Lenae

I agree with T2Eagle. In this situation' date=' I think a similar cheaper/better fitting pair of pants or shorts is better than jeans or pants that stand out drastically. I also support looking neat over '100%' uniform suited if part of the uniform just doesn't fit right and there's no official alternative until the scout grows more.[/quote']

 

You said what I was thinking well. Will he look better in knock off (but same color) pants that actually fit, or will he look better in the official uniform pants that absolutely do not fit nicely.

 

Look into 5.11 Tacticle Pants...they are high but they last a long time' date=' wear well, don't fade[/quote']

 

 

My husband has 5.11 Tactical pants, I know and love them well. From what I could see on their website, they don't make childrens sizes. They would be just about perfect though.

What's the big deal' date=' the vast majority of scouts don't wear the BSA uniform correctly anyway. Units that do wear the uniform correctly stand out as an exception rather than the rule. Stosh[/quote'] We prefer to be the exception. We try and teach our children to do things 100% even if they are surrounded by people who do things 50%.

What are the general feelings toward non-official uniform pants? My husband and I took our son to the local Scout shop yesterday to get him outfitted with his uniform. But the pants are ridiculously huge. He's small for his age and very very slender. I only buy him slim fit pants as a rule, and even those have to have the elastic inside the waistband cinched down really tight. The size 4 Cub Scout pants fit decently well in length, and they can be hemmed, but they are huge otherwise. We bought the pants anyway, because we are big on doing our best to look our best and follow the rules. Most of the boys in the pack just wear jeans or whatever pants they have, so my son will likely be the only boy in the full uniform. I found some slim size cargo pants that are navy blue online, from a brand I normally like for my son. Will he look like he's in full uniform if his pants are not the official Cub Scout pants? I want him to look nice, but the official uniform pants just do not fit well. Or will he look as "un-put together" as the boys in jeans or whatever pants do?

Whatever we end up buying isn't going to see much use. We have a small travel trailer that we will continue to use for our personal camping trips. I appreciate the suggestions so far, and I'll check out Scout Direct. My husband thinks we should get something fairly cheap, since we won't be using it much and plan on buying a nicer, lightweight 2-man tent for our son when he moves on from family camping to sleeping in his own tent. We live in the Pacific northwest, so I am well acquainted with camping in the rain, how to waterproof, and how to not let a little rain ruin a camping trip. I'm leaning towards an 8-man dome tent at this point, but I'm not done shopping around yet. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

I'll check Scout Direct for some good deals.

Our new pack has a family camping event at the beginning of August. My family camps all the time, so I'm not a newbie or anything. The problem is, we bought a small camp trailer last summer and sold our tent. I'm wondering what size tent to buy to use for Cub Scout camping. The tent we previously had was an older Coleman something or other that my husband and I were gifted when we were married. It was a fairly good sized tent, but with two growing kids, it did feel like it was starting to get too small. Should we go with something bigger that holds us all (self, husband, 6yo son, 4yo daughter) more comfortably? Or maybe keep it small so that husband and son can use it just the two of them later on?

I haven't posted much, but some of you have been helpful so I wanted to update. My son had his first Cub Scout meeting tonight, and it went really well. There were only two older boys from his school already involved, but my son managed to talk two boys he rides the bus with into going to the meeting. Both boys are also very excited, and their moms were happy to be there, so hopefully they'll stick with it. I spoke with the committee chair, she was super nice and friendly. The cub master was happy to hear that my husband is interested in being den leader, and said that it would be no problem to work around my husbands rotating schedule at the fire department. We were planning on continuing to shop around for a pack, but we loved the vibe tonight, and it's the pack closest to us, to I think we're just going to stick with this one. I got the paperwork to sign my son up for day camp, and he's super crazy excited for that. The pack has a few things scheduled for the summer, but they don't have regular meetings throughout the summer, so we won't start regular meetings until after Labor Day. Thanks for the help and encouragement so far.

I contacted the two Cub Scout packs that were nearest to me (we don't live in town) asking for information about signing my son up after June 1st. I haven't heard back from anyone. I looked up the phone number today for the district that serves my area and plan to call them in the next few days. I was wondering if it's allowed, and if it is allowed if it's a good idea, to join a pack that isn't the most local to me. I live in the country and in my surrounding area, within about half an hour drive there are about 5-6 packs. Some of them appear to be much more active than others. My husband thinks we should just contact the pack that looks most interesting and go from there. The thing is, the two packs that look like they are more active are the two geographically farthest from my home. I told my son to ask his friends in 1st grade if they were involved in Cub Scouts, and it seems that none are. He has also asked a couple of his friends who are in Kindergarten with him if they were interested in scouts, and he said none of them are. I don't know how accurate that info is coming from a 6.5yo, but there you have it. Also, concerning the drive, it is normal for us to drive 30-45 minutes, so the commute isn't a concern.

I wish there was a pack doing spring recruitment around my neck of the woods. My son is a Kindergartener, and he's so excited to be a Tiger Scout. My husband and I signed up online for training because we are both willing and able to volunteer within the pack as den leaders or wherever needed, but I can't get anyone to reply to my emails or return phone calls! I keep reading that membership is declining in the BSA, and I can't help but think that maybe a contributing factor could be apathy in the lower levels of leadership. At least, it seems that way around here. What's a parent gotta do to get someone to reply to an email?

We went to the Scout Shop today, talked to some really helpful people. My son is even more excited than before, if that's possible. We bought a Tiger Cub Scout handbook, and just browsed the store, it was pretty cool. I've narrowed down two packs I'm going to call first and ask if we could sit in on a pack meeting to get a feel for things. I also created an account to so some online training, and my husband created an account as well. I feel like we are really getting the ball rolling now. I really appreciate all the advice and help so far. Hopefully I'll be coming back to post with lots of questions on how to be a good assistant den leader!

We'll take ya in our pack.

Thanks again for all the responses. I appreciate the input. I discussed with my husband about checking packs out now and getting our son involved in June, and he thinks it's a good idea. So another question then. My husband loves to be involved in our sons activities. He's assistant coached soccer, wrestling, and now t-ball. We discussed him volunteering to be den leader, but there is one snafu. He is a fire fighter, and works 48 hours on, then 96 hours off. That schedule makes it difficult to plan events to happen the same day every week. Would it be possible for us to be co-den leaders? Or I could be an assistant den leader I suppose, and just fill in on the days my husband is at work? We would both be willing to do whatever training necessary. One last question, I also have a 4 year old daughter. Is she allowed to attend den meetings with me on the days my husband isn't available to be my sons adult helper?

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to hear we're not jumping the gun, my son is so excited to get started. He doesn't have any friends who are interested in Cub Scouts as far as I know. I will ask around though at t ball practice. I would like to get him in a pack with his classmates, if any other classmates participate, but that's not a requirement. He's a friendly, outgoing kid, so he doesn't really need to have a buddy for confidence or anything. So should I start out by contacting the different packs and ask for their Tiger den leaders information? Also, my husband is worried if we get him started now, when it's time for the current Tigers to move on, he will have to start all over again with a new leader and new den. Is that a valid reason to wait until the start of school to actually join? I don't mind checking out packs/dens now to get a feel for them, but I don't want him to basically have two start twice.

Hi all, new here. I've been reading past threads, trying to gather information, because my son is very excited to be a Cub Scout. He is 6 years old and will be in 1st grade next September. Do I start seeking information now, or wait until school starts again in the fall? There are quite a few packs near us, do I just pick one at random? Do we "shop around" so to speak?