Custom Additions to the Scout uniform?

[ParacordMan1220]

Well there's the answer, isn't it. Scouting is a competition to you...a game of one-upsmanship. How sad.

 

Now, let's see, on the first page you wrote:

 

I think it is a good way to tell who can teach knot tying by simply looking at their lanyard, instead of spending a lot of time asking questions.

 

But now you say:

 

I think I'll pass on the button crap,

 

So a lanyard doodad is ok, but a button doodad is not ok? Now you are just contradicting yourself.

 

The best way to see how a scout performs is to SEE how they perform and ask them some questions (which you are loathe to do). That process does not require another doodad on the uniform. But you've already been told that, so...it's sort of pointless to talk with you from here on out.

But somehow I got elected for two terms (1 year), and had to be taken out of election or else I would have been SPL for many more terms (no one else would get leadership experience).

[Basementdweller]

My goodness.

 

take a look at the pukes who run the national level of this organization

 

Please, don't post responses that are not completely thought out. I found your comments to be very ignorant, and I believe your troop is very lucky to have a member with as much intelligence as yourself.

 

I hope that you are not "blind" and understand what I am talking about

 

Your Troop seems to be lax on teaching the Scout Oath and Law also. Perhaps you should have them implement a new award where they stop you once a month, and have you prove you know what they are, what they mean, and that you actually do try to live by them. Unfortunately, from your comments here, you seem to be sorely lacking in the Courteous part, along with a few others.

 

Young man, being on an internet board, and feeling that you are "immune" to consequences, does NOT excuse the above behavior.

 

Especially on a Scout forum, from someone claiming to be an under 18, Boy Scout, and a leader in his Troop.

 

BTW - I HAVE read both - the Charter and Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America (pub 57-191), and the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America (pub 57-492).

PLEEAAAASE

 

If you actually read what I wrote......

 

"how sad for your scouts.

 

You do understand that it supposed to be boy led"

 

How exactly is that is an insult if your a boy????

 

It is meant to smack the adults in the face who won't get out of the boys way......

 

 

.It was written with the assumption that you were an adult.....

[ParacordMan1220]

I did a bit of "modifying" as Paracord is suggesting, but I did so within the limits of appropriate uniforming. The first thing I did was have a ranking by color a system of lanyards. Kind of a "reward" for outstanding work thingy. All I did was buy a bunch of lanyard cord of various colors and cut to about 6" lengths. Starting with the first color if I caught a boy doing something right he got the first color which would be larkhead knot through the button hole of the temporary patch pocket. Nothing says that pocket is sacred to anyone. If sewn correctly so the button hole can be used the OA patch even doesn't get in the way. One could "progress" by taking on more and more projects which were subject to SM approval of merit. It wasn't just doing the same thing over and over again, but challenging the skills of the scout in such things as leadership, organizational projects or whatever the SM deemed as appropriate. Of course the boys knew that by screwing up, the lanyard could be taken away and the boy would need to start earning it back. Not really appropriate, but we've all wanted to bust the boys in rank many times before. Well, being a temporary "patch" I would always emphasize the temporary part of it to the boys. They all knew what that meant. Of course even without switching out colors one could add value to the system along the way. The SPL would announce lights out, but all the boys with "blue" or above could stay an extra half hour at the campfire with the adults before heading to bed. No color changes, but a big perk nonetheless. This program can be modified to one's own situation without any national rules getting in the way, too.

 

Again, a troop adopts a certain uniform, but it doesn't need to all be the same. My honor patrol all purchased the expedition hat with the 2" FC badge on it and wore a colored hat cord to indicate his POR. SPL yellow, ASPL blue, PL, red, and because of the uniqueness of the hat I could identify my honor scouts from a long distance away. They also wore a specialty necker different from the rest of the troop. They carried both. When they operated as a patrol, they wore their patrol necker and when the troop gathered as a whole, they switched to the troop necker.

 

Eventually the rest of the troop adopted their own patrol neckers and it was kind of handy. As SM one could sit 300' away and see if all the boys were in their proper patrol area or not.

 

While none of this truly conforms to the official uniform, there is nothing that actually is deemed inappropriate for a troop to have some independence with.

 

It was always nice to see at Eagle COH's those little pieces of lanyard and different colored neckers displayed on their memory boards. It must have meant something important to them at one point.

 

Stosh

Thanks for posting some good ideas! I' ll definitely take those into consideration!

[ParacordMan1220]

OK, guys, it's time to stop beating the poor kid.

