question about camping merit badge

[packsaddle]

Wow, well I tend to agree. But that word, 'designated', is the part I'm not sure about. But you know, I'm just a stickler for the rules...I had to mention it.

[John-in-KC]

PS,

 

"I'm just a stickler for the rules"

 

Don't tell me you're turning into Bob White?

[packsaddle]

John-in-KC,

Heh, heh, as much as I enjoy your sense of humor, I have to tell you that while Bob may seem to occupy an extreme position from time-to-time, maybe even a different universe (or maybe an alternate reality), Bob DOES have good knowledge of the rules and I happen to agree with him on some issues.

And every time I say this, Bob feels a disturbance in the force as he reaches for his gom jabar.

[luv2boutdoors]

Couple of more questions on the camping MB. Our troop started this MB with some of our scouts several weeks ago.

- Do we go back to 3 or 4 years ago and count all the camping nights, bike trips, hikes, etc. and credit toward this MB?

- One of the choices for a requirement is 15 mile or 4 hour bike ride. Is the 15 miles cumulative or all at once? Also, if they just go on say a 4 or 5 mile ride, but stop several times for POI's and it takes them 4 hours will that suffice or should it be 4 hours of actually riding a bike?

 

[emb021]

"- Do we go back to 3 or 4 years ago and count all the camping nights, bike trips, hikes, etc. and credit toward this MB?"

 

I would. I would count from the day the boy became a Boy Scout. If this wasn't allowed, the requirements would say so (something like 'within the last 2 years' or the like). When I earned Camping MB as a boy, I sat down and figured out how many days/nights I had camped.

 

"- One of the choices for a requirement is 15 mile or 4 hour bike ride. Is the 15 miles cumulative or all at once? Also, if they just go on say a 4 or 5 mile ride, but stop several times for POI's and it takes them 4 hours will that suffice or should it be 4 hours of actually riding a bike?"

 

A bike ride to me would be a ride done in a single day. Stopping several times for POI is little different then stopping for a break (rest/potty) or stopping for lunch. I think it unreasonable to expect the ride to be continuous with no stops at all. I would, however, NOT count this non ride time in the '4 hours'. To me, the 4 hours must be ride time.

 

[Hunt]

While's it's true that an active scout will have no problem meeting the 20 nights requirement, there are some eager scouts who want to know how soon they will have fulfilled this requirement, so it's a reasonable question to ask.

My picayune question is this: if you go to summer camp for six nights, can you count one night of camp the next summer?

[scoutingagain]

"My picayune question is this: if you go to summer camp for six nights, can you count one night of camp the next summer? "

 

Good question. I would count it if it was a night under the stars or in a tent the scout pitched himself. I would not count it if it's just throwing a sleeping bag on a bunk in a tent set up by the camp.

 

 

SA

 

[mlg0171]

We tent camp eleven months per year, so when we see the splitting-hairs approach, it is with scouts who are not very active. It's pretty easy for an average scout to get to 20 nights over a few years if not in one year. But we always have a few scouts in 7 sports who show up once a year and want to bend the definitions because they are being pushed to Eagle by Mom and Dad. So this is a symptom of that larger problem.

 

The sad thing is that if a scout comes to summer camp one time, and a weekend campout once per year, he can earn this requirement before he is 18, yet some still want to stretch the rules.

 

On another note, I am thrilled to see they added "[t]he 20 days and 20 nights must be at a designated Scouting activity or event."

[JCR-Devon50]

Does anyone have a policy on additional camping events, such as a National Jamboree? Would they count the same as a "long-term" scout camp?

[molscouter]

Jambo is essentially a long term camp, 6 nights could be counted once. I would differentiate that from a Philmont or Boundry Waters trek, where you are moving everything each day and spending the night at a different place every night (or maybe once in a while, you might spend 2 nights in the same place in the BW). To me, those are 4, 5, 6, etc., separate nights.(This message has been edited by molscouter)

[JCR-Devon50]

I agree about Philmont. So you are saying that once I count a week of summer camp, Jamboree is out? seems a shame - our guys slept in two-man A-frames on the ground, hardly deluxe.

 

As several have pointed out, this is a moot point if they just get out on trips more often!

 

thanks.

[FScouter]

The requirement says a week of long term camp. Not 2 weeks, or 3, or more. Long term camp is defined by BSA as A camping experience consisting of five or more consecutive days and nights in the outdoors.

 

So the Jamboree counts, Philmont counts, summer camp counts, NYLT counts, a troop 50-miler counts, any consecutive 5 nights outdoors counts. The limit is one week, so take your pick, you cant use them all.

 

http://www.scouting.org/Media/LOS.aspx

[NealOnWheels]

FScouter,

 

Look at the latest "Tour Permit Application":

 

http://scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34426.pdf

 

It defines a long term camp as "longer than 72 hrs". So according to that a four day campout would be a long term camp.

 

Don't you love the inconsistancy. Of course the merit badge requirements do not define long term camp at all. Most merit badge counselors would not have any knowledge of either of these definitions and would rely on their own interpretation.

 

[FScouter]

It seems pretty clear that if you are touring for more than 72 tours, the tour permit expects a copy of your itinerary and menus. For the camping merit badge it is abundantly clear that you dont meet the camping requirements by going to 20 nights of summer camp. One week is the limit. So if you want to call long term 10 days, you can use a week of it. If you want to call long term 3 days, you can use 2 and 1/3 trips before the week is used up. This isnt rocket science.

[acco40]

I agree, it's not rocket science but I disagree with your conclusion.

 

At summer camp - a scouting activity - we camp in tents that we pitch.

 

Current requirement: 9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:

a) 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.

 

The old requirement read like this: 9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:

a) Camp a total of at least 20 days and 20 nights. You may use a week of long-term camp toward this requirement. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched (long-term camp excluded).

 

Therefore, I think the intent of the phrase "may use a week of long-term camp" was so that the Scout could sleep in a platform tent or cabin and still use it. I don't feel the current requirement is trying to exclude more than one week of long term camp if the scout pitches his own tent.