HIGH cost of official BSA uniform

[Trevorum]

I just bought a 100% cotton, long sleeve khaki shirt at WalMart for $8. Except for the shape of the pocket flaps it's pretty identical to a BSA long sleeve uniform shirt which sells for $40. That's FIVE times the price! Even counting the cost of the flag emblem ($2) and the BSA strip ($1), that's a pretty hefty markup by BSA.

 

One could buy EIGHT shirts from Walmart, sew on the patches and give them to an inner city troop for the cost of TWO BSA shirts. But of course they wouldn't have the nifty collar tag marking them "official". Sigh.

[Eamonn]

A few weeks back I thought I had come up with a brilliant idea that would help cut the cost of uniforms.

Here in PA all the uniforms that the State police and those working in the DOC wear are made by inmates.

I smiled when I looked up the name that has been given to the "Company". It's called Big House!!

When I checked the cost of a shirt from Big House it was $24.95.

So much for my brilliant idea.

Eamonn .

[mt_goodrich]

Yes..they are high. However, I've been fortunate to get my shirts off of ebay for a substantial reduction in costs. I have two short sleeves and one long sleeve. One short sleeve and the long sleeve are used in my Asst. SM position. The second short sleeve is used in my Unit Commissioner, district training staff positions.

[Slouchhat]

We have been able to work out a good discount with a supplier so we can pass on a complete uniform (shirt with troop patch, trousers and leather belt with buckle) to our scouts for something around 50 USD, plus another 5 USD for the neckerchief. The troop has voted to wear the old campaign hat as headgear so we now have to find a good source for these.

But overall, we try to keep the cost for the kids as low as possible. Money is in short repair in many families.

 

best regards,

Volker

[Gold Winger]

My experience with $8 shirts from Wally-world is that they'll last for one season and then they've lost their shape and start to fall apart.

 

My original BSA shirt is still going strong after nearly 10 years which have included weekly launderings and wear five to eight times a month.

[Slouchhat]

Of course, we should talk about the same kind of quality in the items.

 

best regards,

Volker

[Stosh]

It always amazes me the $'s involved with scouting. It is nothing compared to what a SCUBA unit would invest in equipment, a reenactor unit would invest in uniform/equipment, etc. My Crew boys pay $90.00 for boots and they work up from there.... My boys also know that if they make their own stuff they can save big dollars. Trousers that normally go for $115 can be made for about $30. And yes, my boys have all learned to sew since they came into the Crew.

 

I do however, outfit my Boy Scouts with a lot of E-Bay purchases. I can find pants around $15 consistantly and I have purchased the old red pin-trimed mule-eared pants for less than $5. The last lot I purchased was 5 trousers 1 shorts, various sizes, - $15 including shipping.

 

Campaign hats are on the internet for around $30 but they are not BSA. From 5' away one can't tell the difference anyway. Our boys like the felt BSA expedition hats for $35, look great and hold up under any kind of weather. Put the big 1" First Class pin on them and they look really sharp!

 

Stosh

[Bob White]

My uniform shirts lasted about 8 years each. They got worn about twice a week So that is over 800 wearings for $40 dollars or about $5 a year. Seems like a good value to wear the official uniform.

[Trevorum]

GW & BW,

You may well be right about overall quality and the amortized cost of the shirt over 8 years. However, that is thin news to the limited means parent who is considering the up-front cost of a shirt for their son who wants to join, and for whom there is no assurance that he will even need the shirt after one year, much less 5 years.

 

IMHO, the cost of the uniform can be an impediment to joining. Sure, there are uniform closets and the rest, and yes I agree that other youth activities have a much more expensive buy-in than Scouting. But, still.

 

And we haven't even mentioned the trousers!

 

[Bob White]

Most boys who join Boy Scouting come from the Webelos Program. Because of that the majority already have the Boy Scout uniform. As for the question of staying long enough to make the uniform purchase worth it...that will depend almost entirely on the quality of the local troop meetings and activities, not the cost of the uniform.

 

If you want parents to see more value in the uniform then unit leaders need to show them quality in the program delivery.(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[Slouchhat]

Hi,

here's one of my boys in his brank-spanking new uniform being worn for the first time.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_-ufCAEBarME/R6Ns8kYzLEI/AAAAAAAAAGw/H9GeOtadBUA/s1600-h/Clemens.jpg

You will notice that he or his mom still have to sew on the troop patch.

The shirt is ripstop cotton, the trousers are a ripstop poly-cotton blend. The whole outfit you see here including troop patch costs just under 50 USD.

 

best regards,

Volker

[Bob White]

and here is what an official uniform looks like, you cannot possibly believe thay look the same. http://www.boyscouttrail.com/i/boyscout/uniform.jpg

 

Who could not spend less and look different? Shoot, I could spend under $25 and not look like a Boy Scout just as easily as you spent under $50 to not look like one.

[Eamonn]

Bob,

You do know that our friend Slouchhat is the leader of a German Scout Troop!!

Hey Volker,

The photo reminds me of the illustration by Norman Rockwell, I think it is titled "Can't Wait".

 

I think without realizing it I may be breaking a few rules!!

For our Sea Scout working uniform, the chambray shirt, I have been buying seconds from the company that supplies the US Navy and have had them embroidered with the BSA Sea Scout logo. (As is suggested in the Sea Scout Handbook).

The lady who does the embroidery does it from her home and we are the only Ship that she deals with.

She charges us $3.00 a shirt. (I'm paying $7.00 for the shirts).

Maybe I should see about paying the fee needed to use a BSA logo?

Ea.

Come to think of it she also does the white uniform jumpers!!

 

[Trevorum]

Bob, I think you may be a bit out of touch with Cub Scout roundups and Boy Scout recruiting among lower income families.

[Slouchhat]

Hi,

@Bob: Eamonn is right, we are based in Germany and we are not BSA, so we chose to look different. If we wanted to copy the BSA uniform,we could buy green trousers instead and attain that BSA look. The BDU pants are available in a dozen different colours.

The only difference would be the colour of the neckerchief as the troop voted to wear green neckerchiefs. So we're now buying green neckerchiefs to be handed out at the oath ceremony end on 30 March.

 

However, we don't want to copy the BSA look as we're not BSA. I'm just saying that good quality uniforms are available for a lot less than what the "official" sources charge you.

 

@Eamonn: I'll check out the Rockwell motif. Clemens is a really eager chap, he just passed his fire-starting test this Saturday, excelled in Rappelling and will do his knots this coming Friday.

 

best regards,

Volker