"Unofficial uniform"

[SSScout]

On 1/31/2020 at 1:43 PM, Eagledad said:

the scout decided to leave the hair goo in the car at Philmont. 

What? And not have a second (third?) source of fire starter?  

One should try that stuff..   If it's what I think you speak of, rubbed into a cotton ball, it'll burn like a candle.   I know my "Butch Wax"  for my crew cut did.  😋

[Eagledad]

50 minutes ago, SSScout said:

What? And not have a second (third?) source of fire starter?  

One should try that stuff..   If it's what I think you speak of, rubbed into a cotton ball, it'll burn like a candle.   I know my "Butch Wax"  for my crew cut did.  😋

Ya but, hmm.

You know, the adults never pushed. I’m not sure if it the ridiculousness of it, or we kind of wanted him to try. Honestly I was more worried about attracting bears than him struggling up Old Baldy. But I think it was the laughing from the Philmont Ranger that did the trick. I’m sure every one of us at that age was obsessed with something about our appearance. 

Barry

[TAHAWK]

Perhaps better the wax than the pound package of saltwater taffy that got one of our Scouts introduced to a black & white around 2AM.  😵

[SSScout]

11 hours ago, TAHAWK said:

Perhaps better the wax than the pound package of saltwater taffy that got one of our Scouts introduced to a black & white around 2AM.

Ach du lieber….

 

[TAHAWK]

He still smelled on the plane back to Cleveland - eight days and many washings later.  Seems he was half awake and, all unknowing,  took a swipe at "kitty," who was after the candy inside his sleeping bag. 

 

Quite a hole in the side of the tent.

[FireStone]

The BSA instagram account is a case study in uniform policing gone wild. The BSA posts a photo and the majority of the comments seem to be about badge placement, tucked in shirts, sashes, and various other pieces of the uniform that are identified as incorrectly placed, out of place, or otherwise lacking in some way. An Eagle Scout was recently harshly criticized for having a Star rank patch on his uniform. How about congratulating the new Eagle instead of criticizing his uniform?

My Pack has some uniform police among the leadership, and it's infuriating. They're the same folks who show up half the time in jeans but then are quick to point out a uniforming misstep on someone else when they just happen to have showed up with the official pants on that night. 

We do Pack meeting uniform inspections. Again, this is a Cub Pack, kids as young as 5 years old. It's absolutely ridiculous, and I refuse to participate.

I've pulled away from the uniform over the years and I think it's partially because I refuse to abide by the high standards that others impose. The uniform is important, it serves a purpose, and it is one of the aims of Scouting. But like all of the other aims, when taken to excess it can do more harm than good. There is a time and a place to encourage better uniforming, and that time and place is at a Pack meeting subjecting a Tiger scout to a full inspection. Nor is it taking to Instagram to publicly mock and criticize photos of scouts.

At the last Pack function I wore a BSA sweatshirt and neckerchief (I'm a fan of the Bear Grylls look). 😁 I'll continue to minimize my adherence to the uniform policies as long as it remains a tool to unnecessarily criticize others within the organization and hold kids to an unnecessarily harsh standard of wear. I'd rather be out of uniform than have to think about whether someone will comment on some small part of my uniform being out of regulations.

[malraux]

6 hours ago, FireStone said:

At the last Pack function I wore a BSA sweatshirt and neckerchief

As a Day Camp Program Director I get to set whatever I want as the uniform for day camp, which means that I can declare whatever I'm wearing as uniform as part of promoting day camp. I love minor loopholes.

[Double Eagle]

The 2019 world jamboree really got some BSA folks spun up.  Most participants wore t-shirts with a neckerchief tied at the bottom, loose fitting without a slide.  BSA frowns on wearing the neckerchief with anything except the field uniform (class A if you will).  Maybe we will just go with this as an infraction.  I'm one that leans on having a neckerchief available for its many uses as well as a scout staff/stave.

The only thing I would have to mention is wood badgers should not wear their neckerchief as this manner.  They have beads approved but look goofy with a T-shirt.  May be double standard, but we can't be correct all the time.     

[SSScout]

3 minutes ago, Double Eagle said:

The only thing I would have to mention is wood badgers should not wear their neckerchief as this manner.  They have beads approved but look goofy with a T-shirt.  May be double standard, but we can't be correct all the time.     

