5 merit badges

[Lisabob]

OK folks, let's play a little "what if" game.

 

Suppose that you have the perfectly moldable scout - our maybe this is you - and you can select 5 merit badges that this scout will earn. I'm not talking about Eagle Required vs. Not Eagle Required. I'm talking about any 5 badges that you think really reflect the image of scouting - either your image, or what you think is the public image. What would they be?

 

Here's my list, though not in any particular order.

1) Canoeing

2) Backpacking

3) First Aid

4) Any of the shooting sports

5) Citizen in the Community

 

And here's why I would choose those:

1) the image of scouts going on canoe treks, or at least canoeing on the lake at the local scout camp, is just part of the mental picture of "scouting" to me.

2) Same thing, backpacking speaks of adventure and exploration, the very image that much of the public has of what boy scouts do. Plus, if you can backpack then you have all sorts of other scout skills nailed down (camp cooking, map & compass, camping, hiking, etc). Being a capable backpacker seems like the epitome of scout skills to me.

3) Just something a good scout should be competent in. People expect to be able to rely on scouts in emergencies, where 1st aid skills would be called upon.

4) Boys love shooting sports! And for many, maybe most these days, where else will they learn to do this? Again, just part of the image of "what boys do at scout camp" to me.

5) This is probably the oddball in my list. But my thinking is that they learn most of the Cit in Nation material in school already and the Cit in World badge is pretty abstract for a lot of boys (although personally I think both are good badges). On the other hand, a large part of scouting is helping boys understand their role in their local community. The material in Cit in Community is rarely taught in school. Most boys can rattle off a bunch of big national issues, but have no idea what their local gov't does or how it impacts them. They, like their parents, live increasingly isolated and atomized lives where they have few ties to anybody outside their families. How can a boy help his community when he barely knows it exists, let alone how it functions?

 

 

So that's my list. What would yours be?

 

[evmori]

In no particular order

 

Cooking - open flame, Dutch Oven, camp stove, etc. Huge life skill.

Camping - tent, lean-to, cabin, etc. Be prepared.

First Aid - with all the cooking & camping, someone's gonna get hurt!

Environmental Science - the more you know about where you are cooking & camping, the more you can enjoy.

Pioneering - you can build a ton of cool stuff that will enhance your cooking & camping experience!

 

Do I detect a theme?

[eagle77]

Here's mine.

1. swimming

2. canoeing

3. first aid

4. pioneering

5. camping

I just belief that before a boy can canoe, he should know how to swim.

[scoutldr]

Camping

Wilderness Survival

Swimming

Cit in Community

First Aid

[Eagle92]

1) First Aid, I've been involved with three accidents as a youth and as soon as people knew I was a scout, even a brand new 11 yo one at that, they expected me to know first aid.

 

2) Camping

 

3) Cooking

 

4) Swimming I pick the above three as Scouting is Outing and these are three basic skills you will need

 

 

5) Personal Management. Picking the fifth one was hard as there are alot of good ones out there. I picked PM b/c it will help you prepare for planning not only your outings, but life.

[shortridge]

1. Backpacking

2. First Aid

3. Wilderness Survival

4. Pioneering

5. Lifesaving

[mikecummings157]

First Aid

Hiking

Cooking

Pioneering

Orienteering

[ljnrsu]

In no order

 

First Aid

Cooking

Camping

Hiking

Pioneering

 

 

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

I like games!

 

But this would have been easier if there were 7 or 8 to pick. But it is your game and I will follow your rules. This is really close to several of you but still unique:

 

1) Swimming

2) First Aid

3) Camping

4) Hiking

5) Cooking

 

(It would have been nice to add 2 or 3 more. I could have had a slightly more rounded scout.)

[OldGreyEagle]

1. Pioneering, it is the most Boy Scouty of all the merit badges

2. Camping it is what we do, or at least should be doing

3. Backpacking c'mon, how can you not be a Boy Scout and not

backpack at some point

4. Orienteering while you are doing all that backpacking, perhaps

it's a good idea to know how to find your way

5. Cooking with al that camping and backpacking, you still gotta

eat

[Eamonn]

Again in no order, but with Rory, Friday and Ollie at my feet!

1/ Dog care

2/ Cooking.

3/ Pioneering.

4/ Small Boat sailing

5/ Motor boating

[Hal_Crawford]

First Aid

Swimming

Lifesaving

Camping

Pioneering

 

The first three are absolutely essential to Be Prepared. These are things that separate heroes from victims.

 

Camping is the quintessential scouting experience; it's what we do.

 

Few things scouts do are more impressive than building things with logs and rope. There is a real sense of accomplishment when a 12. year old climbs a signal tower that he has built.

[Eamonn]

"Camping is the quintessential scouting experience; it's what we do."

 

Unless of course you are a Sea Scout!!

Eamonn.

(Not that Sea Scouts work on MB's)

[asm 411]

Public view

First Aid

Cooking

Camping

Pioneering

Wilderness Survival

 

Aims of Scouting view

Personal Fitness

Personal Management

Family Life

Citizenship in the Community

Citizenship in the Nation

 

Scouts View

Rifle

Shotgun

Archery

Can I do Rifle again? No. OK then

Camping

Wilderness Survival

 

 

 

 

[Hal_Crawford]

Eamonn:

You got me there. A couple of years ago our districts Ship sent four scouts to the district RT to present the colors. The scouts were two very young looking guys, barely 14 and two very attractive, very grown up looking young women. After the pledge of Allegiance they recited the Sea Promise which ends "...To seek to preserve the motto of the sea, Women and children first." That women and children were leading the promise seemed ironic.

 

Hal