 

Paracord, you obviously have a lot of enthusiasm. That's a great asset to any troop. That said, your idea of awards for being able to do things that are already covered by ranks sounds a bit redundant, and I think that's what people are complaining about. However, your trying to improve enthusiasm to do a good job is admirable. Is there another way to reward that? How about having a knot tying competition and giving out something for the top three? I had a knot tying competition and to even the field I had the older scouts do some of the knots blind folded. You really have to know the knots to do that. So, don't give an award for being average, make an award for going above and beyond.

 

Personally, I don't like adding awards to a uniform that can already look like bling central, so I'd modify the neckerchief, or add something to it. Also, I'd suggest not worrying about the length of hair. I'm old enough to have seen that when I was your age and it never had a positive outcome. Besides, I had hair that was as wide as my shoulders. It sure pissed my dad off.

 

Good luck.

What do you mean you bailed, Base?

Anyway, thank you for posting a relevant comment MattR, i appreciate it more than you know.

[ParacordMan1220]

My goodness.

 

take a look at the pukes who run the national level of this organization

 

Please, don't post responses that are not completely thought out. I found your comments to be very ignorant, and I believe your troop is very lucky to have a member with as much intelligence as yourself.

 

I hope that you are not "blind" and understand what I am talking about

 

Your Troop seems to be lax on teaching the Scout Oath and Law also. Perhaps you should have them implement a new award where they stop you once a month, and have you prove you know what they are, what they mean, and that you actually do try to live by them. Unfortunately, from your comments here, you seem to be sorely lacking in the Courteous part, along with a few others.

 

Young man, being on an internet board, and feeling that you are "immune" to consequences, does NOT excuse the above behavior.

 

Especially on a Scout forum, from someone claiming to be an under 18, Boy Scout, and a leader in his Troop.

 

BTW - I HAVE read both - the Charter and Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America (pub 57-191), and the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America (pub 57-492).

Sorry base, I misunderstood your comment.

You are forgiven, lol

[gsdad]

There's no need. As pointed out, there are "standards" for everything regarding the uniform. If your unit isn't enforcing them, adding more to the heap isn't going to change that.

Rank badges denote everything a scout knows; if you can't tell which knots a boy knows based on his rank, then you don't need a new more complicated system, you need to memorize the existing one. If the boys' ranks aren't indicative of their knowledge, then you need to stop rubber-stamp advancing them, not create a new system of bling.

As for hats, troop PLCs (not you) can pick their own hats and their own neckerchiefs. Troop PLCs can also decide which parts of the uniform to wear or not. That's all the customization you need.

I beg to differ, I am now 40 yo, and can tie every knot I learned as a boy. I can start a fire with bare essentials, read a map, use a compass, right a canoe, etc... Why? because my troop practiced the skills. The only bling we earned was Skill Awards, Merit badges, and Rank. That was enough.

[ParacordMan1220]

There's no need. As pointed out, there are "standards" for everything regarding the uniform. If your unit isn't enforcing them, adding more to the heap isn't going to change that.

Rank badges denote everything a scout knows; if you can't tell which knots a boy knows based on his rank, then you don't need a new more complicated system, you need to memorize the existing one. If the boys' ranks aren't indicative of their knowledge, then you need to stop rubber-stamp advancing them, not create a new system of bling.

As for hats, troop PLCs (not you) can pick their own hats and their own neckerchiefs. Troop PLCs can also decide which parts of the uniform to wear or not. That's all the customization you need.

Good for you... but you have practiced those skills A LOT, right?

It is hard to practice all of these skills with only one, 2 hour meeting a week and a camp out about every 5-9 weeks, but we do our best.

 

I guess since I am in the new age of scouting, they don't have skill awards anymore (unless I know them by a different name).

Can you please explain to me what a skill award is and how it is earned?

[perdidochas]

There's no need. As pointed out, there are "standards" for everything regarding the uniform. If your unit isn't enforcing them, adding more to the heap isn't going to change that.

Rank badges denote everything a scout knows; if you can't tell which knots a boy knows based on his rank, then you don't need a new more complicated system, you need to memorize the existing one. If the boys' ranks aren't indicative of their knowledge, then you need to stop rubber-stamp advancing them, not create a new system of bling.

As for hats, troop PLCs (not you) can pick their own hats and their own neckerchiefs. Troop PLCs can also decide which parts of the uniform to wear or not. That's all the customization you need.

Paracord,

 

It doesn't take a lot of practice to know the knots. The best thing to insure knowledge of knots is to require teaching of knots.

 

I think the knot ninja program is unnecessary. As a Cub leader, I hated dealing with beads (as did 75% of the boys). Why would we want to continue that?

 

Finally, skill awards were a concept done in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Physically, they resembled Cub Scout Belt Loops.They were earned kind of like the sign-offs for the T-2-1 Skills.

