Is the campaign hat still relevant?

[DYB-Mike]

Yes, Im a member of the Campaign Hat Club. I wear mine fairly regularly and my scout son wears one on occasion.

 

Ive kinda accumulated a number of them in search of the correct size and feel (a little worn, not too stiff). Ive gotten them from eBay, the Army/Navy store, and from Scoutstuff (BSA Supply).

 

BklynEagle, the Campaign Hat I received from BSA Supply (bought maybe two years ago) was a Stetson product packed in a Stetson box. Has Stetson discontinued making them?

 

I was considering getting a rain shield, but Ive worn my Campaign Hat in the rain on a couple of occasions, got it soaked, and had it dry perfectly fine so I never bothered with the rain shield.

 

On one of my Campaign Hats I wear an old Canadian Cubmasters pin (wolfs head with Do Your Best below). It looks sharp, but please dont tell the uniform police. Ive also picked up a Cubmasters brush but havent worn it.

 

While the Campaign Hat is a Sacred Symbol of Scouting, please dont forget about the other Sacred Symbol: the neckerchief. I was speaking with a scouter from Greece and the topic of Class B dress came up. The scouter to me that it was very common to wear civilian clothes with just a neckerchief thats all that was needed to identify them as Scouts.

 

Wear both proudly!

 

YIS

Mike

 

[hotair36]

I got my Stetson Long Oval during my camp staff years in the late 60's early 70's.

The label inside says "STETSON, Scout Master, Long Oval, with the BSA Seal (Supply Division)" and the price tag is still sewn into the sweat band, $8.85, complete with BSA leather hat band and chin strap.

I keep it in a hat press and it still looks like new since I only wear it on special occasions, most recently as a WB21C troop guide. Our council tends to have the WB CD/SM wear the Smokey for the entire course. The senior staff don theirs later (2d weekend) and the troop guides wear them beginning on the 5th day, through the course closing and bead ceremonies etc.

I picked up second one, in more experienced condition, at a swap meet last year for $15 or $20.

The Campaign Hat is still good looking head gear and relevant as a symbol of scouting.

Go for it, wear it, and set an example

 

[Eagle92]

If memory serves, the BSA campaign hats are Stetsons, which explains part of the price, although not advertised. Stetson also made a series of hats a few years back that are approved for uniform wear.

 

As for me both of mine were issued to me by my council, one was upon completing Brownsea 22, the other was for staffing the 1st JLT course in 6 years, and hence no youth staff with smokey bears. they are government surplus.

 

However when I was at BP House in London, they sold the green SM plumes, and plain leather hatbands. Got two of each, and had the bands branded at the cmaps I worked at over there. One plume was given away to a good freind, to be replaced by the Centenary Plume that came out in 2007.

 

PLUMES ARE AWESOME! ( yes I'm shouting b/c they are! LOL)

[83_Eagle_T148]

The hat is within current uniform guidelines, you like it, and most important your boys have made it an important part of your troop's tradition. Wear the Campaign hat with pride sir, you have earned it.

[Scouts61]

I picked up my own campaign hat years ago in my early 20's after going through Wood Badge. Always loved the look of it. When forming my current troop, I sat down with the PLC to decide on the type of headgear that the troop should wear. Our SPL at the time floated the option of the campaign hat and the other boys loved the idea, so we adopted it and they have been wearing it proudly now for 7 years. To keep it affordable, the troop subsidizes 1/2 the cost of the hat for each new scout. We have received a lot of compliments on our appearance through the years and no one has any doubt when a misplaced hat is found at camp which troop it belongs to!

[phips]

The campaign hat and the neckerchief are relevant as a symbols of Scouting.

 

The campaign hat protects you from rain and sun and looks realy Scout Style.

We also brand our hats at camps.

 

Also many Scouts from the 40ties and 50ties in our region still own their campaign hats and neckerchiefs from their youth.

That shows the value of this items to the individual Scout.

 

Some of them had a BSA campaign hat in there youth and other hats came from the Swiss Scouts.

The first hats of our Scout group after WWII also came from Switzerland.(This message has been edited by phips)(This message has been edited by phips)