Garrison Caps

[AJR2305GDC]

Can the old explorer garrison caps be worn with the venturing uniform?

 

Also, is there a garrison cap (to anyone's knowledge) with the first class emblem bordered in brown on a forest cap with brown piping?

[chaoman45]

As long as it's not the olive one, you should be fine. I don't know about the FC emblem cap for Venturing (Exploring), though. Mine is a red anchor/wing combo.

[Eagle92]

Don't see why not. Then again one of my green shirts still has "EXPLORING BSA" on it as the venturing strip national was giving away to us old fogeys was several shades too bright since my shirt at the time was "well loved"

 

Also I was given a UK Air Scout beret, which I sometimes wear with the Venturing uniform.

 

To paraphrase the Doctor, Berets are cool.

[Rover Scout]

Early on, there was a garrison cap with a tenderfoot badge, but not a scout badge. I'm not an expert, but I think that style was used from around 1948-1954 or so...others with deeper knowledge can correct me.

 

In service,

 

Ken

[Rover Scout]

Erratum: "...tenderfoot badge, but not a scout badge." That should have read "first class" and not "scout."

 

K

[John-in-KC]

There is only a recommendation on the Venturing uniform.

 

A ***Crew*** (that means youth members, not adults) can make any decision they want on a uniform.

 

Of course, having worn overseas caps in Scouting and in the Armed Forces, they are the most impractical headgear imaginable, UNLESS one is travelling and has to have headcover (they are compact) or one is trying to conserve the cloth used to create the hat (an overseas cap uses less material than a Service (bus driver) cap.

 

As for me ... in the summertime in the field these days I prefer a boonie hat...

At one point, Propper (one of the Armed Forces uniform manufacturers) made a Mil-Spec boonie hat in just plain khaki; here's one in the now obsolete desert camo pattern:

https://www.epropper.com/site_images/product_images/color_images/Boonie_Sun_Hat_3-Color_Desert_114.jpg

 

In the wintertime in the field these days I prefer a black wool watch cap:

http://www.rothco.com/showpics/index.cfm/item/2267

 

 

[perdidochas]

I'm with John. The garrison cap is about the most impractical headgear possible.

[BartHumphries]

I think a garrison cap is practical when it's large enough to come down to just over the ears and the side folds aren't sewn in so that if it gets really cold you cal pull the folds down straight over your ears. Basically, they're practical when they're brimless thinner versions of a deerstalker hat that can be tucked in between a belt and your pants to hold them when you go inside. Most of the time nowdays, though, they're basically like big skullcaps (kippa/zucchetto) which look nice as far as a "hat" goes but they really serve no practical value. But, if you have to hold it on with some sort of pins and it can't cover your ears, and doesn't have a brim, then there's really no point in wearing it other than as us guys get older some sort of hat becomes more and more of a necessity to keep our heads from getting sunburned.

[Nike]

I figure the beret is right up there in the useless department: no brim, doesn't fold neatly or really at all, bulky in a cargo pocket, need two hands to put it on, hot in the summer and barely covers the head in winter, no ear flaps, and the fake leather band gives everyone a funky red line on thier foreheads.

[John-in-KC]

No matter what OGE says:

 

DING DONG THE BERET IS DEAD!!! THE BERET IS DEAD!!! THE BERET IS DEAD!!!

[Jay K]

Berets are cool. Summer: Wet it down. Spring, Fall: Perfect!

Winter: Pull one side down over your ear, and the droop side down over the other ear. I wear Swix ear muffs under it sometimes.

I have a black one that a guy captured for me in Iraq. I put a BSA hat pin on it.

I have a beautiful blue U.N. one.

I have an FSB (the follow on to the KGB) border guard one.

I have a green one that I put a Venture patch on.

I have a green "Scouts Canada" one.

I have a classic red official BSA one,

and I have an old one with a Star rank pin and a BSA oval patch that I got in 1966. One for each day at Scout Camp!

I have a garrison cap, too.

[shortridge]

I love the look of a well-worn beret (no mushroom-heads) and garrison cap.

 

But they are utterly impractical, I agree.

[AJR2305GDC]

To All:

Thanks for the replies. You have all been a great help.

 

By the way, I meant tenderfoot; somehow I got it mixed up with FC - don't know how that happened.

[Thxcuz]

I occasionally wear a garrison cap. It looks sharp but not that useful I agree. Did anyone see boys life recently? A scout helping out in Joplin was sporting one with his class b t shirt and official pants.

[Crew21_Adv]

Fellow Scouters,

 

I agree, Garrison or Overseas caps don't block the sun, but they are easy to carry.

 

I get a little disappointed, when in the chow hall I see a sweaty ball cap thrown onto the table, right next to my plate and drink. But hey, I also get disappointed when Scouts sit on the tables and put their muddy boots on the chairs.

 

Back to the Garrison cap, at least they can tuck the cap in the belt, over their shoulder, stuff it in their pocket, or inside their backpack.

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv