Sam Browne belt (leather duty belt) with uniform ?

[scout010]

I was wondering if anybody else here wears a Sam Browne belt with his uniform or for outdoor purposes?

I am referring here to a 2.25" wide leather duty belt with two prong buckle, which is worn by police and military officers.

 

I really like the appearance of those belts on a uniform...and the possibility to carry all my personal items on my belt when I am in the woods. Do you think this is appropriate with a uniform as a scouts leader? Or what kind of belts do you wear for outdoor/survival activities?

 

some photo impressions below:

 

 

 

 

[RememberSchiff]

@@scout010 welcome to scouter.com.

 

I wear a Wilderness instructor belt all the time.

 

[Eagle94-A1]

When you said Sam Browne, I thought you meant the sword belt.

 

Depending upon where I am going or what type of camp out, I will wear a pistol belt.

One of the nice things about A.L.I.C.E.and M.O.L.L.E. pouches, they can be put on just about any belt. MOLLE may slide around a bit, it works.

[resqman]

I carry a pocket knife in my pocket and a fire starter on my keyring in my pocket. If going anywhere outside of camp I have a small daypack with water, first aid kit, trail mix, bandana, and whistle. There is just enough room to stuff my rain jacket and hat.  

 

I like the look but not sure how many pouches or what you would carry in the various pouches. 

[TAHAWK]

"The Sam Browne belt is a wide belt, usually leather, supported by a narrower strap passing diagonally over the right shoulder.^[1] It is most often a part of a military or police uniform.^[2"

 

^{The shoulder strap helps support the sword.  Designed by Sam Browne, VC.}

 

^{It might be easier to get Scouts and Scouters "in uniform" is we had a uniform, instead of a clothing line.}

[scout010]

Indeed....a Sam Browne belt used to be a wide belt supported by a shoulder strap.....but the shoulder strap has mostly disappeared now for safety reasons. But police officers still call their duty belts "Sam Brownes", which refers to a 2.25" wide leather duty belt with a two prong buckle, and which is used to carry their equipment (I used to work in law enforcement myself).

 

Here an interesting article about it.

 

https://www.policeone.com/police-products/duty-gear/articles/117535-Sam-Browne-and-beyond-A-look-at-duty-belts/

 

Those belts are like a do-it-yourself construction package: You can easily add and remove those holsters and pouches that you need. The belt is generally worn with beltkeepers over a smaller under belt. On my belt I currently wear: flashlight, pocket knife, D-ring (for large flashlights), key holder, cell phone, small first aid-kit and optional water bottle.  

 

I personally prefer the look of this wide leather belt, especially with a uniform, rather than nylon or webbing belts or putting everything on my pants belt.

But maybe to some it also looks 'overdone' or screams too much 'POLICE'. Just curious about your opinions and if anybody else wears those Sam Brownes. 

[Tampa Turtle]

What are 'Belt Keepers'?

[scout010]

What are 'Belt Keepers'?

Belt keepers are belt loops with snaps to keep both belts together: you wear a normal (smaller) belt in the belt loops of your pants. The duty belt or sam browne belt comes on top of it, and is attached to your pants belt with those belt keepers. This way it stays firmly in place, and you can easily take it off without having to remove all pouches from your belt.

[The Latin Scot]

I have a few pouched items on my belt at all times - my multi-tool, compass, phone case, flashlight, and key fob. I haven't needed to get any special kind of belt system to hold them in place; all of their pouches have belt loops already so they stay just fine on my normal Scout belts. 

 

I do have a question about what belts may or may not be okay regarding the program one serves in. My mother, bless her heart, just agreed to be our new Wolf Den Leader. It's really a huge coup for our Pack to have her serving now; two of my nephews are brand new Wolves this year, and as she has more than 30 years experience Scouting, she figured she couldn't say no! But she wants to know if it's okay for her to wear the blue Cub Scout belt in lieu of the green Boy Scout one - she feels it's more flattering on her figure, and that it ties in the colors from her shoulder loops/neckerchief/position patch. Trusting that her feminine sensibilities are sharper than my own sartorial sense, but unsure of the official policy, I ask you friends for your opinions:

 

can a lady Scouter wear the blue Cub Scout belt with her uniform?

 

Is there even policy regarding such a thing? Considering the official and bureaucratic nature of uniforming, I would imagine there is. Any help would be great; thanks! 

[TAHAWK]

She is in the Cub side of the program and should wear a Cub program uniform of a Cubber.

 

"Female leaders wear the official navy blue Cub Scout or Webelos Scout buckle with navy blue pants, or the official web belt or official leather belt with the buckle of their choice with official pants or official uniform shorts or pants."

Edited November 4, 2017 by TAHAWK

[Stosh]

I wear a multi-pocket vest.  All the weight may be on my shoulders, but I don't worry about my pants falling down.

[desertrat77]

+1 with Eagle on the GI pistol belt.

 

Cheap and functional. 

[WRW_57]

A second vote for the wilderness instructor belt.  Is that a Scouter or Park Ranger in the first picture? I'm not seeing any scout insignia or badges?

Not a big fan of anything that looks like law-enforcement or military issue with a scout uniform including camo. No point in adding confusion to the general public's notions about Scouting's alleged affiliations with gov't entities.

Secondly, as former mountaineering and wilderness skills instructor, I avoided carrying things in my pockets, on my belt, or  outside my pack because these things can caught or pulled off, and lost in brush and undergrowth.

Lastly, my survival kit is inside my daypack. If one thinks they need survival tools on there person at all  times, I'd encourage them to stop, and ask themselves, "What am I doing outdoors that is going to create a spontaneous survival situation or separate me from my ten essentials." 

Other than crashing an aircraft into a remote wilderness, or the odd shipwreck on an uninhabited coastline;  most wilderness survival situations  can be traced back to one or more poor decisions (AKA: bad judgment), over a period of time.

Craig, who spent 13 year teaching people how to avoid survival situations and still have fun, in  remote wilderness settings.

Edited December 19, 2017 by WRW_57

[TAHAWK]

Things may not fail according to plan.   That is the essence of a "survival situation."  Not many are planned.

The Boy Scouts of America asks candidates for the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge to prepare a Personal Survival Kit to back up the "ten essentials" in their backpack at a basic level.  

Internationally-recognized survival authorities advocate PSKs.  Examples are Horace Kephart, Lofty Wiseman, Ray Mears, Les Stroud, and Mors Kochanski.  For generations, a pocket knife - in your pocket appropriately enough - has been recognized as a "good thing" in case a survival situation arises, as has the pocket compass, a water container, and a filled match safe.   

Backpacks can and have been lost.  I got to watch one  tumble down a hillside at Philmont twenty-seven years ago.  A shoulder strap came loose.  Shouldn't have.  Did.   (Amazingly, the "milk jug" Nalgene water bottle was still functional thereafter.  The aluminum water bottle, not so much.)  The Scout had a compass, water bottle, knife, matches, compass, map, spare socks, 20' of paracord, and water-treatment pills on his person - "belt order" as Lofty would say.  He was "prepared."

I was also on a canoe trek in Canada in 1991 when one of the party's canoes rolled over.   The two occupants could have started a fire and built an expedient shelter on shore with what was on their persons.  They didn't have to as there were four other canoes that survived the unexpected blast of wild on Talon Lake.  But they, wisely, had the capacity.