Improving Wilderness Survival MB

[TAHAWK]

This merit badge started out requiring mastery of primarily a primitive living skillset, with a pamphlet written by Larry Dean Olsen.

 

Over the years, the requirements and the contents of the pamphlet have moved to what is sometimes called "modern survival" - staying alive for a few days until found by SAR personnel.

 

Assume for purposes of discussion that you are rewriting the Wilderness Survival MB pamphlet.

 

How would you change the pamphlet and the requirements?

(This message has been edited by TAHAWK)

[shortridge]

Love this question!

 

In an ideal world, Scouts who complete Wilderness Survival would be able to live indefinitely off the land on their own. But I have definite objections to unqualified counselors teaching edible plant identification, which would be central to such a program. And since the Scouting system is not set up to assess the qualifications of counselors, it opens up the door to a whole lot of problems.

 

Unfortunately, there just aren't enough qualified counselors out there to teach deep survival - real primitive living skills, consuming wild foods, snares and deadfalls, etc. The truly qualified ones are teaching $900 week-long courses in the Pine Barrens or Boulder.

 

 

That said, off the top of my head, my revised requirements would...

 

- Specifically require fire-by-friction and flint & steel firestarting techniques.

- Require two nights spent in a shelter, not just one.

- Require demonstration of what to do when a boat flips or swamps, not just a discussion.

- Add a requirement to focus on mapreading and orienteering skills, to avoid getting lost in the first place.

- Add a requirement on creating useful woods tools essentially from scratch - a carved wooden fork, a flint-knapped blade, a coal-burnt bowl, etc.

- Require that Scouts taking the badge be at least First Class and/or 13 years old.

[SctDad]

Seeing this reminds me of the topic of trailers a while ago where several said that we should air drop the scouts in. That would be some wilderness survival.

 

I would take out the part of the requirement that says "For the purpose of this demonstration, use techniques that have little negative impact on the environment." Lets be real here. Find someone that will let you use their land and DO IT RIGHT. I understand LNT, but there is a line somewhere. If I take all the Ferns in an area to build my shelter, and you come out and rip me a knew one, but the one things I will think is "YOU FOUND ME"

 

One thing that I did not see in the survival kits was the deck of cards. Anybody out there rememeber that joke?

[AK-Eagle]

Instead of a wholesale change of the Wilderness Survival merit badge, what about creating an award like the current BSA Lifeguard.

 

Off the top of my feathered head:

 

1. Earn the or show skill in the following merit badges

a. Camping

b. First Aid

c. Hiking

d. Wilderness Survival

e. Safety

 

2. Earn or show the following certifications

a. Red Cross Wilderness First Aid or equivalent

b. Red Cross CPR or equivalent

 

3. Demonstrate the following

a. Ground to Air Emergency Signals

b. Three different ways of sanitizing water

c. Knowledge of local poisonous and edible plants

 

 

4. With the permission landowner(s) or responsible parties create a shelter from

improvised materials and use it for two nights.

 

Theres a start lets build on that

 

AK-Eagle

Scoutmaster Troop 700

 

I used to be a Bobwhiteetc, etc.

 

[TAHAWK]

Another award is an interesting topic. Lifeguard. Emergency Servies Explorer.

 

But that atill leaves the MB and whatever might be done to improve it. Some will suggest big changes and some only tinkering.

 

I have a number of problems with the current requirements/book (I mean oak?" OAK!!) -- even taking it as a Golden 72 Hour badge vs. what Olsen created, but I want -- I think I need --to get input from other Scouters.

 

 

 

 

[shortridge]

Are you involved in an official rewrite, or just gathering ideas for a proposal to National or a unit program?

[OldGreyEagle]

So, when lost sit down and pull out your playing cards and start to play solitaire. Someone will come up from behind and point out the red seven should under the black eight and while its frustrating you are found.

 

Unless of course you have stumbled upon the Lone Kibitizer at which time your problems are legend

[KirkF]

I thought the recent changes were very good. I was disappointed to see that the direction finding requirements were removed from the badge. But removing that requirement allows more time for the fire starting skills.

 

The Camping MB used to have a requirement of camping two nights under the stars. That created a lot of interest in the Wilderness Survival badge because we used to count the one night in the improvised shelter as also being a night under the stars. When that requirement was dropped, so did interest in the wilderness survival badge.

 

The scouts always seem very interested in survival stories that involve other scouts. I have found some stories over the years but if the MB book had more stories, I think the boys would enjoy reading/hearing them.

