Activity Uniform 

Your first year with us at Fort George shall be as militia. We want to help keep your uniform as simple and inexpensive as possible while maintaining the look and feel of the militia at the time.  

A recommended militia uniform includes 

-good shoes for lots of walking 

-blue scout pants, or blue jeans. 

-white long-sleeved button-down shirt.  

-a wide-brim hat, such as a straw hat.  

We want you to come and experience the event and hopefully have so much fun that you and your Troop will consider investing time and funds over the next few years on your “uniforms”. The other advantage of coming as Militia is that you get to chat with other established Troops about how they made/acquired their uniform pieces. 

Regimental Uniforms

Please note:  We are not a reenactment event. We are a International Scouting Camporee with a historic theme.

We encourage everyone to do their best to make uniforms that represent the period of War of 1812.  We have Troops making “how to” make videos of the various pieces of the period costume.

Regimental uniforms are not required for your first.  See militia uniforms above.

Mock Uniforms

A second option once you have been assigned to a regiment are the Mock uniforms.  

These are long sleeved shirts in either red or blue with white facings down the front and the regimental crest on the back. Pants and hat may remain the same.   

Cub Program Uniforms

We play and learn about life in 1812 in the Niagara Frontier, so we wear youth-friendly uniforms: 

Canadians: a Red t-shirt & a straw like hat if you have one. 
Americans: a Navy t-shirt & a straw like hat if you have one. 

We will turn them into uniforms by providing neckers to all the youth and red shirted volunteers to wear while marching in the parade. 

Cap-gun-muskets

These are the centerpieces for the game of capture the flag we play. They are designed to look similar to the muskets the soldiers would have carried at the time. They make a very satisfying bang when they set off a cap.  

Muskets may be borrowed for your first time to the camp.

Please contact your subcamp chief (regimental HQ) to inquire about borrowing muskets.

For those interested in making muskets, the mechanisms are available for order.   The stock can be cut out of pine, routed out to accept the mechanism and sanded, and the barrel can be made from either wood dowel or plastic pipe, painted flat black.   The mechanism can then be screwed into the routed space on the stock and the barrel screwed to the top of the stock.

Inquires or orders for musket mechanisms can be sent to info@sbfg.scouter.ca

Special items 

Caps- Bring your own caps. We recommend 2 packages of 24 per participant.  The mechanisms are “single” cap. Meaning a circle or strip of 8 caps has 8 single shots.

Ear Plugs might be appreciated by some (the volume cap guns can get quite loud in the battles)

Clear-plastic garbage bags to cover the uniform in case of rain. 

Screw driver, and rubber bands- These may be needed to fix firing mechanisms. 

Wagon [optional]- to carry extra gear and water between the fort and the camp ground.  

Belgic Shakos

These are the tall black headgear worn by soldiers on both the British and American sides during the War of 1812. They are easy to make and a pattern can be found here