Scouting for Skills
Have you ever seen someone doing something and said, “I’d like to learn that!” How often would you like to improve your self-sufficiency or preparedness education? The answer could be the Boy Scouts. “Helping old ladies across the street?” you say? Scouting is service oriented, but there is much more. Camping skills are skills that could save you or your family’s lives. First Aid is one of the first that comes to mind. Now I’m not saying you should be a Life Scout working on your Eagle rank, I’m just saying there are many resources in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) that are at your disposal. I’ve been involved with Scouting most of my life as a boy and a leader. Three of my four sons are Eagle Scouts and the last is on his way. I know the benefits of Scouting. But can Scouting benefit an adult who is not a scout leader? Yes! Everything from cooking to knot tying. What if you’d like to learn the basics of farm mechanics? BSA has a merit badge manual for just that. Beekeeping, shooting, using rope for lashing (pioneering in BSA language), gardening, leatherwork, archery, using a map and compass (orienteering) and horsemanship. These are only a few of the self-sufficiency and preparedness skills you can learn from merit badge manuals. You can learn the information in the manuals, which will give you a basic knowledge of the subject, or you can do the requirements and “earn” your merit badge. Now don’t expect a patch at the Troops next court of honor, but the knowledge will last a lifetime. You can teach your spouse and children with the same material. My daughters have benefited from our Scouting experience as well as my wife. My wife has been involved in Scouting for some time too.
To see a catalog go to www.scoutstuff.org. From here you can order whichever merit badge pamphlet you need. There are as of this publishing 140 merit badges. They don’t change very often so even if you find an old pamphlet on e-bay it would cover the same information. Some merit badges have gone away. I mentioned beekeeping earlier and that was misleading. Beekeeping has been discontinued as of now. It could come back some day, but old pamphlets do exist. Two of my sons have the Beekeeping merit badge but the third could not get it. They are reasonably priced and a great addition to your library. I have a few (first aid and wilderness survival) in my go bag. I’ve also seen merit badge pamphlets at Deseret Industries, Goodwill and other thrift stores. You can find them at garage sales too. BSA has handbooks and field manuals that are a wealth of information also. I’ve taught many adults and youth with these manuals because of the concise writing and easy to understand level. They are a joy to teach with! BSA’s organization is divided into Councils that cover sometimes a large area. You can got to www.scouting.org to find a Council locator to find one near you. They sell these manuals and other scouting items. Learning can be fun and the BSA makes Scouting fun for boys and adults alike. If you’d like to visit a Troop they are everywhere or you can find one through a Council near you.
Here is a complete list of merit badges:
After being involved with Boy Scouting for 30 years or so I’m sure of the benefits it can bring to boys as well as adults involved. I have learned and done things I would never have experienced outside of Scouting. I knew how to use a compass and map before I received my military training in the same skill. The skills of lifesaving and first aid I have used to help members of my family. Fire building and campfire cooking could save my life one day. If you earned 30 of the above badges you could say that you were well rounded.
My challenge to you would be to pick ten or so of the above badges and collect the pamphlets. Do the requirements. Find someone you would consider expert at the badges you want to earn. Ask them if they would be your merit badge “counselor”. You would meet with them once a month or every few weeks to review your progress. This would be a great training program for you or other members of your family. You could involve your spouse and kids. You could add to the requirements to delve deeper into the subject. This may sound a little silly but you can learn much this way. The rank requirements for each rank could be helpful too. This may get you interested enough to become a real merit badge counselor or Scout leader for boys. I feel I’ve become proficient in many skills because I’ve taught the basics over and over. With over 120 subjects there are bound to be many things that will interest you or that you feel would be good skills for preparedness or survival.
The Boy Scout materials, pamphlets and manuals have so much information in them that I would recommend having these books in your preparedness library. Old manuals are easy to find, and the information usually is valuable even if outdated. I have some of these materials in my go bags. I particularly like the merit badge pamphlets, they are small in size and usually in number of pages, so they are light and portable.
Scouting has enriched my life in many ways. I have learned much but watching my sons and other boys become competent, confident, and good American citizens is the real fulfilling part of Boy Scouting. I would recommend that anyone get involved as a volunteer but especially to get your boys involved. You won’t regret it.
Training is an important part of preparedness and there are many ways to train. I think using a tried and true system that really works is a inexpensive way to enrich your training.
Semper Paratus
Burn
PS: Scouting took a sad turn. It is now Scouting America and has abandoned its original intent in building boys into men. Girls and woke ideologies have taken over. I have nothing against girls, but I believe Girl Scouts was developed for girls specifically. I’m not sure what good is achieved by allowing girls into a program developed specifically for boys. BSA bowed down to crap from the world of “all inclusive”. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned the program, and they were the longest supporter of the organization. There can be some good in the program, but it is bereft of its original intent and grandeur. It’s sad but the origination is a shadow of its former self. A lot can be learned still from its materials, but I don’t think I can recommend it as I once did.
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