Description and Support

 

 

Camping Merit Badge

Required for Eagle  - Knock out this important badge in an environment close to home. Acahela and Goose Pond offer a variety of camping settings and can make getting this badge a lot easier.

Support provided:

  • Approved Merit Badge Counselor.
  • Daytime meeting to review pre-reqs and already completed worksheets.
  • Daytime class work if needed.
  • Conservation projects available on-site.
  • C.O.P.E. rappelling at GPSR or Acahela.
  • Terrific Scoutcraft areas for training.
  • Additional support and background materials.
  • Nearby to facilities to canoe, kayak, bike, hike, backpack, or other treks.

 

This is currently supported at Camp Acahela and Goose Pond.

Class size: No restrictions

Advance notice needed: Two weeks is preferred.

Cost to the unit is: $6.00 per participant

Patches for the completed award are available at a cost of $2.29  each and can be purchased at Camp Acahela or at the Scout Service Center's Scout Shop.

THE KEY to the Requirements

Below are the current requirements for this Merit Badge. This color key is designed to help you understand what requirements can be completed at our facilities, what has to be done ahead of time, and what we can't support (or what will require special arrangements). Certain requirements may require additional fees to cover the costs of materials used and will be noted with this symbol set   (*) .

  • Text that is green like this means these are fieldwork requirements we support at our camps and can be completed with our Counselors. In some cases this means that you use our camp to fulfill or host an event.
  • Text that is blue like this means that you can arrange to meet with our Counselors and and review or complete these requirements with them. This usually means you must complete these in advance using a worksheet and then sit in a class-like meeting to discuss the material or requirement.
  • Text that is in red like this is not supported in our program. If you elect to do this requirement, you must complete these requirements with local Counselors or your Scoutmaster.
  • Text that is in purple like this means this is a Pre-Requisite and needs to be completed ahead of time. (In some cases we also support these Pre-Reqs separately).
  • Text that is pink like this means that this requirement can be done either by our counselors or by some other local counselor but usually requires additional outside work that won't be completed in a single weekend. This usually means special arrangements need to be made, but this can usually be worked out by speaking with us ahead of time.
  • Text in brown like this means that this requirement can be satisfied at a location near one of our camps by either visiting the site, or participating in an activity at that nearby site (such as visiting Steamtown for the Railroading Merit Badge). In this way, you can use Acahela or Goose Pond as basecamps and then travel to the nearby site.

Merit Badge Requirements

  1. Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses that could occur while camping, including hypothermia, frostbite, heat reactions, dehydration, altitude sickness, insect stings, tick bites, snakebite, blisters, and hyperventilation.
  2. Learn the Leave No Trace principles and the Outdoor Code and explain what they mean. Write a personal plan for implementing these principles on your next outing..
  3. Make a written plan for an overnight trek and show how to get to your camping spot using a topographical map and compass OR a topographical map and a GPS receiver.
  4. Do the following:
    1. Make a duty roster showing how your patrol is organized for an actual overnight campout. List assignments for each member.
    2. Help a Scout patrol or a Webelos Scout unit in your area prepare for an actual campout, including creating the duty roster, menu planning, equipment needs, general planning, and setting up camp.
  5. Do the following:
    1. Prepare a list of clothing you would need for overnight campouts in both warm and cold weather. Explain the term "layering."
    2. Discuss footwear for different kinds of weather and how the right footwear is important for protecting your feet.
    3. Explain the proper care and storage of camping equipment (clothing, footwear, bedding).
    4. List the outdoor essentials necessary for any campout, and explain why each item is needed.
    5. Present yourself to your Scoutmaster with your pack for inspection. Be correctly clothed and equipped for an overnight campout.
  6. Do the following:
    1. Describe the features of four types of tents, when and where they could be used, and how to care for tents. Working with another Scout, pitch a tent.
    2. Discuss the importance of camp sanitation and tell why water treatment is essential. Then demonstrate two ways to treat water.
    3. Describe the factors to be considered in deciding where to pitch your tent.
    4. Tell the difference between internal- and external-frame packs. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
    5. Discuss the types of sleeping bags and what kind would be suitable for different conditions. Explain the proper care of your sleeping bag and how to keep it dry. Make a comfortable ground bed.
  7. Prepare for an overnight campout with your patrol by doing the following:
    1. Make a checklist of personal and patrol gear that will be needed.
    2. Pack your own gear and your share of the patrol equipment and food for proper carrying. Show that your pack is right for quickly getting what is needed first, and that it has been assembled properly for comfort, weight, balance, size, and neatness.
  8. Do the following:
    1. Explain the safety procedures for:
      1. Using a propane or butane/propane stove
      2. Using a liquid fuel stove
      3. Proper storage of extra fuel
    2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different types of lightweight cooking stoves.
    3. Prepare a camp menu. Explain how the menu would differ from a menu for a backpacking or float trip. Give recipes and make a food list for your patrol. Plan two breakfasts, three lunches, and two suppers. Discuss how to protect your food against bad weather, animals, and contamination.
    4. Cook at least one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner for your patrol from the meals you have planned for requirement 8c. At least one of those meals must be a trail meal requiring the use of a lightweight stove.
  9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:
    1. Camp a total of at least 20 days and 20 nights. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched. The 20 days and 20 nights must be at a designated Scouting activity or event. You may use a week of long-term camp toward this requirement. If the camp provides a tent that has already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent.
    2. On any of these camping experiences, you must do TWO of the following, only with proper preparation and under qualified supervision:
      1. Hike up a mountain, gaining at least 1,000 vertical feet.
      2. Backpack, snowshoe, or cross-country ski for at least 4 miles.
      3. Take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or at least four hours.
      4. Take a nonmotorized trip on the water of at least four hours or 5 miles.
      5. Plan and carry out an overnight snow camping experience.
      6. Rappel down a rappel route of 30 feet or more.
    3. Perform a conservation project approved by the landowner or land managing agency.
  10. Discuss how the things you did to earn this badge have taught you about personal health and safety, survival, public health, conservation, and good citizenship. In your discussion, tell how Scout spirit and the Scout Oath and Law apply to camping and outdoor ethics.

On-Line and Additional Support

Worksheets and Requirements

Details about this Merit Badge can be found at the US Scout Service Project Website at the following URL:

http://usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb001.asp

At the end of the description at that location, you will find copies of worksheets that you can easily save and print out. This will make the task of completing the Merit badge much easier and give your boys a guide to the information they need to know.

Having this done ahead of time can make the difference between leaving our camps with a signed "Blue Card" or not.

 

If you have any questions or need further guidance or help, we're here for you! Contact Ranger Tim Bongard at (570) 335-0283 or e-mail him at tbongard@nepabsa.org .

 

 

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