Hi Tony!!
You wrote and asked about something I care about a lot…even got a bounty on it:
“I’m interested in finding something I can wear to display random patches as
a cub leader. I know there are several official and unofficial rules with
the red jac shirt and patch placement, so I thought it might be best to
skip that one altogether…”
a cub leader. I know there are several official and unofficial rules with
the red jac shirt and patch placement, so I thought it might be best to
skip that one altogether…”
Why? The BSA says that if you purchase a jac-shirt, while there are some “recommended guidance” as to what SHOUILD go or not go onto such an item; that the jac-shirt (or the lesser weight jackets) is YOURS and you can place ANYTHING ON IT you want, anywhere, in any style.
Where is that in the Insignia (Control) Guide? Nowhere. But then, nowhere in that same guide are ABSOLUTES about what MUST go there. The suggestions given (which, by the way are also found on my Badge and Uniform site in it’s own section … http://www.scoutinsignia.com/jac-shirt.htm ) are *recommendations and guidance for best uniforming*.
I’ve talked with both of the prior Supply Group/Division directors about this very item, and both have confirmed to me in my face that “look, we can suggest all kinds of things — but when it comes down to it, the jac-shirt is expensive enough for you to place whatever you like wherever you like on it. We sell it because it is a popular item among Scouters but we don’t consider it part of the official uniform anymore.”
The jac-shirt, by the way, is the outer garment used by the National Eagle Scout Association members and by Order of the Arrow members. It is also the “traveling jacket” used by World and National Jamboree participators and staffers.
The jac-shirt USED TO COME IN A BLUE COLOR, Tony. I am offering $400 currently for anyone who has such a jac-shirt in either large or extra large sizes. The jac-shirt sold originally for $68.50 back in 1976; it was taken off the shelves due to low sales in 1980.
“Any suggestions on a cheap alternative for a cub leader?”
ABSOLULTELY!! Contact the Supply Group and have them to sell you one of their fleece Cub Scout vests (they have them I think still in large, extra large and 2X sizes left.) It is the same color as the jac-shirt, and you can put whatever you like on this vest. There’s a Boy Scout version of this fleece vest which also was taken off the shelves about two years ago, and which is a lot better wear than the felt vest that the BSA sells to Scouts and Cub Scouts for $10.
(BSA Supply Group is at http://www.scoutstuff.org )
OR go to Salvation Army ™ or Goodwill ™ and get a red vest in your size and place patches on it wherever you choose. I have a fleece one that I wear with all of the Transatlantic camp segments and long term camps I attended centered on the backside of it. I have a separate red vest I bought from Goodwill(tm) with Jamboree patches and insignia from the 2010 Jamboree on the back side along with patches from the Pentagon and every Council office I visited enroute or returning from that Jamboree.
Hope that all of this helps out, Tony!! And that bounty still applies until I have such a jac-shirt in my grubby hands!!
Settumanque!
—
Settummanque is writer, retired military officer, dad, friend,
traveler, public speaker, webmaster, Eagle Scout, and/or “sweetie”
(LTC) Mike Walton. South Lake Minnetonka area, Minnesota.
http://www.settummanque.com
Settummanque is writer, retired military officer, dad, friend,
traveler, public speaker, webmaster, Eagle Scout, and/or “sweetie”
(LTC) Mike Walton. South Lake Minnetonka area, Minnesota.
http://www.settummanque.com
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