Pack Hats

[SctDad]

I know that some troops have thier own unit hats. I was wondering if there were any packs out there that had thier own hats. A hat that the parents can buy when they enter Cub Scouts and keep for the full 5 years. With the great economy that we have these days would I thkn that this would be something that the families would go for and wondered what other packs are doing.

 

I was thinking about a boonie/bush style hat, with the CS logo and our pack numbers on the front.

 

Anyone else do something like this?

[ScoutNut]

Per the BSA Insignia Guide, only official BSA headgear may be worn.

 

Boy Scout Troops are allowed to vote for which of the official hats their Troop will use.

 

Cub Scouts are not. They are allowed to wear only the Cub Scout hat for the level of the Cub Scout den they are in.

 

The same goes for Cub Scout Neckers.

 

 

[mdlscouting]

By the official uniforming rules, this is not allowed.

 

However, I'd love to see a custom hat and necker as options that could be chosen at a pack level.

 

I know on of the reasons this is encouraged at the BS level is that it encourages Troop cohesion. I'd think it would do the same at the pack level as well.

[Eagle92]

Yep officially the cubs need to wear the uniform hat. But I do know of a few packs that went with a custom one. I also know of a few Cubs who wear camp hats, like the Camp Bonner hats. Also see some cubs with "vintage" hats. Heck my son wears the hat my mom got for me to replace the my old hat that was lost in Katrina.

 

As for neckers, My pack is contemplating a custom leader necker. I showed some of patch designs and a few of the neckers. Personally would love to see the pack adopt a half blue, half gold necker with a custom patch.

 

[theysawyoucomin']

About 7 years ago our CM was a US Navy Commander.

 

He was very used to seeing people in navy blue baseball caps with their ships name embroided on them. They are common on every ship in the navy.

 

We got PACK 3210

ANYTOWN on Thames ,NY

 

on the front

 

and the Cub's name or polite nick name on the back. They lasted the boys for all their years in Cubs and turned a $50 something dollar expense into a $12 epense over the 4 1/2 years that a Cub goes from Tiger to WEEB 2.

 

I know it wasn't official but there was never a wayward hat from no knowing whom it belonged to and all the boys looked the same.

 

We used the official neckers for each year. I used to like only having one kind of slide too, but heck the money spent on lost slides alone is the only thing that keeps the books balanced at National.

 

Worked for us, "your actual mileage may vary".

 

Our DE saw the Cubs plenty of times and never said a thing. The Pack still carries on the same practice.

The Troop does too.

 

All the best to you.

[shortridge]

Uz2bnowl's example wouldn't be that much of a money-saver compared to the current system. With the Cub hat costing $12.99 each, that's only $4-5 to be saved over the course of the program.

 

However, I imagine the custom nature of those pack caps - with individual names printed on them - jacked the price up substantially. One way to bring the cost down would be to buy the hats in bulk, plain, forgo names, and have parents sew on the logo/patch and pack numbers.

 

Recalling my Cub years, most of the kids and parents never bothered with the hats, for the precise reason they were always falling off and getting lost / trampled on / dirty. And I've never found a baseball cap that looks right on my head - my skull either looks lumpy or stretched.

[Lisabob]

shortridge, maybe I missed something but I understood uz2b's caps to cost about $12. That's about the same as one of the "official" cub caps, so quite a savings for a family that would otherwise buy all 4 (Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos) over the years at $12.99 each.

 

But I kinda have to agree, the caps aren't that important. Lots of folks just don't bother buying them and I don't think it has a negative impact on their cub experience.

[theysawyoucomin']

Lisa has it correct. 4 times 12.99 is shy of $52.

Tiger, wolf, bear, Webelos.

 

Some boys can just wear one adjustable hat for 4 years, sometimes two if they get lost, lost.

 

The names are great on the back. Helps the cubmaster know even the smallest boys.

[theysawyoucomin']

One other note. The new parents seem to really appreciate it that you are trying to save money. I told them to throw the $40 towards camp.

 

Camp is fun.

[Pack212Scouter]

I don't see what the issue really is. Caps are an optional part of the uniform. If they want to buy one, great. If they don't, it's not required. I have no issue with people wearing non-bsa hats with a uniform as long as it is removed for official functions.

[shortridge]

Ah, sorry - I misunderstood. I interpreted that as referring to a $50 expense for the custom caps, prorated over 4.5 years. Instead, it's $12 for each cap, which last 4.5 years, versus one $13 cap every year. Gotcha.