Figure 1.--Scouts in Germany and other countries, such as these French Scouts, have chosen lederhosen as a type of short pants ideally suited for camping..

The original Scout pants introduced by Baden Powell were short pants. This was an inovative step replacing the kneepants commonly worn by boys at the turn of the 20th Century. Scouts and Cubs in virtually every country for decades wore short pants, even during the winter. America was virtually the only country where Scouts did not commonly wear shorts. American Scouts and Cubs wore mostly knickers, but changed to long pants in the 1940s. The American Scout Association promoted short pants, especially for summer wear, but American Scouts did not commonly begin wearing them until the 1970s. Ironically this was about the time that many foreign Scouts began wearing long pants. The English Scouts changed to long pants in 1969 and many European Scouts gradually began wearing long pants or jeans in the 1970s and by the 1980s short pants were not commonly worn by European Scouts. Cuns still commonly wore shorts, but even Cubs in the 1990s have begun wearing longpants. Many different styles and colors of shorts have been worn. They have mostly been belted shorts. The most common variable has been the pocket arrangement. Many German abd other European Scouts have worn lederhosen.