Why are the BSA pants soooo long??

[Webelosmom]

I am not a person who sews....We just shelled out the $$$$ for the official shorts and pants, as our troop committee recently voted that the boys in my son's troop must now wear the entire official uniform, down to the socks.

 

The size 12 pants we bought are ridiculously long....I don't understand why the sizes can't be at least close to the normal sizes in the department stores.

Just venting....

 

 

[Bob White]

Because boys come in diffent shapes and heights.

The pants are unfinished so that they can be hemmed to fit the individual scout.

 

Bob White

[sctmom]

But they seem to think boys come in 1 of 2 widths. "Average" and "slightly larger". My son is SLIM. The elastic in the waist helps.

The length is ridiculous. I do sew, but never have the courage to cut the pants before hemming, so my son has the thickest hems around, since those size 8's are way too long.

 

[le Voyageur]

 

Glad that they make them long....besides being able to turn the pants into knee breeches, had enough fabric left over to make some nice ditty bags....

[SR540Beaver]

I know the issue of BDU's has been beat to death in other threads, so I won't belabor the point too much. Perhaps BSA could take a "hint" from BDU's and put adjustable tabs in the waist instead of elastic. We had trouble buying my son's pants too. The size we bought for him fits him today, next summer they won't. The next size up swallowed him even with the elastic. Adjustable tabs allow you to take in and let out several inches with a custom fit instead of having to cinch big elastic pants with a belt and having a bunch of uncomfortable folds of material around your waist. Regardless of how much "hate" people express for the pants, I don't see the BSA cleaning out their warehouse of 100's of thousands of pants and starting over anytime soon. You just have to make do with what you are required to use.

[dan]

kwc57

Look under the BSAs next uniform thread. The BSA is may be changing the uniform.(This message has been edited by dan)

[LauraT7]

I do sew - so the length doesn't bother me - plus, my son seems to grow up, and up, and up! ALL his other pants are "high water pants" LONG before he outgrows them around the middle!

 

Our troop doesn't require official BSA pants - but he does have one pair for dress. Many of our boys wear jeans, or more popular with them - are the zip-off leg pants in an olive green scout color. I'd love to see BSA adopt these for uniform use - they are SO PRACTICAL for scouts! (no need for long AND short pants in packing!)

 

Our troop has a uniform bank - we all toss outgrown uniform pieces in, and if a boy needs something, for permanent or for changes for camp, he can take anything he needs. The only problem is, Larger sizes usually aren't available for obvious reasons.

 

When hemming, don't be afraid to cut! Those thick hems are not only bulky and look weird - if they get wet they are darn uncomfortable! and if he has to do laundry at camp, they take FOREVER to dry!

 

hints on hemming - take a pair of pants he likes and are the right length for him NOW. Measure the inseam (from crotch of pant to inside hem along the inside leg seam) lets say this measurement is 30". Add 2-3" for hem. (you can add more - but the deeper the hem the harder it is to get a straight hem, and most boys won't grow more than that before they're also bigger around the middle) If the legs of the pants flare or narrow, you need less hem - but scout pants are pretty straight.

 

Transfer this measurement (say - 32") to the scout pants inseam - and mark it with a pin. Now come the tricky part - measure from the BOTTOM of the current hem to the pin - and continue marking around the leg hem this measurement. mark with a pen(or soap, chalk) - this will be your cut line and will never show anyway. once you've marked it, CUT the extra off - you may want to zig-zag the edge on the sewing machine to keep it from fraying. Turn up your hem the extra you added for future growth (2" in our example) IRON IT to make a crease at the hemline and sew. The hem should then be your 30" inseam.