Patch Vests

[flying pig]

I am entering my first full year as Cubmaster. We went through a rough planning session last month to schedule pack events for the year. This month we will go over a budget based on the discussions last month. We are going to start emphasizing parts of scouting that we have previously ignored like Sports & Academics.

 

One area I want to look into is the use of patch vests. The cost of $12.25 at council is fairly exorbitant I think for a piece of felt. I think I can probably make them for $3 a piece.

 

My question is how packs use the vests. Does the pack provide them or do families pay for them? I heard from someone at my recent BALOO training that their pack requires Scouts to do a set of three good turns to earn their vest. The good turns had to be one each for three different groups such as family, church and school. I cannot remember the details exactly. The Scout then would have to share their good turns with the Pack at the next event to get the vest.

 

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[jens3sons]

Flying Pig, In our pack we call the vest "brag vests". We do not require the boys to earn the vest, and the pack provides the vests for the boys. We have a pattern that has been passed down through the years of how to make the vests, and have someone who knows how to sew, sew them for us. (It is just two small seams up at the top of the shoulders.) The pack provides both the vest and the round council patch for the middle back of the vest. In September we sign up our new recruits, and at the October pack meeting we call the new boys up to the front, and formally introduce them to the rest of the pack and hand them their new vests. The boys then can put their summer time activity pins on the vests, and any patches or segments that they earn through out the year on their vest. Examples of actual patches are: popcorn, pinewood derby, and a baseball team and hockey team that our council provides "scout nights" at, that the boys receive the patch along with the purchased ticket, camporall, sports spectactular, etc. Our boys receive segments for numerous things. Most common are parades we march in, service projects we do, summer time activities, Scout Sunday, Flag day, convalescent bingo, etc. We discovered in our pack, the more recognition the better, so the ones previously mentioned the pack pays for those segments, but we also allow dens to give out segments for things that they do, at the expense of the den or boy's parents. We found the kids hated the totems (the beads are forever getting lost)and the boys like to see who has the most rings and segments around their council badge on the back of their vests. It is also a visual reminder of all the things the boys have done.

I hope this helped answer some questions for you!

Yours in Scouts,

Jens3sons

[ScoutNut]

We do it pretty much the same way. We have an old pattern & whoever has a sewing machine & knows how to use it gets the job of whipping up the vests. We give them out at our September Pack meeting as our welcome gift along with the council patch for the back, their scarf & slide. No service or good turns required!

 

We also use segments around the council patch for just about everything we do. Every leader has a copy of the segment list & includes any they need for den activites on their monthly report to our advancement person. The Pack will pay for any patches associated with a Cub Scout activity. Many boys will also include any patches they receive at outside activites as well. For instance, patches from places visited during summer vacations, State Park Junior Ranger patches earned, & patches from participating in Girl Scout activites with their sisters.

[johndaigler]

For our own Cubs, we let the family purchase the optional vest.

 

It's definitely cheaper to create your own. It's also simple. One of our Wolf Dens made about 25 to give to another Pack as a service project. We let an adult use the scissors (felt can be a bit frustrating for tiny hands) to cut the form, but the boys did everything else: machine sewed shoulder seams, measured and placed graumets and cut and tied leather laces.

 

We use the segments for everything (and now we use the belt loops, too). The boys love them, but all this added bling-bling gets expensive - I'd suggest being confident of your budget before committing to having the Pack pay for everything.

 

jd

 

 

[kittle]

I made vest for all the boys in our Pack. One of the other leaders bought the material and I created the pattern and sewed them. We thought about the felt vest, but I made the vests our of cotton. My son had a vest and I just made the pattern off of it.

 

[bucabaker]

Scouts get their own vests at our pack. I have noticed a tendency to buying fleece vests which provide a fairly useful piece of clothing for cool weather

[mschwartz]

We have a pattern (and a supply of red felt) that is passed from Wolf Den to Wolf Den. We generally have the boys trace the pattern on the felt and cut it out themselves, then (depending on how adventurous the den leader is) either we find someone with a sewing machine to stitch up the shoulder seams or we have the boys do it themselves! Either way, they are very proud to be wearing something that they made "themselves".

 

The vests get filled with patches pretty quickly - hikes, Pinewood Derby, sleepovers, reading patches, etc. Makes a nice record of the pack activities for the boys.

[Trevorum]

Our pack presents all of the Web I's with their felt brag vests at an end of the year 'graduation' ceremony in May. At the same ceremony, the Tigers get yellow neckerchiefs and a Wolf book, the Wolves get a blue necker and the bear book, and the Bears get the plaid necker and a Webelos book. The pack pays for everything (including orange neckers and Tiger books for all new recruits in the Fall) from the planned budget.

[cubbingcarol]

In our pack it is optional and the families purchase them on their own. My son's has a few old patches that his grandfather gave him and then all his own. He rarely wears it though.

[afscout]

I had a question. I want to had the boys in my den make a vest for Wolf elective 10c: Make a traditional American Indian piece of clothing. It could also double as a patch vest. Does the patch vest have to be red? I want someting that will make the den stand out from those who bought their vests. I was thinking of buying brown felt and having the boys cut out the pattern and sew it.

[ScoutNut]

Sounds fun, go for it.

 

One year at Summer Camp, there was a Pack that used what looked like tan fishing vests for brag vests. Lots of pockets, easy to wash, and large enough to last until they cross to Boy Scouts.

[Eagle92]

My den just did that in Nov, but we stuck with red. We also had the OA come out and do some dances and tell stories. that was so popular, that we had them come back the next week and dance for those dens interested. Kinda helps when your den chief is the chapter's VP of Indian Affairs.

[AKdenldr]

We did them last year as a bear / wolf project -- one meeting. Boys cut under supervision and ran the seams under supervision. We made name tags out of leather. It does run about $ 3 each.

 

I don't like the term "brag vest", "patch vest" is more approprate and respectful to the boy's scouting career.

 

 

[afscout]

We just finished making the patch vests at a den meeting for my wolves. While I first wanted a dark brown vest to make the den stand out from the store bought vests, it turned out that the Brownies in our area wear dark brown vests. I didn't want the boys to get teased by others so I went and bought red felt. The felt was $5.00 for 72"x36" which makes 3 vests. I found a pattern on the web and made a cardboard pattern so the boys could trace the cut lines and then cut the vest out themselves. My wife had a very sharp pair of sewing scissors which worked out well. One of the other parents brought a general use scissors which had a hard time cutting though 2 layers of felt. I also brought my wife's sewing machine so we could sew the shoulder seams right there and the boys could walk out of the meeting wearing their new vests. So for $2.00 for the felt (and my wife's scissors and sewing machine), we were able to make vests that look just as good as the $15.00 CS vests and get two electives done. Now the hard part, my son as a ton of patches he wants sewn on his new vest.

[Eagle92]

if your son has a bunch of patches to sew on, what is he waiting for? Seriously though I taught my son how to sew, and he has helped sew on his patches. He knows that if he wants it on the vest, he has to start on it. I do help when I can.