Kudu 186 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 The school stuff like Reading, Scholarship, Citizenship, Personal Finance, etc, etc, etc, should be moved to Little League where all that indoor stuff is really needed. After all, self-reliance these days means managin' personal finances and bein' able to repair your car and havin' a career you love and are good at, eh? A lot more than it means bein' able to hit a ball with a club! Kudu Link to post Share on other sites
Hal_Crawford 15 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Let's go back to the original 1910 merit badges. Aviation MB had the Wright flier on the patch. My favorite though was INVENTING MB, only two requirements (wording may not be exact): 1. Invent something and secure a patent for it. 2. Make a model or drawing of your invention. I understand that it was dropped in 1916 as few if any scouts had earned it... wonder why? Hal Link to post Share on other sites
AlFansome 10 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 A quick Google search of "most popular merit badges", yields the following page ... http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Merit_Badges_Earned This lists all merit badges by popularity over several recent years. (Click on the little deal-e-o next to the year to sort up or down). For instance, in 2007, the 10 least popular were: Public Health Entrepreneurship Surveying Journalism American Labor Stamp Collecting Plant Science Fly Fishing Bugling ... and the least popular badge in 2007 was ... American Business In other years, Drafting, Insect Study, Gardening and Landscape Architecture would be close to making the bottom 10. Link to post Share on other sites
nolesrule 58 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 "My favorite though was INVENTING MB, only two requirements (wording may not be exact): 1. Invent something and secure a patent for it. 2. Make a model or drawing of your invention. I understand that it was dropped in 1916 as few if any scouts had earned it... wonder why? " Have you seen the cost of the fees for filing a patent? And have you seen the length of time it takes for a patent to get approved these days? Heck, the youth could file for the patent the day after earning the Arrow of Light (assuming he could pay the filing fees) and it still might not get approved by the time he turns 18. Link to post Share on other sites
Hal_Crawford 15 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Sorry, I forgot to turn on the sarcasm light when I said "wonder why". Yeah, the whole process would be prohibitive today. I think even in the pre-WW1 days it would have been a lot to expect a scout to invent something and secure a patent and even then I think that a model or a drawing was required to secure the patent so there was really only one requirement. Apparently there were 10 of the INVENTION (I had the name wrong) merit badges awarded between 1910 and 1915. Makes you wonder what they invented? The left handed smoke shifter comes to mind. Apparently the shorted lived MB that was not replaced by something else was "Master at Arms" 1910-1911. Wonder what that was? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discontinued_merit_badges_(Boy_Scouts_of_America) Hal Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I lack any primary source, but Henning's Scouters' Pages says: "The Master-at-Arms Badge involved mastering 3 of the following combat skills: single stick, boxing, ju jitsu, wrestling, quarterstaff and fencing." http://www.scouters.us/homemb.html Link to post Share on other sites
Hal_Crawford 15 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Wow! I didn't even know that Ju Jitsu had even made it to America by 1910. As a wise friend once said to me, "if you learn just one new thing every day, you'll still die stupid". Hal Link to post Share on other sites
Kudu 186 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 If it was a BSA Merit Badge, it was probably borrowed from Baden-Powell's Master at Arms Proficiency Badge: Demonstrate proficiency in one of the following: a) Single stick. b) Quarterstaff. c) Fencing. d) Boxing. e) Judo. f) Wrestling g) Archery. OR any recognized martial art. 2 In all the contest events he must have taken part in an encounter under proper ring conditions, and be able to name and demonstrate the correct methods of attack and defence. 3 Give evidence that he has been training for the selected sport, for a period of not less than 3 months. Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Al, I'm wondering if I'm clicking on the right dealio thingy on that chart. American Business comes up as next to last, but at the very bottom is Composite Materials, with a bit fat -zero- earned in 2007. Granted, that was only two years after it was introduced. But does that mean that not a single Scout was inspired to earn it after its unveiling at the 2005 Jamboree? Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 I'm not certain, but I thought that the composites MB was only introduced last year? Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Composite Materials was introduced in 2006, according to the fact sheet at scouting.org. (http://www.scouting.org/media/factsheets/02-500.aspx) Regarding John-in-KC's point about putting Cooking on the Eagle-required list... it looks like Cooking is the 5th-most popular badge ever ("More than 4 million earned!") But there's been a huge dive from 1993 to now - down from 46,000 to 24,000. And saddest is the fact that Backpacking has seen a similar plunge, from 8,800 in 1993 to 4,900 in 2007.(This message has been edited by shortridge) Link to post Share on other sites
DeanRx 69 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Master-At-Arms MB ? I'd bet the G2SS killed that one off Link to post Share on other sites
AlFansome 10 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Yeah, I wasn't sure about Composite Materials, since there was no data at all listed, not even a 0 placeholder. Here's an article that says that some boys are working on it ... http://www.scoutingnews.org/2009/01/24/boy-scouts-earn-composite-materials-merit-badges/ The link at http://www.scouting.org/media/factsheets/02-500.aspx doesn't even list Composite Materials, zero or otherwise, in their list. Finding an MB counselor may be a stumbling block, too. Link to post Share on other sites
Twocubdad 665 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I wouldn't drop any. What's the point? Are we constitutionally limited to 120 badges? So what if only a handful of kids earn them. Does it really cost us much to have that one odd book or patch on the shelf? The merit badge program has some problems but I don't see the number of under-used badges as one of them. I like the variety. Link to post Share on other sites
John-in-KC 311 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 TCD, In fact, more than a few MBs have been swapped in/swapped out over the century of Boy Scouting in the US. Link to post Share on other sites
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