Uniform Appropriate Activities

[The Blancmange]

 

Field uniform is also referred to as Class A uniform shirt and leather shoes. I was doc'd points when our new unit commissioner did his uniform inspection because I had tennis shoes on...

That is a made-up rule. The only official guidance on shoes is that they be "neat and clean"

[Basementdweller]

It says " Leather or canvas, neat and clean". Well I wear running shoes that aren't leather or canvas.....I did have my bsa socks on...

 

Oh well

[Old_OX_Eagle83]

The uniform is designed for the field, but it is not a good base layer. I encourage showing pride, and esprit de corps, by wearing the uniform whenever possible, but common sense has to rule the day. I live in the Ohio river valley and understand all too well.

 

Field uniform is also referred to as Class A uniform shirt and leather shoes. I was doc'd points when our new unit commissioner did his uniform inspection because I had tennis shoes on...

 

 

Like you said the UC was new, but that doesnt make him wrong:

 

Shoes. Leather or canvas, neat and clean.

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34283.pdf

 

Personally, I dont like seeing athletic shoes with the uniform, most of em look like a rainbow exploded. Beyond that, athletic shoes are not good camp/outdoor shoes.

(This message has been edited by Old_OX_Eagle83)

[BartHumphries]

I think tennis shoes are great camp/outdoor shoes, but that's just me. Whatever floats your boat.

 

I think "hiking shoes" were good back when people were really going "hiking" cross country, when you were walking through thistle patches or places where the landscape feels the same underfoot as a post-apocalyptic landscape covered in half-buried barbed wire. What with the general move to only camping/hiking on "established paths/campsites" and the increased emphasis on Leave No Trace rather than the more general Outdoor Code to leave things better than you found them, we're mostly walking on small grass or dirt paths. I've hiked a few miles in the Sierras barefoot just because I took my shoes off for some water and then the path after that for miles was well-trodden dirt -- I thought I'd walk until my feet were really dry and I just kept walking. But I digress.

 

In the old days, hiking boots were a vital necessity because people really "hiked" (cross-country) and because "normal" shoes were Oxfords and two-tones and shoes that people nowdays only wear to church or as costume dress pieces or something. Tennis shoes today are half the weight and twice the comfortable padding as hiking boots. Walking around in a pair of good athletic shoes compared to hiking boots is like walking around on clouds compared to walking around with your feet in lead boxes. My $20 tennis shoes together weigh something like a pound -- they almost feel like ballet slippers but with plenty of extra padding.

 

Unless I'm moving a refrigerator (or otherwise really really worried about something falling on my toes) or walking through the snow or something, I really don't see why I wouldn't wear athletic tennis shoes on a hike instead of canvas Converse shoes or solid leather pieces that breath like an old asthmatic smoker.

 

To each his own, though, every man follows the beat of his own drummer and must step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

[Eagle92]

And let's not forget, some of the newer hiking boots today are not leather or canvas. Me personally when I did inspections, as long as the shoes were clean, unless the scouts just hiked in in the rain and had to go through the mud then I'll cut them some slack(the district camporee requires patrols to hike about 1.5 miles into the camp from the mainroad with their personal gear, sigh)then those points are a given.

 

 

[Old_OX_Eagle83]

Some of the footwear issue is personal choice, some common sense. Personally, I dont find athletic shoes in the least comfortable. Typically athletic shoes are loose, provide poor support, and do not wear well. I find the correct footwear choice is important. I own several pairs of boots, ranging from loggers to ultra light hikers. I also own river shoes, sandals, hard soled mocs, and even a few pair of good o work and western boots, lol.

 

We all practice leave no trace, but all trails are not all smooth level easy walking surfaces. Trails in this region can, and will contain mud, wet clay, sand, gravel, briers, needle, thistle, poison ivy-sumac-oak, sharp shale, fallen limbs. Inclines can be quite steep, wading creeks is common, sink holes, and deadly drop offs are often very near trails. We have all types of nasty critters with fangs, stingers, spines, ect. Barbed wire, yea, sometimes it can be at trail edges. Athletic shoes will get you hurt, these are not garden paths. As far as barefoot, its against BSA policy for several good reasons.

 

Being prepared is an important part of scouting

(This message has been edited by Old_OX_Eagle83)

[Scoutfish]

I used to buy some hiking style workboots from RedWing. They cost $140.00 but let me tell you what...

 

THEY WERE AWESOME!!!!

 

Brand new out of the box, they felt like they were 1 year old. Nice, soft and broke in, but not wore out. Like wearing the most comfortable sneakers ever! Lightweight too.

 

6" upper, both leather and synthetic. Waterproof, but brteathed very well.

 

They were steel toe and had a very flexible fiberglass sole.

 

The lug bottom sole commanded an awesome grip without holding on to anything but the worst red clay.

 

But you know how it is...you find something awesome and they discontinue it!

[Eamonn]

My biggest problem with the uniform isn't what it is or isn't, it's the cos of the darn thing.

For a lot of Scouts a Scout uniform is the most expensive set of clothes that they own.

Most Scouts only have one uniform, so the idea of doing anything where it might get ruined is something that just isn't going to happen.

I'm very much for full and correct uniforming, but my feeling is that it is almost something that back in my day was called "Sunday Best".

Like it or not getting a Troop into uniform is not always easy and as long as it costs an arm and a leg, parents are going to not want to allow Scouts to wear it other than when they have too.

So it becomes a dress uniform worn only on formal occasions.

Ea.

[The Blancmange]

Shoes. Leather or canvas, neat and clean.

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34283.pdf

 

 

Interesting. The uniform inspection sheet for Leaders (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34048.pdf), Cubs (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34282.pdf), and Webelos (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34635.pdf) only say "Neat and Clean," while the Boy Scout/Varsity form adds leather or canvas. So much for consistency.

 

So, it's OK to wear hot pink Chuck Taylors (http://www.converse.com/#/products/Shoes/ChuckTaylor/M9006) but nylon trail runners that match the uniform socks perfectly are out?

 

[Basementdweller]

Well I am a hiker.....I stopped wearing boots in the summer an typically wear trail runners..... They look very utilitarian, ugly gray with orange lettering, but hey they fit and were on sale for 70% off....... He didn't like them......

 

I do have some nice boots for winter and wet but not to a troop or pack meeting.

 

Blanc....thanks for the laugh.....I just shake my head some times

[LeCastor]

I always make it a point to wear my field uniform (aka "class A") at EVERY function. In my opinion, it sets a positive example for the Scouts. I'm not ashamed to wear the uniform shirt and I'm certainly not afraid to get it dirty. After all, I was a Scout and now I'm a Scouter and I wear my uniform proudly on hikes, camping trips and Troop meetings. (Even Greenbar Bill's 1979 handbook says your uniform is part of the packing list for camping trips and hikes.) I consider it the 11th Outdoor Essential for Scouting trips.

 

The problem I see with the activity "uniform" is that it isn't technically a uniform. Many of our Scouts don't wear official pants/shorts anyway, which is sad in my opinion, and they each tend to pick their own "class B" t-shirt. This all leads to no "uniform" at all. Rather, we have Scouts in street clothes...

 

So I say, wear your field uniform whenever possible--everyone in the Troop. If heat is a factor during an outdoor activity, then have the Scouts choose ONE BSA-related t-shirt and wear that with the appropriate shorts/pants.

[Eagle92]

Must disagree with the activity uniform not being official. it's mentioned in the BSA literature.

 

And if you are a relic like I am, then you have one of the 1990s Activity Uniforms that national made and used inall their literature at the time, i.e. khaki shorts and program specific polos