archimago

I picked up a pair of these, and they're great. The OD is pretty close to the OD of uniform pants (at least the old ones--I don't own a pair of the Switchback). They're 60/40 poly/cotton with a ripstop weave, and they're about half the price of 5.11s. You definitely need to go a size up on them, but for $25, it's pretty hard to go wrong with them.

http://tacticalgear.com/genuine-gear-lightweight-tactical-pants-olive

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across this great blog called Scouting Rediscovered, which is run by an Eagle Scout who has dedicated a considerable amount of time to poring over seminal writings from Scouting's past (particularly those of B-P, GBB, and John Thurman) in an effort to foster a return to the sources of Scouting. His series on "Keystones of a Scout: The Ten Virtues that Make a Scout" and "Traditional Scouting 101" are particularly exemplary. Anyway, just thought I'd pass this resource along for anyone who hasn't yet seen it, as I think his philosophy of Scouting will resonate with many who post here. The guy definitely deserves the traffic!

From a fellow academic (albeit one who is currently in the process of dissertating), welcome aboard!

He passed with flying colors, and the only thing I could think was, 'what a great kid - I wish even 10% of my students could be like this guy'.

Yes, I had the same thought after adjuncting last semester. It's part of what caused me to take a respite from academia for awhile. We desperately need more Scouts among our young people.

Stosh, those pics are so cool! You've inspired me to start seeking out a pup tent now, too... 

I think I'll probably just go with the big city community strip and keep my eye on local antique/thrift stores for a more accurate community strip.

 

This gentleman was one of my Eagle scouts.  The uniform he is wearing is the same one he did his Eagle project in.  It's the same uniform he wore every week to meetings.  As you can tell from the insignia and Eagle knot he was at the time my ASM.  He went and got appropriate 1960's ASM patch when he aged out.  He had a difficult time, but he did find the community strip, too.

 

Any historic uniform is a valid BSA uniform, but one must make sure the insignia is historic as well.

 

And this latter point is the problem I've run into with historic uniforming. I don't want to slap a modern CSP on an old uniform because it will look silly. Does anyone know if there's any place out there that manufactures repro community strips? I've been able to find vintage square knots, positions patches, etc., but the community strips are much more difficult. I've been able to find one for the city out of which our council is based (and of which my small city is a 'burb), and that may be the best I'm able to do unless I can find someone out there reproducing them.

I would suggest one would use the color for the position one holds.  I am a SM so I wear the red when I wear the shirt with the SM patch on it and when I function as a UC, I wear silver on the shirt with the UC patch. It has no bearing on what I do in real life, when I volunteer, I wear the appropriate uniform for the role I am presently assuming.  To wear a BSA uniform as an ASM with silver would be inappropriate as far as my opinion runs.  Your mileage may vary.

This was sort of my thinking, as well--no need to introduce an unnecessary incongruity between the position patch and the shoulder loops, especially since my primary professional role doesn't entail uniforming, anyway.

So, as I mentioned in my intro post, I'm a council employee. However, I'm also going to be serving as a volunteer with a local troop. I don't wear a uniform in my council position (I'm an Exploring exec), so I'm a bit confused about what shoulder loops I should wear with my unit uniform. I'm assuming I just go with forest green so as not to look pretentious, but is there any reason why any of you would opt for the silver? It seems unnecessary to me, but I'm torn between my desire not to be pompous and my impulse to be correctly uniformed.

ETA: Alternatively, I could just break out one of my pre-1980s uniform shirts that don't have epaulets and forgo the loops altogether...

Archimago, you seem like a man after my own heart.  Hillcourt's writings are where it's at! 

Agreed! He was a great man. (Plus, he basically saved Scouting, so there's that.)

