Geocaching MB

[ScruffyJake]

Has the geocaching merit badge been officially released from the National Office. I see the requirements posted on meritbadge.org, but it is not on the scouting.org site. They do have Inventing, Scuba and Scouting Heritage on the national site.

 

 

[trainerlady]

Per the memos from National Supply to all National stores, Geocaching won't be released officially until fall of 2011. There are no OFFICIAL requirements at this time. Anything you see on any websites other than www.scouting.org is merely a guess as to what the requirements will be. MBPs are still being developed and printed. They too won't be in stores until next fall.

 

Robotics is scheduled for release this winter - February sometime.

[ScoutNut]

If the Geocaching MB requirements on Scouting Magazine are not official, and the MB can not be earned until Fall of 2011, then why was the MB on the MB Midway at Jamboree?

 

Why did National allow boys to work on the MB there?

 

 

[ScoutNut]

Per Scouting Magazine -

 

The merit badge pamphlet is not yet available, but the Boy Scouts of America wanted to get the official requirements in the hands of Scouts and Scouters as soon as possible. The BSA knows that troops, districts, and councils will be planning spring and summer activities around this newest merit badge.

 

Here are a few highlights of what Scouts will learn while earning Geocaching merit badge:

 

* Precautions necessary to have a safe time while searching for geocaches

* Geocaching etiquette and how the principles of Leave No Trace apply

* Geocaching terms

* How GPS technology works

* Steps for finding and logging a cache

* How to use geocaching.com, the official online home of geocaching

 

But it isn't all "classroom work." The majority of the merit badge involves Scouts searching for geocaches. They'll also have the opportunity to create and hide their own caches.

 

Click here to download the PDF that contains the final, official requirements.

 

http://scoutingmag.typepad.com/files/geocaching_mb.pdf

 

 

[John-in-KC]

I will ask my Professionals if Geocaching is actually loaded in ScoutNet advancement module. At that point, it's live.

[RememberSchiff]

What a disappointment.

 

The rumor I heard was that the requirements were dumbed-down to just one.

1. On a clear day, using a GPS unit of your choice, complete a course with the following waypoints: Mynose, Myelbow, and Myass.

 

In April, professional scouters from National Headquarters field tested the new requirement.

 

The bad news is they became lost on the third leg.

 

The good news is they still have not been found.

 

 

My $0.01

 

 

[shortridge]

But it isn't all "classroom work." The majority of the merit badge involves Scouts searching for geocaches. They'll also have the opportunity to create and hide their own caches.

 

Well, now I know that Scouting Mag is full of hot air.

 

If I'm reading those requirements correctly, a Scout could complete the badge by just finding a single cache. One. Uno.

 

Only three of the nine requirements (7, 8, 9) involve real fieldwork - hardly a majority! Everything else is showing & explaining the procedures, terms and systems.

 

The only find-a-cache requirement is in No. 7.

 

No. 8 presents a series of pick-your-own items. The create-your-own cache requirement is only an option. A Scout could complete this requirement by putting a travel bug or CITO container in the cache he found for No. 7.

 

And No. 9 doesn't require finding a cache at all.

[OldGrayOwl]

I had some scouts "earn" the badge at summer camp. They scouts said that they would not receive the badge until fall 2010 when it was officially released by national.

Now are you are saying that it won't be released until fall 2011?

[John-in-KC]

My District Director consulted ScoutNet as well as the Council Professional Staff Adviser to the Advancement Committee.

 

It appears Geocaching is Live and youth may earn it.

[trainerlady]

If the badge is indeed "live" the scouts still won't get a badge for it until Fall 2011. They aren't even available for order until then per Supply's last coming items list (August 2010). Until the requirements show up in a Requirements Book (released annually) or a Merit Badge Pamphlet comes out I wouldn't trust anything I read online.

 

We had the same problems with the 13 new Cub Scout belt loops and pins earlier this year. "Requirements" were all over the web months before they were official and parents were irrate because Junior had "done it" even before they were officially announced and before any products were available.

 

Just my $0.02 as a store employee about to be yelled at yet again for not having what isn't available yet.

[ScruffyJake]

Its a shame that Scouts would come in and yell at you for a situation that is out of your hands. Please remind them "a Scout is kind".

[emb021]

it was my understanding (after speaking with one of the scout shop employees in my area), that the badge and pamphlet were coming out THIS Fall (Fall 2010), not next year.

 

 

[bacchus]

Here's the pamphlet and the MB design on the cover.

 

http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2010/10/design-of-geocaching-merit-badge-pamphlet-released.html

[ScoutNut]

NOTE - At the end of the article it states -

 

"Production on the badge and pamphlet will begin soon, and you should expect to see both at your local Scout Shops by the end of December."

 

It would be nice if all of those Scouts who have already earned this MB could actually get their badge before the first of the year!

[trainerlady]

Merit badge books and the badges should be in all National Supply stores this week. Mine come on Monday. The position of my Council's advancement committee is once the books are in the stores the badge goes live.