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Barkley421

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Posts posted by Barkley421

    "Unofficial uniform"

    in Uniforms

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Eagledad said:

    I can tell this is an adult discussion. I relate with Barkley421 as to being a minimalist and my uniform represents that style. But, my scouts on the other hand liked adding to their uniform most of mrkstvns list. 
     

    100% relate.  As a boy, I'd look for any opportunity to put anything I had on it too.  

    "Unofficial uniform"

    in Uniforms

    Posted

    18 minutes ago, desertrat77 said:

    PS  Added:  You mentioned WB badge beads...that was brave! :)  I think the WBers would have some "very strong words" against such a suggestion!  A critter revolution in fact :)

    I actually don't find the WB beads too awful if worn with the necker.  The tuck around keeps them pretty unobtrusive and I do like how the turks head woggle actually holds everything together without slipping off.  I don't bother with wearing them on their own though.  

    • Upvote 1

    "Unofficial uniform"

    in Uniforms

    Posted

    For me, it is really aesthetic.  Not all unofficial flair will make an ugly/cluttered/ridiculous uniform; but UP approved uniform, in full compliance with the guide to awards and insignia, will almost never look too bad. 

    I don't have much artistic or design ability, so I stick to a simpler uniform.  I don't even like temporary patches much because they are either a pain to sew on and off or they are dangling things that can get caught on stuff.  Same reason I don't like the powderhorn or emergency preparedness insignia- more stuff to catch, clang, remove before washing, and put back on after. 

    Wearing medals is a pain. That's why square knots exist.  They are tiny, unobtrusive, lightweight decorations that are harmonious with the uniform shirt design.  Heck, I kind of wish they would bring back the old minimalist council strips for the same reason.   

    I try to keep the uniform something that I don't mind wearing in 90 degree heat while doing physical work.  It probably started as a youth habit because OA events frequently required a lot of physical work in full uniform. 

    I say, if you look at the uniform and think it looks better with more stuff, no one is going to stop you;  but I recommend a backpacking shakedown approach- 'is it worth it to me to carry this extra stuff all day?'  For me, more stuff has always been more of a pain than its worth.  

    • Upvote 4

    Which square knots to wear and why

    in Uniforms

    Posted

    On 8/2/2019 at 4:51 PM, DeaconLance said:

    The last official BSA recommended sequence from 1979:

    Honor Medal

    Silver Buffalo

    Silver Antelope

    Silver Beaver

    District Award of Merit

    Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award

    Medal of Merit

    Eagle

    Quartermaster

    Silver

    Youth Religious Emblem

    Adult Religious Emblem

    Other Scout

    Scouter's Key 

    Scouter Training Award 

    Den Leader Training Award

    Den Leader Coach Training Award

    https://www.sageventure.com/history/knothist/

     

    Cool that my guess kind of came close, but for youth capstone awards

    Which square knots to wear and why

    in Uniforms

    Posted

    There is no formal order of precedence of square knot awards, but mine are starting to accrue in an unattractive way.  It got me thinking about how to sort and rank them for the purpose of shaving them down to the ones I would consider most important.  6 look good.  9 looks OK.  12 is starting to get questionable and past that the shirt starts getting stiff and uncomfortable.  That being said, I completely support everyone making their own decisions about what to wear and in what order, but I am curious what everyone thinks of my system  of determining order of precedence and what to wear.  
     
    I also completely agree with wearing the awards most important to your role at the time, but this was made with the idea of what a hypothetical superscouter with every award and only one uniform would wear.  Basically, I laid out a process for sorting through my thoughts on what categories are more important than others.  The general principals are sorting by the values the display communicates,  the ordering of higher honor awards over more common awards, and the ordering general awards of similar honor over specific awards.  
     
    A consideration that flows from this ordering is that awards that are a lower level or localized form of a higher award should be superseded by the higher award if more space is required.  If space is needed for a Silver Beaver, the District Award of Merit should be replaced rather than worn alongside it, replacing another award that adds more information to the story being told.  
     
    The end result should be to tell a scouting story in as few pictures as possible.  That being said, here's my attempt to come up with a rational order that works for me.  
     
