! Is there a similar new uniform (other than the new Cub Switchbacks) in blue for the Cub Scout program? Or will all Cubs, not just Webelos, eventually be wearing tan and (forest) green? I wonder why BSA felt the need to switch from olive green to forest green? Especially since the military abandoned olive green anyway in favor of camouflage several years ago. At least it was possible for parents to buy o

John, I am confused. How do you "migrate away from" the use of District patches? I would think they are either allowed, or they are not. And, what "new uniform" would you be "migrating" towards? Has something new appeared on Scoutstuff.org as a new "official uniform"? I have not seen anything like that. The only new shirts I have seen recently have been "activity", "action", or "crew" shirts (found under "Apparel", not "Uniforms"). The new "switchback" official uniform pants are only one more variation on the olive green pants/shorts that have been used for many years now. By t

John-in-KC wrote: "Funny. My Council uses the terms Class A and Class B in its official literature." Funny. My Council requires (or at least authorizes) the wear of district insignia on the Scouter uniform, in clear violation of the BSA Insignia Guide as follows: "District Insignia - Districts are operational arms of the local council. Individuals are not identified as residents of a district, but of the local council and the Boy Scouts of America. For this reason district insignia is not authorized for wear on the uniform. Where it seems desirable to identify district participation

What is funny about this whole "topic" is that the majority of Scouters I encounter seem to accept the BSA uniform shirt as a uniform by itself, even if worn with blue jeans or any other pants or shorts. Yes, it can be a struggle to get the boys to wear the bottom half of the uniform, but if the leaders don't even lead by example, and I see MANY leaders in jeans or other non-uniform pants or shorts at meetings, why should the boys, or the parents for that matter, feel it is important? So if Scouts can salute in half of a uniform, why does it have to be the top half only? I would rather se

Stosh, What you do may be special and you have every right to be proud of it. However, don't count out Boy Scouts when it comes to Honor Guards, especially for Flag Cermenonies. Yes, Boy Scouts are not allowed to drill with firearms, but there is plenty of D&C that can be done with out firearms. At one time Boy Scouts even used Staffs for a sort of "Manual of Arms". Yes, Boy Scouts can not present a "Rifle Salute", nor execute fancy spins and tosses, as in the "Queen Anne Salute" and other maneuvers, but they can do an excellent job with a Bugler playing taps at a funeral, accomp

1Vigil, I like your style. I have thought about approaching my boy's Scout troop about starting an Honor Guard unit. They are probably the typical BSA troop. No one wants to drill or practice Flag ceremonies, except at the weekly troop meeting. And then it is almost unbearable to watch. It was so bad this last week (all the older boys were out ata "Life to Eagle" seminar, that the Scoutmaster had to step in and review a few details for the boys, like securing the right grommet on the flag so when they hoist it up the pole (they use a rope and pulley even on the short wood pole!) it will not be

I went to our Cub Scout Roundtable this week and at the sign-in table, along with the usual flyers, were a couple of bags of sample patches, one being a new oval "Centennial Recruiter" patch, and the other being a rectangular strip with the words "BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA" in all red, block-style capital letters. This patch/strip is different in appearance from the one that comes on the uniform shirt. For one thing it has a red, merrowed border around its perimeter, like on the standard "RECRUITER" strip. For another, the word "OF" is all full-size letters, while it is smaller letters on the uni

When I was a Boy Scout in the early 1970's I attended Junior Leader Training Camp. We were encouraged to come up with imaginative Patrol names, even if it included a non-sequitor or made no sense. We selected "The Atomic Thumbs" ("Atomic" energy being consider cutting edge and environmentally friendly back then!) and our logo which we put on our patrol flag (easily could have been inked onto a blank patch if it was a permanent patrol name) was a giant human thumb with a pictorial representation of an atom at its center, several electron orbital rings around a round nucleas, a common symbol for

