Where to get replacement red buttons for Jac-shirt?

[Rip Van Scouter]

Well, last summer I finally broke down and asked me wife to get me the red wool jac-shirt from the Scout Shop for Father's Day. You just don't find size 5X on e-Bay it seems! I thought $150 was just a little too high, and I was right! Too bad I didn't know they would bring the price down to $99 only a few months later! I have been wearing it day-in, day-out, for Scout meetings and casual wear (no BSA patch), since it is so nice and warm and comfortable. My wife even "steals" it now and then.

 

The problem is the buttons are falling off. I try to save them, but have lost three already. I would rather NOT scavenge the extra cuff button and the neck button (which have not fallen off) so I can close the jac-shirt properly, and I would rather NOT replace all of the buttons with a similar, though not identical sewing store replacement. Scavenging was the idea of the lady at the Scout Shop who told me she had no idea where to find replacement buttons. I am tempted to see if the Supply Division lifetime uniform replacement policy includes the jac-shirt with buttons falling off!

 

Where can you find identical matching 4-hole red plastic buttons for this Woolrich-made jac-shirt? (The manufacturer code on the label, WPL-6635, is unique to Woolrich and found on non-BSA Woolrich garments as well.)

 

I thought there might be some in the BSA sewing kit, but no luck. I have tried googling for the words, red, buttons, 4-hole, scout, etc. and only come up with e-bay listings for used jac-shirts or internet button dealers (where I can't seem to find a match either).

 

Help!

[epalmer84]

I think I had the same problem at one point and found something close at a fabric shop.

 

One problem is that the buttons have changed style over the years. I don't know what they look like on the current version, but I have noted the 80s style had rounded buttons and the 90s style had flatter buttons.

 

Ed

[Rip Van Scouter]

Current style is 3/4-inch (19mm) red plastic 4-hole with a rounded (not flattened) rim and a matte (not glossy) finish. They are flat on the backside.

 

On some buttons I have found the holes are too large and take up most of the area inside the rim. On others they are way too small. I found some on a website in the UK that look right. A package of four buttons is $3.00 (not bad) but shipping cost from the UK was another $7.00 !!!

 

I fired off an e-mail to Supply Division but have not got an answer yet.

[Twocubdad]

I asked our Scout shop manager to find them for me a couple weeks ago, but so far havent' heard anything.

 

I found buttons at the fabric store that I thought were close enough. I bought enough to eventually replace all the buttons on the jacket. If an exact matcth is important, I could go ahead and replace them all at once.

[John-in-KC]

Contact Bemidji Woolen Mills, the supplier for Northern Tier. They buy buttons from Woolrich for the Northern Tier version of the red woolen shirt-jac.

 

URL is: http://www.bemidjiwoolenmills.com/

 

Mr Bill Batchelder often answers the phone himself. Good people! That said, I cannot speak for him that he'll sell buttons independently...

[Rip Van Scouter]

Good thought on contacting the manufacturer. Why not go direct to Woolrich? I guess I will try that next. Then Bemidji, thanks!

 

Supply Division finally replied to my e-mail. All they said was they do not have any buttons! They did not respond to my suggestion that I might seek a replacement jac-shirt based on defective sewing!

 

Anyone else have a problem with this with recently manufactured Woolrich-made jac-shirts? The Scout shop ladies say there is a new manufacturer, but all the ones I saw on the rack looked the same and had the same number on the tag, WPL 6635.

[yelruh]

On several shirts and jackets recently, my kids have pulled a loose thread, and off comes the button. Then I take the piece of clothing and sew on the removed button. But I don't stop there, I go through all the other buttons 8-10 times on top of the stiches that are already there, so if the original stitching is pulled out, they don't lose the button too.

 

 

[Rip Van Scouter]

That is also a good idea, but when you pay $150 for a garment, "Made in the USA", supposedly for better quality, you expect sort of expect the buttons NOT to start falling off after only a few wearings, and not even a washing!

 

Is that too much to expect? I guess anyone who buys one at the new lower price can put some of the savings into paying a seamstress (or seamster?) to oversew the buttons so they won't fall off!!!!!!!

 

Funny thing, the uniform shirt comes with extra buttons sewn on inside at bottom. Why didn't they think of doing that for the Jac-shirt as well?

 

If anyone has an old red BSA jac-shirt (with rimmed, 4-hole, red plastic buttons, which they have outgrown and it is not in good enough shape to sell on e-Bay, I will gladly pay the postage (I'll send you a S.A.S.E.) if you want to cut off the buttons and send them to me!

 

Thanks in advance!