Our troop is considering a new source and maybe a new design for neckerchiefs, so I checked out the price for official BSA neckerchiefs and got a big surprise. The BSA has made them a lot bigger. They say:

Design reverts back to the standard larger size offering a variety of uses, as a sling, signal, bandage, belt, patrol ID, and more. Standard size is now 49.5 inch X 35 inch X 35 inch.

The previous size wasn’t documented anywhere I could find, but I measured mine as 41 X 29 X 29 for my post with a table of sizes for different Scout neckerchiefs. I’ve updated that table with the 2011 BSA neckerchief.

I’m not sure what they mean by “reverts back to the standard larger size”, since the new size is bigger than the original 1910 BSA necker.

The diagonal is only an inch and a half shorter than a common triangular bandage, which will be really nice for first aid practice. The ANSI Z308.1-2003 triangular bandage is six and a half inches bigger.

It could be a little larger, but I expect the new size is just fine. The old ones are really too small to use as a sling, even on an 11 year old Scout.

This is a great sign of progress from the BSA on the uniform. They have been painfully conservative about it, but this follows other small but significant improvements like the zip-off pants, the non-cotton shirt, and the new belt. Now to get rid of the epaulets so we can wear the uniform shirt with a backpack. The epaulets and tabs are only good for distinguishing council from national adults. The other sections (Cubs, Scouts, Venturing) are easy to distinguish without the tabs.