Eagle1984 10 Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I'll ask anyway... How many times can a scout earn this award. I was always told that once you earn it, that's it. You only get it once for camping out in the cold. Help me out on this. Link to post Share on other sites
Gold Winger 9 Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 I don't believe that there are any national standards for polar bear. We gave it out for every campout when it dropped below freezing. Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Seems to be a council-level program. Ohio's Buckeye Council has bars that you can earn for subsequent years. Delmarva Council's has a similar Frostbite program with "rockers" for subsequent years. Link to post Share on other sites
moxieman 11 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 As others have said, this is a council/local level award. You'll need to check locally for your local requirements. I've seen some where the requirements are you have to camp a total of -100F to earn it (So, first time you go camping outdoors, it drops to -15 the first night and -20 the second night. That puts you at -35 towards the -100). Other places, you simply have to winter camp. Our winter camping award is based on the latter and you're welcome to buy as many of the patch and give it out as many times as you want as long as you/the youth meet the requirement each time. The funds from said patch go into a campership fund for summer camp. Ours is called the Bomazeen Old-Timers Cold-Timers Award. Bomazeen being one of our scout camps and the BO-T's being a non-profit group of scouters who oversee said campership fund in addition to providing volunteer care-taking of the camp property. Link to post Share on other sites
raisinemright 13 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I think the Polar Bear is a council related award. Our council awards it if you spend 24 solid hours outdoors between mid-December and mid-March. You may only go into a church or a latrine. They have no specific temp requirements However, we went on a patrol campout the week after the dates expired and it was unseasonably cold, hovering at 20F most of the time. Council OK'd the Polar Bear for that one. Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Well, this discussion at least explains why it's not a national award! Twenty degrees below zero... geez. My state's record is 17 below - set more than 100 years ago, in 1893. We're lucky to get a couple inches of snow each year. Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh 3452 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Up in da Nort, we go by a different scale. If the temp drops below zero they get a Zero Hero award. No one wears the Polar Bear patch. On any given camporee, the whole council could get the award. There are a few local units that have earned bragging rights a few years ago. On the winter survival weekend, they built snow huts and hunkered down to -43 degrees. The staff asked the boys if they wanted to come in and they ALL refused to get out of their warm sleeping bags and drag the 2-3 miles back to the lodge. The next morning only one car out of the whole parking lot was able to start on it's own. It's kind of a different animal to skin up in really cold weather. When I was a kid in scouts we used to have a red-flannel award for those scouts who camped out 12 months in a row. The Dec-Feb stretch was brutal and we didn't have the fabrics, gear that is available today. Those sub-zero nightes were very long. Stosh Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle1982 10 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 It's managed at the council level. It think our current council has one patch, and you can get smaller year patches to go around the main one for multiple years. When I was a youth, we got a new polar bear patch each year. The design was the same, only some of the colors changed. Link to post Share on other sites
Chug 10 Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 The SA doesn't do an official sub zero award, but our unit is drawing up designs for an unofficial one, polar bears and penguins have featured in most designs, even an igloo. I suggest a brass monkey on the badge, but I was told it wouldn't be appropriate. Link to post Share on other sites
Troop250Treasurer 10 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 The Gerald R Ford Council in Michigan has specific requirements, see their web site. Our troop does at least one winter outdoor camping event where the scouts and adults can elect to attempt the requirements or say in a cabin. The circle patch and the year are provided the first time the requirements are met. The troop provides the current "year" bar that is sewn onto the circle patch for subsequent achivements. I try to lead by example and have completed the polar bear four times in the last three years. It was 8 degrees on Saturday morning after a handful of us opt'd to sleep outside in tents to start our polar bear as of Friday night instead of Saturday morning. A total of about 12 folks from the troop earned the polar bear for last weekend's event. Sure makes you thankful for a house that has working furnance. Link to post Share on other sites
Knot Head 10 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 We award the polar bear each time a scout is on a campout where the reuirement is met (temp below 32 degrees). So in troopmaster we record how many times you "earn polar bear" but a guy only gets one patch from the troop. (This message has been edited by knot head) Link to post Share on other sites
JoeBob 606 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Chug: "I suggest a brass monkey on the badge." Were you thinking of a monkey made of brass, or a three-sided cannon ball holder? ;^) JoeBob Link to post Share on other sites
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