jdsmerud Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I've read a couple posts about how units are doing away with neckers, felt an urge to comment. The multiple neckers in the Cub Scout Program is a little much. It is not cost effective and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why not just have all Cubs wear the yellow necker? The rank is on the pocket, it doesn't need to be on the necker, slide, hat, etc. One Cub Scout hat, necker and slide is enough and the boys look more uniform that way anyways. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 My boy wore the yellow all the way through until he got his tan shirt for Boy Scouts. He never asked for a new necker even when everyone else changed. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdsmerud Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Hey Blake, Where are you at in Western Wisconsin? We might be close as I'm in Northeast Iowa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83Eagle Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The neckers aren't expensive and make a nice "advancement" award at the end of the year. Just my 2cents. Although, the slides are easily lost. We keep meaning to do some kind of leather slide project. Edit: also, easy "sorting" of boys at events, etc. :-)(This message has been edited by 83eagle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resqman Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Our Pack used to bridge the older boys first. The Webelos would bridge off to their new troop. Their Webelos neckers were removed and the troop necker put on. Next the Bears bridged. Their Bear neckers were removed and the Webelos necker put on. Where did the Webelos necker come from? Why the previous bridging. Keep this us for the Wolfs and Tigers. The Pack had a few extra of each rank in the box of bridging supplies because each den was a different size. The neckers are "Pack Property". You get one from the Pack. If the scout loses it, he has to provide a replacement to the pack. The Pack always has at least one slide craft project each year so we did not worry about the BSA slides with the rank on them. The boys liked making and wearing their own slides. Glue matchbox car to piece of PVC pipe in prep for pinewood derby. Buy a six pack of cars from the dollar store for a buck. A couple tubes of super glue and couple bucks of pvc pipe cut into 1 inch lenghs. Easy, cheap, fun. The leather slides available from the scout store or Tandy run about buck each. Alphabet leather stamp kit $25. Cub Scout rank stamps $4 each. Pack invests $40-$45 bucks and they can make leather slides for years to come for a $1 per scout. Great den project. Great Pack activity. Film cannisters filled with stuff and a pipe cleaner through the cannister to attach to necker. Check the web for lots of cheap easy slide projects. My son complained the neckers were hot and did not want to wear them. I carved about 2 dozen slides. I changed the arguement from "You must wear your necker" to "Which slide do you want to wear 2night?" The neckers really help with crowd control at Pack meetings. World wide neckers are the only single piece of uniform that is consistent with all scouting organizations. A necker IS scouting. Develop the habit with the cubs and it will carry through their scouting career. I am a uniform bigot and feel if you can't be bothered to wear the uniform correctly, then what else are you leaving out of the program because it is not convienent. Keep the neckers alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle92 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Neckers are a valid and, if the correct size, which BSA is going back to finally, are a useful uniform item that should be mandatory for all, including Venturers who choose the green and grey uniform. But that is my opinion. ANYWAY I can see how some units are viewing it as an "option" since Boy Scouts do have that option, and several photos from Supply catalogs have Cubs without neckers on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocubdad Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I'm with resqman. The best thing about neckers is they give you a place to put all the cool slides you make. Even as Cubs, my den made at least one slide every year. One year I found small wooden Christmas tree blanks at Ben Franklin or Michael's which the boys painted and decorated. (I still wear mine around the holidays.) Another year I make generic race car blanks and had every boy create a slide to match the look of his PWD. My guys came home from World Jamboree a couple years ago with a whole new appreciation for neckers. As resqman says, the neckerchief is the one ubiquitous piece of Scouting uniform world wide. You would see kids from other countries in cut-off jeans, an ABBA t-shirt but wearing their national contengient neckerchief. Pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestCoastScouter Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Our pack actually has considered getting a custom neckerchief, such as the blue and gold one that has the different paw prints, boot print. http://www.stadriemblems.com/scouting/neckerchiefs/index.htm We are thinking that it will mean that the boy can wear the same necker for all five years... vs. buying a new one every year. But we have not made up our minds yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle92 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 'Coast, While that is not how it' suppose to be done, regs say Cubs have to wear the appropriate colored necker, if national keeps showing cubs without neckers, I say go for it. Just wish Stradi wold make the proper sized neckers as theirs are too small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutWithNecker Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 You are so right, resqman. A necker IS scouting. Develop the habit with the cubs and it will carry through their scouting career. New cubs are most often thrilled to be invested with the neckerchief, and they want to wear it. We should help them understand that the neckerchief is the universal symbol of Scouting, and that brothers and sisters all over the world wear their neckers proudly. They trade and exchange neckerchiefs with other Scouts. The neckerchief should never have been made optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drmbear Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I see Scouters out without neckerchiefs fairly regularly, but I can honestly say that I do not feel I am in uniform until I put on my neckerchief. I wouldn't go out without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadenP Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Yes the necker is a useful item in scouting, however going back to basically two neckers for cubs, the yellow and the webelos makes a lot of sense and is the tradition. With the ever increasing cost of uniforms cutting down the expense is a sound move for most people. Let us not forget our new CSE's current idea in the works of Rank T-shirts and scout jeans to replace the traditional scouting uniforms,even though they cost just as much if not more, what a joke that would be, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RememberSchiff Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 See few scouts wearing a necker except at formal meetings. Seems backward that a functional accessory gets worn only on formal occasions. What this old scout would like to see 1. Size is getting better but geometry is still wrong. Square size 38" or larger (Reason: should be large enough to make an arm sling, use as a signal flag) 2. Wear necker with class B as other countries do as it is, as mentioned, a universal scout symbol and it is a functional accessory. 3. Go back to one neckerchief for Cubs. They can grow out of everything else. 4. Definitely encourage making your own slides. Store bought slides are for woosies (wussies?). What I predict - extinction. Most now prefer a cool baseball cap. My $0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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