    Capstone youth awards (only 1 or 2, based on which program  participating in at the time) (The BSA is a program for youth development.  We should always keep that at the forefront.  For that reason, the capstone youth awards should be our most important.  I do not follow that all youth awards should retain this high precedence though, only those awards that are the capstones of the programs)
    Eagle Scout 
    Quartermaster Award
    Silver Award
    Arrow of Light
     
    Meritorious Action Awards (wear highest one) (they're rare, they usually have a great story about scout skills in action, and they have a really shiny medal.)
    Honor Medal
    Heroism Award
    Medal of Merit
     
    Nomination Awards of the BSA for General Service (wear highest one) (Awards given from the admiration of one's peers is a higher honor than an award given for completing a checklist.  Awards for one's service to scouting in general should come before awards for service to subsets of scouting.)
     
    Silver Buffalo
    Silver Antelope
    Silver Beaver
    District Award of Merit 
    Unit Leader Award of Merit
     
    Nomination Awards of the BSA for Special Service (this is where it starts getting really personal in building the story in as few pictures as possible)
    Hornaday Gold Medal  
    OA Distinguished Service Award
    Scouting Service Awards
    Spurgeon Award
    Hornaday Gold Badge
    Venturing Leadership Award
     
    Nomination Awards of Other Organizations (not even trying to rank these as there's too much variation between outside organizations to even guess how difficult it is to be awarded.  Almost every LDS scouter has their Adult Religious Award whereas other ones are relatively rare.  I would move these higher in precedence in the event your POR is involves the awarding entity)
    Adult Religious Award
    Community Organization Award
    George Meany Award
     
    Training or Punchlist Awards (Some of these are expensive and difficult to do, others are almost harder to do your POR faithfully and not complete the requirements.  The ranking is purely subjective based on my perception of their difficulty.)
     
    Distinguished Commissioner Service Award
    Other Hornaday Awards 
    Philmont Training Center Masters Track Award
    International Scouter's Award
    Boyce New Unit Organizer Award
    Alumni Award
    Doctorate of Commissioner Science Award
    Commissioner Award of Excellence in Unit Service
    Scouter's Key
    Scouter's Training Award
    James E. West Fellowship Award (if you are rich maybe a year as a den leader sounds harder than $1000, but I'd gladly be a den leader for $1000.)
    Cub Scout Den Leader Award
    Youth Religious Emblems
     
    Other (I have no idea how to treat these at all.  This isn't putting them at the bottom.  I just have no idea.)
    Silver World Award
    Professional Circle Award
     
    As an example, our hypothetical superscouter that had been presented with all the awards and is now the Scoutmaster of Troop 1 would wear, in order of precedence,:
    Row 1
    1. Eagle Scout
    2. Honor Medal
    3. Silver Buffalo
    (stop here if you like the chic look)
    Row 2
    4. Any awards of the Charter Organization (Community Organization or Adult Religious)
    5. Hornaday knot representing gold medal
    6. OA Distinguished Service Award
    (keep going if you dare)
    Row 3
    7. Scouting Service Award
    8. Spurgeon Award
    9. Venturing Leadership Award
    (stop... Ok, we can keep going for 1 more row, but only 1 more row)
    Row 4
    10. Community Organization or Adult Religious award if not awarded by Charter Org.
    11. George Meany Award
    12. Distinguished Commissioner Service Award
    (no, don't please don't make me)
    Row 5
    13. Philmont Training Center Masters Track Award
    14. International Scouter's Award
    15. Boyce New Unit Organizer Award
    (seriously, there isn't even any shirt left.  What are you going to do, go down the back?)
    Row 6
    16. Alumni Award
    17. Doctorate of Commissioner Science Award
    18. Commissioner Award of Excellence in Unit Service
    (At this point, the square knots become self aware and take control of the shirt.)
     
    So, what do you think?  How would you suggest shaving our hypothetical superscouter down balancing the aesthetics of an orderly display with the information conveyed?  Thankfully, I do not have this problem to such a severe degree, but it was kind of a fun thought experiment of the goals of displaying the square knots.  
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