Rating MB difficulty

[mk9750]

I'd like to get an idea about how difficult forum members here view common merit badges. For each of the following MBs, please rate on a scale from 1 (extremely easy) to 100 (extremely hard). If you feel I am leaving off a commonly earned MB, add it at the end.

 

1) Cit / Community

2) Cit / Nation

3) Cit / World

4) Swimming

5) Hiking

6) Cycling

7) First Aid

8) Camping

9) Lifesaving

10) Emergency Preparedness

11) Family Life

12) Personal Management

13) Personal Fitness

14) Environmental Science

15) Communications

16) Basketry

17) Canoeing

18) Cooking

19) Orienteering

20) Backpacking

21) Rifle Shooting

22) Shotgun Shooting

23) Fishing

24) Pioneering

25) Wilderness Survival

 

Once activity on this slows down, I'll tally everything and report the results.

 

Thanks!

 

Mark

[JimmyD]

1) Cit / Community 60

2) Cit / Nation 50

3) Cit / World 70

4) Swimming n/a

5) Hiking 80

6) Cycling n/a

7) First Aid 70

8) Camping 40

9) Lifesaving n/a

10) Emergency Preparedness 75

11) Family Life 40

12) Personal Management 50

13) Personal Fitness 50

14) Environmental Science 100

15) Communications 10 (I was a den chief did most of them with the pack)

16) Basketry 10

17) Canoeing n/a

18) Cooking 30

19) Orienteering n/a

20) Backpacking n/a

21) Rifle Shooting n/a

22) Shotgun Shooting n/a

23) Fishing n/a

24) Pioneering n/a

25) Wilderness Survival 60

26) Soil and water 50

27) Fish & wildlife mang. 30

28) Art 30

 

[purcelce]

 

 

1) Cit / Community 60

2) Cit / Nation 60

3) Cit / World 65

4) Swimming 60

5) Hiking 65

6) Cycling 55.7

7) First Aid 70

8) Camping 50

9) Lifesaving 95

10) Emergency Preparedness 85

11) Family Life 50

12) Personal Management 95

13) Personal Fitness 70

14) Environmental Science 75

15) Communications 60

16) Basketry 10

17) Canoeing 50

18) Cooking 70

19) Orienteering 65

20) Backpacking 70

21) Rifle Shooting 70

22) Shotgun Shooting 70

23) Fishing 50

24) Pioneering 60

25) Wilderness Survival 75

 

[Hunt]

I think you have to look at more than whether a merit badge is "hard" or not. I think you should look at a couple of criteria, such as (1) can all the requirements be done in a short period of time (ie, a single Merit Badge day)? (2)Can it easily be done at camp? (3) does it require access to resources that may be difficult to find? (4)does it require mastery of a skill that not every boy will be able to do?

So, for example, I wouldn't necessarily consider Camping to be "hard", but it takes a lot of time because of all the camping you have to do. "Hiking" is harder because of the length of hikes you have to do. "Music" is very easy for any boy who plays in a school band. Reading is easy--except it requires some volunteer time. In our area, Chemistry is offered as a one-day course, but it is notorious for the number of boys who fail the test--so in that respect it's hard.

[mk9750]

Hunt,

 

I agree 100%.

 

Given all of what you say, how would you rate the difficulty of the MBs listed?

 

Mark

[evmori]

1) Cit / Community 50

2) Cit / Nation 50

3) Cit / World 50

4) Swimming 70

5) Hiking 70

6) Cycling 70

7) First Aid 70

8) Camping 50

9) Lifesaving 70

10) Emergency Preparedness 60

11) Family Life 40

12) Personal Management 50

13) Personal Fitness 65

14) Environmental Science 70

15) Communications 30

16) Basketry 10

17) Canoeing 65

18) Cooking 40

19) Orienteering 75

20) Backpacking 65

21) Rifle Shooting 50 (if can shoot) 70 (if can't)

22) Shotgun Shooting 50/70 (same as rifle)

23) Fishing 20

24) Pioneering 30

25) Wilderness Survival 30

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Hunt]

Here's a link to somebody who did a pretty thorough job of this:

 

http://www.usscouts.org/advance/docs/MrDsReview.html