Troop Neckerchief

Troop 281 has a proud tradition of awarding our troop neckerchief to Scouts at a nighttime ceremony during the September Achewon campout.  It is worn only on formal occasions such as Courts of Honor, Scout Sunday, Boards of Review, etc.  Only one is given to each troop member.

The Troop 281 neckerchief is royal blue, with the troop’s logo embroidered on the back and white piping on the edges.  It is tightly rolled until only a 6 inch tall triangle with the troop logo shows in the back.  The white tips are tied in an overhand (not square) knot.  When properly rolled and worn, the white piping on blue resembles a barber pole.  It is NOT to be worn like a loose scarf that is only gathered by the slide.

An official BSA neckerchief slide is awarded with the neckerchief, but any slide may be used.  Handmade slides are encouraged.

The troop has chosen to wear the neckerchief over a folded-under collar.  To do this, put on and button your Scout shirt – except the top collar button.  Fold the collar down neatly inside the shirt all the way around the neck.  Then push the tips of the collar out towards your shouders in front.  This will form a “V” down to the second button of the shirt.

To prepare the neckerchief, first take a piece of tape (Scotch tape, masking tape or duct tape will all work since they will not show) and wrap one or two times around the joint on the back side of the BSA neckerchief slide to keep the joint closed. 

Next, roll the neckerchief TIGHTLY until only the regulation 6 inches of tip shows in the back.  This is easiest to do by holding the ends of the neckerchief in your thumb and index finger, stretching the longest side of the neckerchief taut, and flipping the tip repeatedly over and over to roll it up around the longest side.  Be careful to roll in a way the the troop logo will show coming over the top of the roll.  It often takes a second person to keep the edge piping flat while rolling.  You can use your lips to pull the roll tight or have a helper pull on the tip to tighten the roll as you go. 

Next, align the ends of the white piping together and tie a loose overhand knot using the blue part of the rolled ends.  Carefully tighten the knot by working it down onto the white tips while keeping the tips aligned.  When tightened, the overhand knot should be just on the white tips.

Now place the neckerchief around your neck and put its knotted tips thru the slide – being sure that “BSA” on the slide reads right-side-up.  Bring the slide up so it just covers the tip of the “V” in your shirt.. 

The trick to keeping the slide where it belongs (and not falling off) is to place a small safety pin thru 2/3 of the layers on the back of one side of the rolled neckerchief and fasten the pin around the back of the slide.  The pin will hold the slide in place permanently, and will keep the neckerchief rolled properly.  To remove the neckerchief, just pull the loose side out, leaving the neckerchief still rolled and with the slide in the perfect place for the next use.