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BDU and Uniforms


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le Voyageur,

 

The restriction comes from our congressional charter that restricts the BSA from having uniforms that imitate military uniforming.

 

(Sea Scouts are exempt since the Navy is not considered by definition "military".)

 

Bob White

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I can see your point OGE but this string has been refering to BDUs, Battle Dress Uniforms, that's military, and it violates our congressional charter.

 

We live in a rural area where we have lots of hunters. I would never want the scouts to be in camo that could very dangerous.

 

Bob White

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Yes. I agree with you. In my area a lot of scouts wear BDUs. I think that it may not be so much the garment that makes a set of clothing look militaristic, but the insignia on it. Besides, look at the campaign hat in the BSA catalog. It is the exact hat drill instructors wear. Exactly the same, in fact they are made by the same company. The only diference is the scouting logo and a fleur de lis stamped into the hat band. It might just be grandfather claused in, but it is still an exact copy of a pice of military clothing. Besides, in some cases camouflage is desireable. On low impact hikes it helps people blend in and not bother others. As for saftey concerns, each scout should have something to make themselves more visible anyway, like a bright neckerchief to singnal with.

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oops! I think camo is OK for scouts in certain circumstances. I also think that a khaki shirt will make a scout look a lot more like wild game than a camouflage jacket. As for saftey with scouts getting lost, see my post above. In my area there are many hunters. Looking like a tree might be better than looking like a deer. By the way, for a long while it was OK for scouters to display military awards over their left pocket. Most scouts back in the day, and today for that matter, use some surplus military camping gear because of the cost and quality. It would be interesting to take pictures of a man in a Marine drill instructor uniform and a scout uniform and campaign hat to compare the two. They woul probably look pretty close.

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I tend to agree with alot of folk on here. I don't think that camo BDU's need to be warn with Scouts. I do wear the OG BDU pants. The work alot better in the field than scout pants. If you want your scouts to blind in to tree so they won't be shot. Don't hike during hunting or areas where there are hunters.

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Bob, while I understand your point of not looking military, BDU's are not exclusive to the military. There are companies and stores that make and sell BDU's to the general population. The military uses them exclusively, but they are not exclusively military. I do think that scouts should probably not wear camo, but BDU's come in a variety of solid colors too. From a distance, a scout in olive BDU pants or shorts couldn't be distinguished from a scout in scout pants or shorts. Color is the same, cut is different.

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All the BSA says is don't wear them and say you are in uniform. The uniform is determined by the BSA and not by individuals or units. You do not have the authority to alter the trademark uniform by saying "our unit wears BDUs instead of the uniform pants" any more than you can say we wear military surplus shirts with or uniform instead of a scout shirt. Be in the BSA uniform or be out of the BSA uniform but do not try to be both.

 

Bob White

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  • 4 weeks later...

My Venturing crew wears BDU's as their uniform pants (and shirts). We have adopted this uniform because of our speciality, Search and Rescue. They are strong, durable, and have useable pockets for the many items of gear we carry. Just for clarification, BDU stands for battle dress uniform, and describes not just pants but shirts as well. Oh yeah we also wear the green shoulder loops for dress occasions.

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Sorry, not enough said. Bob White stumbled on an irony that's too rich to pass up. I like Bob and from all his posts that I've read, I've never disagreed with him. Ain't about to now, but this should make you smile . . .

 

On page two of this thread, Yaworski said that when he's bumming around, (or words to that effect,) he wears Dickies. He does this because he feels that he would be a public menace being seen in jeans. That tickled my funny-bone.

 

Bob then said, "In that case Yaworski if the BSA ever decides to have a unifrom that looks grundgy and bum-like I'm sure they will look to you as a role model and incorporate Dickies into the uniform."

 

What's the irony? Bob didn't know that the company that (at least used to) manufacture a lot of BSA uniform parts was none other than Dicky! :)

 

You were wearing Dickies and didn't know it!

 

I agree that the usual uniform pants are crap. I refuse to wear any pant with elastic in the waist. Don't even know if it's still there.

 

Several in this thread complained about the price of the uniforms. As was explained to me by Chief Scout Executive Ben Love in the late '80's (me and about 300 other professional scouters) the uniforms are expensive because we insist that they be 100% U.S. union made. We get a huge amount of support from American Labor and will support them equally fully.

 

Are the BDU's made in America? I really don't know. That was a real question, not sarcasm.

 

And I don't even want to hear about $40.00 Dickies. I wonder myself why you can buy Dickies so inexpensive and still pay through the nose for BSA pants. The answer I got when I asked the head of National Supply at PDL-3 was that they don't sell nearly as many pants to the BSA as they sell pants and our die lot is exclusively ours.

 

DS

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