 

Kirk

[TAHAWK]

"Are you involved in an official rewrite, or just gathering ideas for a proposal to National or a unit program?"

shortridge, this is not a project of the Scouting Division. I will forward comments to the unknown person(s)at the address in the MBP. The requirements can only be changed by B.S.A., but the text of the MBP is to assist the candidate, as can any other material, according to its accuracy and quality.

 

The "official" versions of the MBP and the requirements were apparently written by a committee. Either that committee did not reach a consensus or the MBP failed to reflect such a consensus. Please compare Reqts. 1 vs. 9 (insects), pages 26 vs. 29 (LNT), and p. 55 (re clothing) vs. p. 16 and most of pictures, that show t-shirted, shorts-wearing and hatless Scouts. Then there are the other problems.

 

How do we make it better?

 

How should the information be arranged?

 

Anyone out there a WS counselor?

 

 

 

[CNYScouter]

AK-Eagle wrote:

Instead of a wholesale change of the Wilderness Survival merit badge, what about creating an award like the current BSA Lifeguard.

 

There is already an award that has the requirements your suggesting (or close to them).

 

It's called the Venturing Ranger award.

 

 

[Narraticong]

Shortridge, I agree with your comment-

 

"But I have definite objections to unqualified counselors teaching edible plant identification, which would be central to such a program."

 

I don't have the merit badge requirements in front of me, but it seems that one of the last requirements is to explain why consuming wild plants and animals is generally not a good idea. Sounds more like a bit of legalese to protect the BSA from lawsuits generated from poor counseling or poor learning!

 

Having earned the badge in the 70's I know that we can survive a long time without food. But if we are really mastering survival, shouldn't we learn how to survive for more than a few days? Particularly in cold weather, stoking the furnace can be vital to survival.

[skeptic]

Well, perhaps we should add something to reflect today's problems; you know, surviving in the urban jungle after you end up on the street. Just kidding!!

[shortridge]

Re: the Ranger Award....

 

And in another example of Scouting's multiple personalities:

 

Boy Scout Wilderness Survival Merit Badge

- Explain why it usually not wise to eat edible wild plants or wildlife in a wilderness survival situation.

 

Venturing Ranger Award

- Explain the usefulness and drawbacks of obtaining food in the wilderness, including things to avoid.

- Prepare and eat at least one meal with food you have found in the outdoors.

 

I know Venturers are older and operate at a higher level than Boy Scouts. But I still don't get this dichotomy.

[shortridge]

Anyone out there a WS counselor?

 

I taught the badge for four years as an instructor at a Scout camp in the mid-Atlantic region. I didn't attempt to teach flint-knapping, snares, tracking, edible plants or anything of that sort - I know my limits, and the limits imposed on me by the resources and program structure.

 

I figured if the Scouts in my class went away with the basic knowledge of how to stay alive and healthy for a few days while they were being searched for, that would be great. The fact is that most lost people ARE found within a few days.

 

There were some Scouts, really gung-ho types, who were disappointed by the requirements and wanted to learn more, and I tried to point them in the right direction. (I always carried Tom Brown's book with me and preached his gospel. )

 

I earned the badge at age 10 - my first summer camp - and loved it. (And yes, I know that I'm a huge hypocrite for saying now it should be limited to Scouts ages 13+.) My instructors were two great guys - one was later the national OA vice-chief - and did a fine job, but they were only 14/15-year-old CITs. That's a big reason why I have significant doubts about the ability of instructors to teach at a higher level. I don't want a 16-year-old novice teaching my child that a certain weed is edible when it's a lookalike for a toxic plant.

 

But if we are really mastering survival, shouldn't we learn how to survive for more than a few days?

 

Are merit badges really about mastering a subject, or about getting an introduction and piquing interest?

 

Generally, I think too often we ask a Scout if he has a certain merit badge as a way of establishing skills in an area, and assume that completion equals mastery.

[TAHAWK]

"I don't have the merit badge requirements in front of me, but it seems that one of the last requirements is to explain why consuming wild plants and animals is generally not a good idea. Sounds more like a bit of legalese to protect the BSA from lawsuits generated from poor counseling or poor learning!"

There was a prof in a large university who was The Man when it came to Ohio fungi. He nearly kiled himself when he "made a mistake." So I see real issues around foraging. On the other hand, cattails seems pretty easy and is better than any fungi.

 

What can we do better.

More requirements?

Less? Different?

Different material in the MBP?

 

Just looked again at the Angier book cited in the MBP. It's a minor rewrite of a 1956 book and its information on chemical purification of water is fairly inaccurate.