Red Troop numbers and Shoulder Loops

[blw2]

OK uniform police.....

Historically troop has always worn red numbers and red epaulette loops.

Came up as discussion point recently because you can't buy red loops at the shop any more.

 

....So they decided that the troop standard would be either

red numbers and red loops

or

green numbers and green loops

 

Personally. I think it better to conform to standard, and just wear the current national std of green and green

and if the boys want to show unit pride in customization, do that by way of neckers.

 

thoughts?

[LeCastor]

Personally, I keep my ODL shirts red/red and my Centennial shirts green/green. As long as they match they are technically allowed, right? Any BSA uniform is recognized as an official uniform.

[scoutergipper]

As something of a hide-bound traditionalist, I won't wear the green.

[ScoutNut]

"Historically" your Troop has worn red numbers and red loops (and don't forget red caps) because, prior to the release of the new uniform in 2008, those WERE the official Boy Scout colors. There was no green option at all.

 

The problem with making red the Troop "standard" is that (as you have noticed) while you can still get the red numbers from BSA National Supply because they are part of the Cub Scout uniform, the red shoulder loops have been entirely phased out. New Troop members would have to look for red loops on ebay, or at garage sales. Or, one other option (one I would not advocate), make their own red shoulder loops.

 

Personally, I think that, for practical purposes, your Troop should keep all current Scouts in red/red, and all new Scouts in green/green. Eventually, as the Scouts age out, all of the youth members will be in green/green.

 

If the Troop insists that every Scout wear the same, then the Troop should pay for new green numbers/loops for the current Scouts.

[perdidochas]

OK uniform police.....

Historically troop has always worn red numbers and red epaulette loops.

Came up as discussion point recently because you can't buy red loops at the shop any more.

 

....So they decided that the troop standard would be either

red numbers and red loops

or

green numbers and green loops

 

Personally. I think it better to conform to standard, and just wear the current national std of green and green

and if the boys want to show unit pride in customization, do that by way of neckers.

 

thoughts?

 

I think the green looks better. We've got a few scouts still in red numbers, but they mostly have green loops.

[Scouter99]

As ScoutNut pointed out, the red loops were not a matter of troop history or tradition; you were wearing red loops because those are the loops Boy Scouts wore. No one in your troop ever sat down and made the decision to wear red. Now Boy Scouts wear green loops.

Hats or neckerchiefs are a good way to have a troop flare to your uniform.

[blw2]

yeah, I understood that it used to be the standard...... by troop tradition I meant that they chose to not switch.......

Personally, I like consistency and would like to just move everyone over to the green (unless they are wearing a historic uniform where the red would be appropriate....

Scoutnuts idea of new scouts sticking to the new standard and letting the red phase out is more or less what we are doing...... still, I just thought it interesting

[Stosh]

My new troop decided on red/red regardless of the uniform. Most of my boys wear the old mule-eared pants with the red piping on them because they are cheaper on Ebay than those offered by the council store. Some of my boys over the years have worn the old green uniform shirt and there are no epaulets to even worry about.

 

Stosh

[perdidochas]

As something of a hide-bound traditionalist' date=' I won't wear the green.[/quote']

 

So you are stuck to the ODL uniform as tradition? The ODL uniform introduced the red loops.

[NJCubScouter]

We do not try to standardize the colors of the unit numbers and loops in our troop. With our "uniform bank", the red items could be hanging around for many years - although most of our families seem to buy new shirts after a year or so, I guess the parents want to wait to see if their sons are really interested in staying in Boy Scouting before shelling out the bucks for the shirt. So after a few more years the boys will probably be 90 percent green numbers and loops. And then there are the 7 or 8 "lifer" (or semi-lifer) adults, most of whom also have the older shirts with the red numbers and loops (including me, although these days (as a troop committee member) I wear my uniform only at COH's and other ceremonial occasions.)

[Stosh]

At the centennial Jamboree I showed up wearing a 1910 uniform. No one said anything about any color of the patches. There weren't any back then. It did have the BSA collar pins and BSA buttons, which was about it then. Another boy in the troop wore a 1960's uniform with the proper pants and patches on it. It was difficult, but he did come up with the community patch which is far more useful than the council strips. His rank was year appropriate (square) and his POR was correct (square) as was the necker. We allowed others to take our picture but only if they were in full-uniform, something that was required for Jamboree. We had to tell a lot of people no, but when a fully uniformed scout asked to take our picture, we also said no, handed his camera off to his buddies and told him he had to be a part of the picture. He got a picture with the 1910, 1960 and 2010 correct uniforms.

 

To this day, I still wear the red because it was the color of the uniform when I started as an adult and I'm too lazy and too cheap to change over. I'm still wearing the full uniform I purchased in 1993. A few field repairs, but for the most part fully functional and correct.

 

Stosh

[Scouter99]

We do not try to standardize the colors of the unit numbers and loops in our troop. With our "uniform bank"' date=' the red items could be hanging around for many years[/quote']

 

I removed the red from our uniform bank on a slow night Not really many epaulettes since those tended to be held by people for their next shirt. Surprising how many shirts got tossed in with their jambo patches.

[Eagle92]

'99,

 

I'm not surprised. When I was a Scout, I shopped the thrift stores for uniforms. Patches were mine to keep, and shiirts, and pants if I found them, were sold to help pay some of my expenses.

[SSScout]

Epaulette loops make good necker woggles. Roll'em back on themselves, a little glue to hold'em. Put lots of pins (BALOO , PWD, BSAthanks, whathave you) on'em and they stick on the necker quite well.

 

Some Councils/Districts award loops for events. Here in Murlin, I have seen many loops with crabs, stars, fireworks (1812!) and they are eye catching. Worn along with the usual red/green/reallygreen/silver/gold loops.

 

[Rick_in_CA]

At the centennial Jamboree I showed up wearing a 1910 uniform.

 

Sounds cool! Got any pictures?