Winter Camping Badge?

[copschick 10]

I heard somewhere that there is a winter camping badge that cubscouts can earn if the temperature doesn't go above a certain temp and hits a low temp at night. I spent about 3 minutes searching online, and haven't found anything on this. Does anyone know if this is available and where I could find the requirements? Thanks for your help.

[perdidochas 658]

Some councils have polar bear badges. Our Pack used to offer them for kids who camped in weather below 40 degrees (we're in north Florida).

[Gold Winger 9]

No formal badge that I know of but "Polar Bear" patches are available at many Scout shops. I don't know who came up with the requirements but we used the guideline that if it went below freezing at night, you got the Polar Bear.

 

 

[copschick 10]

Thanks, we hit 29 degrees this past weekend. I told my Webelos that I would check. So I will check if our district has anything like the polar bear, and if we qualify. If not, I will check the Scout shop for a badge for them.

 

Thanks for your help.

[scoutldr 726]

If your local scout shop doesn't have them, you can order them from the patch companies ready-made, or customized for an additional charge. The BSA catalog has them too, as I recall. You may have to order a minimum quantity, but it might be a nice tradition for your unit to start.

[copschick 10]

BSA catalog...where could I get one of these? I am new to Cub Scouts and scouting in general, and it seems that nothing is in one place. I would like one source that I can go to in order to find ALL advancements that are available. Is that possible?

[Frank17 10]

For boy scouts and venturers (NOT CUBS!), I have also seen the Zero Hero award & patch for camping outside when the temperature drops below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Definately takes some advance planning though, and a northern State to camp in.

[scoutldr 726]

Catalogs are mailed to all registered scouts and Scouters...eventually. You can also usually find one at your Scout Shop.

 

You may also want to look at the Insignia Guide, which lists all BSA advancements and awards.

 

http://www.scouting.org/Media/InsigniaGuide.aspx

[shortridge 184]

Such "Polar Bear" or "Frostbite Camper" patches are not really advancements, per se. They fall under the category of temporary patches.

 

The vast majority of temp patches - the ones you can wear on your right pocket, brag vest or patch blanket - are local-issue type of things. They're for district or council events (like a Cub-O-Ree or Bowl-A-Thon), day camp or summer camp, hiking a historic trail, etc. They are on a council-by-council basis - so as far as finding all the info in one place, you are kind of out of luck on that angle.

 

Edited: There was a previous recent thread on cold-weather camping awards, with some details that show how the criteria vary from council to council. See http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=211309(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[CRK7376 10]

I've got a Polar Bear Badge from Far East Council while camping with my troop in Korea. Any night where temps drop to 32 degrees or colder = Polar Bear badges. My current troop does the same thing along with giving each participant a purple bead.

[imasoonerfan 10]

The patches are not offered by BSA and are somthing offered at the Council level. Really at the unit level. Our Scout shop used to carry them and now they don't since they switched over to a National shop. We had to order customer patches.(This message has been edited by imasoonerfan)