I'd say that if it's a matter of sheer dereliction rather than apparent unsuitability (i.e., the boy is having some difficulties adjusting to the demands of the job), there probably needs to be something a bit more subtle than pushing for a formal ouster of the boy from office by a vote of the PLC or troop. As LeCastor notes, perhaps this is a good opportunity for the SM to sit down with the SPL and find out what's going on. Did he lose interest in the job, in Scouting? Does he feel that he's not adequate to the position and so is choosing not to fulfill his duties out of insecurity? Is there some other issue involved? The SM could encourage and counsel the boy so that maybe he can be guided toward rising to the demands of the office. If not, the SM might simply ask that the boy resign and let his ASPL take over if he is unwilling to do the work. That way you could avoid the drama and potential turmoil within the troop of having the boys try to oust one of their own from office. And if the boy resigns of his own volition, he may feel less like he got a raw deal from the troop.

I'm a BSHB nerd and have every edition on my canoe-shaped bookcase.   But I really appreciate the 9th edition that Bill Hillcourt wrote in 1978 for publishing in 1979.  This really brought the outing back to Scouting.  Also, I do like the 1948 Scout Field Book Hillcourt wrote with James E. West.  Good stuff!

 

While I did buy the 13th edition of the BSHB I really haven't given it much of a read or even a glance yet.  I just have this sinking feeling it's not going to be up to par for a Hillcourt book...How could it be?  That said, I'm glad to see the outdoors creeping back into Scout rank advancement.  Let's go camping!

I'm currently working on expanding my collection, but the 9th edition has been my favorite ever since I was a scout. We used the 11th when I was a boy (I had to buy multiple copies because the glue on the binding kept separating from the cover), which was serviceable, but I made it my mission to acquire a 9th edition when one of our ASMs taught us trail signs from it on a camping trip. For some reason or another, I thought the council Scout Shop might know how I could find a copy. As it turns out, they had a whole box of them tucked away in storage, and they gave me a copy for free. (Had I been older, I might've known to ask if they didn't want to just part with the whole lot!) I learned so much cool stuff from that Handbook.

I received a 1st edition Handbook for Patrol Leaders in the mail today. The philosophy of the patrol upon which it depends is so much more robust than anything that the boys learn today in NYLT or whatever. It's good, solid, commonsensical thinking that recognizes that boys are at their best when they can form together in a small group and rally around a common identity and purpose. Wish I'd had it around when I was a scout!

And I'm really looking forward to getting my 1st ed. Fieldbook that I also ordered the other day. (For some ludicrously cheap price, no less.) 

I ran across this fairly compendious website from Jeff Snowden, a Scoutmaster who has taken the time to collate all the editions of the BSHB and then to compare and comment on their contents.

And here's a link to a fairly interesting chart that gives a subject overview of each edition of the Handbook, allowing you to see at a glance what is and isn't covered in each. (For instance, you can almost immediately see how much the 8th eviscerated substantial portions of outdoor content, as if that were necessary...)

Anyway, just thought some of you might like to have this as a handy reference.

Good evening, everyone!

I started as a professional recently (*ducks tomatoes*), although not on the traditional side. (Sorry for being a bit cagey on the details; you never know who might run across this!)

Anyway, I earned my Eagle a decade ago in a troop that has been around for ages. Fortunately, our SM was old school: red jacket, Smokey-the-Bear hat, smoking a pipe around the campfire. In short, we had a program that, to my understanding, resembled what Scouting was back in the Green Bar Bill days. In any case, we were outdoors, taking charge, getting lost, getting scraped up, and learning and practicing Scoutcraft. It was actually fun to be a Scout, even despite the bureaucratic tediousness of some of the advancement requirements.

When I got to college, I stayed outdoors, but I fell away from Scouting. Now that I'm in a more settled position in my life, and with my newfound involvement with the movement, I'm looking to rejoin Scouting as a volunteer in addition to my professional life. I tend to think that, even if Scouting is far from perfect these days, there's still the opportunity for the movement to form young men into self-sufficient leaders. I taught college for awhile, and I can tell you that "kids these days" could use a little (no, a lot!) more of that.

When I was a Scout, I was a total Scouting lore/history junkie. I would pore over the old handbooks I'd acquired and marvel at how cool the uniforms were, how many more skills used to be taught, how robust the program used to seem. Anyway, I was googling around this evening and ran across this forum and realized that y'all share the same interests, so I hope to hang around and soak up some of your wisdom and knowledge. Thank you for the opportunity!