I too feel that this is inappropriate "nitpicking". As a Pack Trainer, who does care about proper uniforming, I walk a fine line between offending/insulting/hassling parents and even other leaders about proper uniforming and informing and educating them. Some people are grateful for the correction, but it must be done in the proper manner. We must keep in mind that some parents are just looking for an excuse NOT to continue with Scouting, since it requires actual WORK on their part and they are continually being asked to HELP. These are the parents of kids who need Scouting the MOST, since the

"I know Troops have the option of designing and wearing their own caps, but I thought Packs had to wear the official BSA headgear?" Maybe so, but then, just what hat do Pack leaders (not Den Leaders) wear? The photos on Scoutstuff.org always show the Cub Scout leader (blue loops) as hatless, while chatting up or standing next to a Boy Scout leader (red loops) wearing the official red/green Scout hat. Well, there is the "Cub Scout Leaders Bush Hat, Price: $35.35", but its styling reminds me of the US Air Force Female Training instructor hats, so, no thank you! (Male USAF TI's wear dark blu

That is also a good idea, but when you pay $150 for a garment, "Made in the USA", supposedly for better quality, you expect sort of expect the buttons NOT to start falling off after only a few wearings, and not even a washing! Is that too much to expect? I guess anyone who buys one at the new lower price can put some of the savings into paying a seamstress (or seamster?) to oversew the buttons so they won't fall off!!!!!!! Funny thing, the uniform shirt comes with extra buttons sewn on inside at bottom. Why didn't they think of doing that for the Jac-shirt as well? If anyone ha

Good thought on contacting the manufacturer. Why not go direct to Woolrich? I guess I will try that next. Then Bemidji, thanks! Supply Division finally replied to my e-mail. All they said was they do not have any buttons! They did not respond to my suggestion that I might seek a replacement jac-shirt based on defective sewing! Anyone else have a problem with this with recently manufactured Woolrich-made jac-shirts? The Scout shop ladies say there is a new manufacturer, but all the ones I saw on the rack looked the same and had the same number on the tag, WPL 6635.

Current style is 3/4-inch (19mm) red plastic 4-hole with a rounded (not flattened) rim and a matte (not glossy) finish. They are flat on the backside. On some buttons I have found the holes are too large and take up most of the area inside the rim. On others they are way too small. I found some on a website in the UK that look right. A package of four buttons is $3.00 (not bad) but shipping cost from the UK was another $7.00 !!! I fired off an e-mail to Supply Division but have not got an answer yet.

Well, last summer I finally broke down and asked me wife to get me the red wool jac-shirt from the Scout Shop for Father's Day. You just don't find size 5X on e-Bay it seems! I thought $150 was just a little too high, and I was right! Too bad I didn't know they would bring the price down to $99 only a few months later! I have been wearing it day-in, day-out, for Scout meetings and casual wear (no BSA patch), since it is so nice and warm and comfortable. My wife even "steals" it now and then. The problem is the buttons are falling off. I try to save them, but have lost three already. I wo

Trevorum, It looks like that jacket is indeed a Boy Scout, not Explorer jacket. However, it is definitely NOT a wool Jac-shirt. It looks like a cotton poplin windbreaker, similar to the old Boy Scout red jacket, which was replaced by the red nylon "coaches jacket". When you look at the photos you can see the logo is clearly the BSA universal emblem, usually only used for Boy Scouts and Scouters, not for Explorers. The green color is interesting. It does not seem to match the old olive color I wore as a Boy Scout in the 1960's and '70's. The "iron on" tag or label with the scout

I tried for a while on e-bay, but I never could find one in my size, 5X, while it was on the rack at the Scout Shop, unlike the other uniform parts which I had to special order. So, when ScoutStuff.org offered a free framed back pack ($50 value when checked on Amazon.com), which we needed for our son anyway, for purchases of $100 or more (excluding awards), I told my wife the jac-shirt was what I wanted for Father's Day. Looked at another way, we bought a $50 backpack we would have bought anyway (it or one like it), and got a $50 discount off the jac-shirt! I am happy! Besides, if i

