BSA Belt Buckles

[Bob T]

Not a whine, more of a small whimper.

 

My son and many others in his troop find that the buckles that come with the BSA belt are poorly made and fall apart. The buckle is not separately available; the whole belt w/ buckle must be purchased.

 

Anybody got any connections with whoever 'officializes" this stuff? Maybe an upgrade?

 

In the military I used similar buckles that lasted forever. For these Scouts it isn't an "ingrown belt buckle" problem, the thing just falls apart.

 

It is now November and I hadn't had my annual whimper yet; now I've got that taken care of.

 

[Gold Winger]

I bought some vinatge and good quality buckles on ebay. You can see the difference quality. The stampings are better. The metal is heavier.

 

A fellow named Ora Sheffler used to make nice looking buckles from scout badges silver soldered to military issue belt buckles. I don't know if he's still doing that.

 

Also, GI buckles are all now gold plates (polishing brass is a thing of the past) and I don't know how those would work.

 

 

Another solution is to get a nice leather belt and put a Scouting buckle on it. I have belts from different summer camps and one from Philmont. I also have one of the leather belts with the two part buckle.

 

 

[fgoodwin]

Bob T: welcome to the Forums.

 

I have no doubt what you say is true; OTOH, I my son used the same Cub Belt (after replacing the Tiger buckle with a Cub buckle) from 2001 until he crossed over in 2005 with no problems. He's had the same Boy Scout belt since joining the troop in '05 with no trouble.

 

Now, getting him to FIND his belt on troop meeting nights is altogether another issue!

[allangr1024]

I had the same experience, and sought the ebay solution. My belt buckles sodering came aprart (probobly more like glued metal came apart) and I bought a lot of scout belt buckles on ebay. These too came apart over time, I went through 8 of them in 3 years. Now I use the new switchback pants with the built in buckle, or I use a Philmont belt.

 

For the boys, I would probobly accept a 2 dollar faceless buckle from the army surplus store.

[Stosh]

That's strange. I have had the same belt buckle I bought 14 years ago. Maybe if you'd quit hitting the boys with the buckle end, you won't go through so many. :^)

 

Stosh

 

 

[Troop250]

Hi Bob T,

 

Whenever I need some belt buckles, I just tell me wife and she gets me some from here:

 

http://www.westernbeltbuckles.com

[FScouter]

If a buckle fails before it should, return it to the Scout Shop for a replacement. Most retailers/manufacturers pay a lot of attention to returns of poor quality goods.

[Gold Winger]

"Whenever I need some belt buckles, I just tell me wife and she gets me some from here:"

 

I didn't see anything about Scouting buckles.

 

"That's strange. I have had the same belt buckle I bought 14 years ago. "

 

Maybe they were made better back then. I agree with the others that today's buckles are unmitigated crud. I have a bunch of vintage ones that I bought on ebay. I'm set for the next 100 years.

[J-dawg168]

I have quit wearing the web belt all together, except for certain occasions when it is necessary. I find that the leather belts(philmont, norther tier, or even a Council belt) works much better, and looks better in my oppinion.

 

http://www.toothoftimetraders.com/philmont/dept.asp?s_id=0&dept_name=Belts&dept_id=3102