"By their fruits shall ye know them".      Beads are appropriate in ceremonial occasions, not necessarily out in the woods, so to speak, if ye get me drift,  or ken. 

[perdidochas]

43 minutes ago, Double Eagle said:

The 2019 world jamboree really got some BSA folks spun up.  Most participants wore t-shirts with a neckerchief tied at the bottom, loose fitting without a slide.  BSA frowns on wearing the neckerchief with anything except the field uniform (class A if you will).  Maybe we will just go with this as an infraction.  I'm one that leans on having a neckerchief available for its many uses as well as a scout staff/stave.

The only thing I would have to mention is wood badgers should not wear their neckerchief as this manner.  They have beads approved but look goofy with a T-shirt.  May be double standard, but we can't be correct all the time.     

Well, per this 2015 article, the above (t-shirt with tied necker) was totally acceptable per official BSA guidelines.

 

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/08/21/scout-neckerchiefs-now-approved-wear-nonuniform-clothing/

 

Quote

This line on page 12 of the Guide to Awards and Insignia, 2015 edition, confirms the change: 

When engaged in Scouting activities, members may wear the neckerchief with appropriate nonuniform clothing to identify them as Scouts.

Previously, according to an earlier version of the Guide, the Scout neckerchief was “worn only with the official uniform and never with T-shirts or civilian clothing.”

 

[Double Eagle]

The 2019 Guide to Awards and insignia version (page 13) says:  "when engaged in scouting activities, members may wear the neckerchief with appropriate nonuniform clothing to identify them as scouts".  So, looks like the we will see more worn like those world jamboree photos.

[Treflienne]

I lived in Europe for a while as a kid.   When we (GSUSA scouts) wore our completely unofficiial, home-made, neckerchiefs with our ordinary clothing, we were immediately recognized as being some variety of Scout or Guide.  (There were mulitple scouting/guiding organizations within what, to an American, is a fairly small geographical region.)   When we wore our GSUSA uniforms we not nearly recognizable as scouts/guides.

I much prefer the neckerchief to the  "class b" shirt for being identifiable as scouts when out of uniform.     It is readily recognizable from the distance.   With a group of kids in matching t-shirts you need to get close enough to read the printing before you know what kind of organization or club it is.   

[dkurtenbach]

3 hours ago, Double Eagle said:

The 2019 Guide to Awards and insignia version (page 13) says:  "when engaged in scouting activities, members may wear the neckerchief with appropriate nonuniform clothing to identify them as scouts".  So, looks like the we will see more worn like those world jamboree photos.

I'm also seeing more and more Scouters in the official uniform shirt wearing the neckerchief "international Scouting" style, loose over the collar with the ends tied in a friendship knot, rather than under the collar with a neckerchief slide or over a tucked-under collar with a neckerchief slide.

[qwazse]

On February 13, 2020 at 1:49 PM, dkurtenbach said:

I'm also seeing more and more Scouters in the official uniform shirt wearing the neckerchief "international Scouting" style, loose over the collar with the ends tied in a friendship knot, rather than under the collar with a neckerchief slide or over a tucked-under collar with a neckerchief slide.

The friendship knot seems to be a pernicious "World Jamboree" style -- related to, but not all-inclusive of "international Scoutjng." The exchange/college student scouts who I've met who haven't gone to Jambo use the slide. How tight, and even the ritual they use to roll the necker, varies by country.

In my WSJ swag, I had acquired as many slides as I did neckerchiefs.

Edited February 19, 2020 by qwazse

[ianwilkins]

11 hours ago, qwazse said:

The friendship knot seems to be a pernicious "World Jamboree" style -- related to, but not all-inclusive of "international Scoutjng." The exchange/college student scouts who I've met who haven't gone to Jambo use the slide. How tight, and even the ritual they use to roll the necker, varies by country.

In my WSJ swag, I had acquired as many slides as I did neckerchiefs.

And the Spanish scouts prefer a really tight and small friendship knot, while in the UK it's more of a bulky affair.

[the rest of this is true but tongue in cheek]

Then you gain another necker, and the special way of rolling two neckers together is taught, two separate points at the back and it looks "half and half", tied with a tiny friendship knot of course, and some of the kids start wearing it like a sash. All going to hell in a handcart clearly.

And when they wear slides in the UK...they don't even call it a slide...degenerates.

[US slide = UK woggle]