I tried for a while on e-bay, but I never could find one in my size, 5X, while it was on the rack at the Scout Shop, unlike the other uniform parts which I had to special order. So, when ScoutStuff.org offered a free framed back pack ($50 value when checked on Amazon.com), which we needed for our son anyway, for purchases of $100 or more (excluding awards), I told my wife the jac-shirt was what I wanted for Father's Day. Looked at another way, we bought a $50 backpack we would have bought anyway (it or one like it), and got a $50 discount off the jac-shirt! I am happy! Besides, if i

I could not buy off the rack, so I had to use "made to order", which has a two garment minimum, i.e. two shirts, two pants (long or short), but the choice of material did not matter. Sooooo.....I do not like poly/cotton shirts (they make me sweat) and I knew I would have to have either poly/wool or all cotton pressed or ironed, so I opted for the cotton for comfort. I ordered one long-sleeve for winter and one short-sleeve for summer. I actually like poly/wool dress pants (have several suits that way), so I order a pair of long pants in poly/wool which (as noted by others) are "dressier"

I recently purchased off e-Bay a blue "boonie" style hat. It has a medium (not broad or narrow) all-around brim and a narrow cloth (not webbing) hat band of matching material stitch at intervals all around. It matches the current Cub Scout blue uniform in color, but I can find no references to it in any literature. It is NOT the "Cub Scout Leaders Bush Hat" with the "Down Under styling" that is currently on Scoutstuff.org website. It does not have the standard "official BSA" tag, but has a tag that reads "Made by Oscar de la Renta for the Boys Scouts of America". Could this be a prototype th

"Our pack has done the same thing, refers those new people joining not to buy the pants that is. They tell them jeans are fine. Beside, it is cheaper to buy the dress blue/Dickies/Chinos or whatever you call them at Wal-Mart, agreed. Sweat pants are NOT allowed. But here is something the boys in the pack have taken a liking to." Hmmmm, nothing new here so far. Reading the last sentence I was hoping you had found a way to encourage wearing of the "blues". "A good number of them have bought the khaki colored cargo pants. Worn with the blue shirt, the boys look awesome, better than bein

"unofficial authority"? Isn't that an oxymoron? Like "military intelligence"? I think by now most of us will recognize the activity uniform as defined by various councils, and it seems by at least a few BSA sources, does include the T-shirt option, as long as a Scout belt and pants or shorts are included also. However, it does seem a silly argument, when we can't even seem to get Cubs and Boy Scouts to wear official pants or shorts when they wear the uniform shirt and (sometimes) neckerchief. To me they still look like a motley bunch when some are wearing grey sweatpants, anothe

VegasDJ, please go up 5 postings in this thread. You will see my previous posting where I quoted from the Insignia Guide. It is quite clear. Only one Youth Religious knot may be worn. Device pins designating at which levels the award was earned MAY be worn. By the way, in most denominations, the adult religious award is not earned by meeting requirements as the youth award is. It is given by a religious organization for outstanding service.

Hoo-hoo, boy! Here's more! From the Greater St. Louis Area Council website. "2005 National Scout Jamboree - Information for Scouts and Parents": ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uniform Requirements There are two types of uniforms. One is the official national jamboree uniform. This uniform will be worn while traveling to and from the National Scout Jamboree, while on tour in Washington D.C. and Williamsburg, and at selected events at the Jamboree such as the Arena Shows. The other uniform is the activity uniform, sometimes referred to as the Class B uniform. This wi

I NEVER said the activity uniform should not include official uniform parts. The entire quote, which you edited ( "..."!), and not even including the previous context, was: "My opinion is, if all or a majority wear the same identical clothing, including council or unit "approved" shirt and other official uniform parts, it constitutes an activity uniform, and Scouts should salute." Now, please show me where BSA defines the "activity" uniform! Yes, the "field" uniform is well-defined, but, as I said, the choice of shirt worn with the "activity" uniform is a gray area. BSA offers