[perdidochas]

Since National really doesn't have very high uniform standards, I want to see if anyone has "improved" or incorporated things like "shoulder cords" (like the military wears in dress uniforms), different hats (Berets, Garrison caps, Boonie hats, etc.), and anything else that looks good and/or serves a purpose. I am wanting to start some new award systems to strike some interest with the scouts of my troop, like the "Knot Ninja" program that many others are starting (just do a quick google search to learn more).

 

So, If you guys have any ideas and/or pictures of uniform ideas, post them up!

 

Thanks in advance.

 

First you do realize that B-P explicitly stated several times scouting is not the Military, right?

 

Second, all for seeing someone develop a new award. But if your going to call out an organizations uniform standard as not high enough and then intend to implement "shoulder cords" in contradiction to those very standards I think your a hypocrite. I also need to observe that this program is about Knot tying, a skill so basic to scouting that not being able to tie them means one does not advance in rank and you think people should be given uniform decorations for that?

 

Third, If you like fancy uniforms, and the idea of the Knot Ninja program, take a look at the Sea Scout program. It is challenging, more structured than Boy Scouts and it has a variety of Uniforms.

Paracord,

 

I was holding my tongue about your rudeness, but can't continue. The Scout Law does not say a Scout is only Friendly, Courteous and Kind to those who deserve it. There are no qualifications. A Scout is Friendly, Courteous and Kind regardless of the situation. If anything, the less someone "deserves it" the more you should be Friendly, Courteous and Kind. I realize that this is online, and Courtesy, all too often, goes out the window online. However, it shouldn't. You have some growing up to do, and once you do it, I'm sure you'll look back at your younger self's statements and cringe. Knots are important, but IMHO, much less important than the 12 points of the Scout Law. Just like knots, the Scout Law atrophies, if not used.

[ParacordMan1220]

Since National really doesn't have very high uniform standards, I want to see if anyone has "improved" or incorporated things like "shoulder cords" (like the military wears in dress uniforms), different hats (Berets, Garrison caps, Boonie hats, etc.), and anything else that looks good and/or serves a purpose. I am wanting to start some new award systems to strike some interest with the scouts of my troop, like the "Knot Ninja" program that many others are starting (just do a quick google search to learn more).

 

So, If you guys have any ideas and/or pictures of uniform ideas, post them up!

 

Thanks in advance.

 

First you do realize that B-P explicitly stated several times scouting is not the Military, right?

 

Second, all for seeing someone develop a new award. But if your going to call out an organizations uniform standard as not high enough and then intend to implement "shoulder cords" in contradiction to those very standards I think your a hypocrite. I also need to observe that this program is about Knot tying, a skill so basic to scouting that not being able to tie them means one does not advance in rank and you think people should be given uniform decorations for that?

 

Third, If you like fancy uniforms, and the idea of the Knot Ninja program, take a look at the Sea Scout program. It is challenging, more structured than Boy Scouts and it has a variety of Uniforms.

Sorry, but that's just my personal take on it. I don't think my views will change once I am older either.

You don't like it? That's fine, can't be happy all the time right?

[gumbymaster]

For my cub scouts, I challenged them to learn some knots. If they succeeded, (4 knots for tiger, 8 for Webelos - knots generally recommended for their age level from their scout books) according to their level, I would replace their neckerchief slide with a woggle (turkshead) colored (dyed 1/'8" cotton cord) for their level (orange, yellow, lt. blue, dk. blue, for tiger, wolf, bear, Webelos, etc.) As the neckerchief slide is a "negotiable" part of the uniform, this had the advantage of customization and recognition without adding something new (and the woggles are usually harder to lose while playing games anyway).

[King Ding Dong]

There's no need. As pointed out, there are "standards" for everything regarding the uniform. If your unit isn't enforcing them, adding more to the heap isn't going to change that.

Rank badges denote everything a scout knows; if you can't tell which knots a boy knows based on his rank, then you don't need a new more complicated system, you need to memorize the existing one. If the boys' ranks aren't indicative of their knowledge, then you need to stop rubber-stamp advancing them, not create a new system of bling.

As for hats, troop PLCs (not you) can pick their own hats and their own neckerchiefs. Troop PLCs can also decide which parts of the uniform to wear or not. That's all the customization you need.

Why would he want to continue that ? I think BD said it best..Cub Scout Troop.

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

Lets try to get this thread back on track

An admonition to follow standards...

in a thread about deviating from them?

[ParacordMan1220]

Lets try to get this thread back on track

I didn't say anything about "following" the "National standards" did I? I just wanted to see if any troops have set their own.