Lead Volunteer of the National Merit Badge Maintenance Task Force Speaks

[Krampus]

"Our council AND national does."  Interesting.  I was SM for 28 years 1979-2007 and produced 26 Eagles and never turned in a Blue Card to Council. 

 

Full disclosure, I live in the shadow of national. Everyone (it seems) at council and district is a WB-silver something-OA Vigil- LB-P wannabe. Maybe that is why our processes are a bit different, more by the book. Dunno.

[John-in-KC]

While the GTA mandates blue cards as the only acceptable form of MB card, I've never seen a card get turned in.  Advancement report is what covers the matter. 

[walk in the woods]

My council used to require both.  Blue cards attached to the advancement report in order to purchase the patches.  Blue cards ultimately made their way back to the unit.  What happened to them while they were in the council ether is a mystery.

[RememberSchiff]

WHAT THAT MEANS:

 

Scoutsource is now the source of record for requirements, not the annual hardcopy of BSA requirements.  Counselors and advancement folk will need to check to be sure they are using the latest requirements set.

Balonie. The revisions for 2016 are not all there and no response from e-mail.

 

Snow Sports MB added a Snowshoe option but only usscouts.org had revisions which we need now while there is still snow.

 

http://usscouts.org/mb/changes/mb135-16.asp

 

Forward.

[qwazse]

Balonie. The revisions for 2016 are not all there and no response from e-mail.

 

Snow Sports MB added a Snowshoe option but only usscouts.org had revisions which we need now while there is still snow.

 

http://usscouts.org/mb/changes/mb135-16.asp

 

Forward.

And without those changes its all downhill from there (well, except for the uphill part of the cross country option)!

[TAHAWK]

None of the three councils I work in require Blue Cards with the Advancement report.  One for MBC; one for Scout; one for Troop - all as backup.

[RememberSchiff]

And without those changes its all downhill from there (well, except for the uphill part of the cross country option)!

Yes, Snowshoeing is also the AFFORDABLE snow option for my scouts.

Edited January 31, 2016 by RememberSchiff

[Stosh]

You must be renting snowshoes, buying them is rather pricey and if one is going to backpack with any weight involved, the shoes are quite expensive.  There are patterns out there to make PVC pipe shoes that my boys have done in the past.  That's not so expensive an option.

[RememberSchiff]

You must be renting snowshoes, buying them is rather pricey and if one is going to backpack with any weight involved, the shoes are quite expensive.  There are patterns out there to make PVC pipe shoes that my boys have done in the past.  That's not so expensive an option.

Mostly rent for around $10/day. Some have made primitive (hemlock or balsam branch) snowshoes. We have not made PVC snowshoes and I am not keen on using PVC in frigid temps as in my experience, it can shatter.

[TAHAWK]

PVC

 

http://boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/projects/23375/make-your-own-snowshoes/

 

Wood and duct tape

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Gorilla-TapeGorilla-Glue-Snowshoes-from-Scratch/

[Krampus]

PVC

 

http://boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/projects/23375/make-your-own-snowshoes/

 

Wood and duct tape

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Gorilla-TapeGorilla-Glue-Snowshoes-from-Scratch/

 

I had my snow shoes on yesterday...while grilling.

 

[Stosh]

We're anticipating 5" to 9" of the good stuff tomorrow.  After snow-blowing the drive, it's cross-country ski time, my snow shoes are too slow.    I have 2 pair and use them only when I have to.  Mine are the old fashioned wood/sinew ones.  Work great, big enough to actually work as snow shoes. I was in the store day before yesterday and all they had were snowshoes that weren't any bigger than my boots.  Both the Mrs. and I concluded we'd stick with the real ones we had.

 

I feel sorry for the Southern boys who have to endure summer all year long and never get a chance at the good stuff.

[Krampus]

I feel sorry for the Southern boys who have to endure summer all year long and never get a chance at the good stuff.

 

We spent the long holiday weekend last month in Palo Duro Canyon with night time temps between 18-24, winds up to 30 mph and windchills in the single to below 0 single digits. We had to drive through snow to get there. Day time temps went up to 30-42F and then back down. Texas panhandle has some odd and fast-moving weather. It's not 20" of snow but it does get cold.

 

To Get Back On Topic...

 

After reading the latest from the MB task force I started thinking about some of the various requirements they've "tweaked". One of the MBs I think they missed the mark on is Cooking; specifically, Requirement #7 for "trail meals" for backpacking trips.

 

The requirements, IMHO, should have been written to require the Scouts to CREATE trail meals rather than simply wording it to allow pre-packaged trail meals. Why? This is the COOKING merit badge; it should be about using your creativity to develop healthy, good-tasting meals regardless if it is for your patrol, your home or on the trail. As Cooking MBC for my unit I urge the boys to create several meals using the archive of trail meals found here. I think doing so forces them to actually THINK about what to make, how it is made, packaged and used rather than simply heading out to REI and picking up an over-priced packaged meal.

 

The other thing I do is "suggest" to them that for the home-made meals they pick something that is a family tradition. For example, most families have something they consider their "family dish". I challenge the boys to learn that recipe and cook it for their family. Why? When they are on their own and hankering for mom or dad's cooking, they can cook the "family dish" and feel satisfied. They also learn the dish and can pass it down to their kids.

 

Anyone else find a MB that should be "fine tuned" a bit more?

[TAHAWK]

Wilderness Survival is a mess. Listing all the errors, omissions, internal contradictions, conflicts with other BSA literature, and requirement blunders would require a tome.  Speaking only to requirements:

 

>. While 1a was amended to eliminate the former requirement that the candidate show knowledge of first aid for everything that could possibly happen, rewritten 1a, 1b, and 9  duplicate.("help prevent," "prevent" "protect ... from")   Insect protection information is required twice (1b and 9).  Rodent hazards are omitted despite hantavirus, plague, rabbit fever, and rabies

 

> The notion that one knows IN ADVANCE what the order of priority for survival needs will be when the bad things happen is preposterous.  The Scout will have to decide what is most important, second in importance etc.

 

> the survival needs of safe navigation and sleep/rest are omitted  (Indeed, the Scout is told to "stay put" regardless of the circumstances,)

 

> Reqt. 6, the three fires, could be fulfilled by a butane lighter, a propane torch, an electric grill lighter, a thermite grenade, or a highway flare ("other than matches").   But despite "add nothing," not one MBC whom I have encountered in decades enforces that requirement as written because it makes no sense as written.  The objective ought to be to learn field-expedient methods to use when there are no matches.  Nor does Requirement 6 lead to learning about fire lays or natural tinders.

Edited February 1, 2016 by TAHAWK

[qwazse]

Balonie. The revisions for 2016 are not all there and no response from e-mail.

 

Snow Sports MB added a Snowshoe option but only usscouts.org had revisions which we need now while there is still snow.

New requirements are now on http://www.scouting.org/meritbadges.aspx(click through to the .pdf of the first few pages of the respective pamphlet) so get those shoes rigged!

 

 

I'm not a fan of clipping from PDFs of the pamphlets to get to the requirements. Especially since the pages clipped don't have the revision date. I'm not a fan of the links being labeled "Current" and "Previous". I'd much prefer using the year as a tag.