Comments on: 10 Unexpected Merit Badges

By: JustinButNotTHATJustin

JustinButNotTHATJustin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:13:14 +0000

Evil Mad Scientist has one of the best ideas for a badge that I hope it will one day be incorperated into the Boy Scouts' official list: a circuit designing badge.
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/softmerit

By: Mitch

Mitch — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:46:01 +0000

I'm impressed by the boy scout who made the little reactor to bombard thorium with neutrons in his mother's
garden shed:
http://www.wesjones.com/silverstein1.htm

By: TALeopold

TALeopold — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:30:35 +0000

I used to work at Seven Ranges Scout Reservation in Ohio from 2001-2003 in the "ecology" department and we taught a ton of awesome merit badges like Bird Study, Energy, Atomic Energy, Space Exploration, Environmental Science, Fish and Wildlife Management, Forestry, Geology, Mammal Study, Nature, Oceanography (yes, in Ohio lol), Reptile and Amphibian Study, Soil and Water Conservation, Weather, and Astronomy (my favorite). Fun times!

By: Kalel

Kalel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:40:43 +0000

Do they have badges for Stinking?

I heard we don't need them.

By: reed

reed — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:50:53 +0000

I got the atomic energy badge... second easiest badge I ever got: just listened to a lecture for a half hour or so, and then showed I had an extremely cursory knowlege of how a nuclear reactor works.

Easiest badge: "indian lore". That was less than half an hour of a guy randomly discussing "indian lore".

That's sad about the beekeeping badge rintrah...

By: christine

christine — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:29:18 +0000

I like the Couch Potato merit badge. It's really weird looking and I wonder who thought that one up?

By: Another Jake

Another Jake — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:49:43 +0000

I had the Atomic Energy merit badge:
http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/medalsmementoes/boyscoutbadge.htm

By: Marc Benton

Marc Benton — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:13:35 +0000

You actually find a lot of Boy Scouts with the Fingerprinting badge. Its actually one of the easiest and quickest to earn if you have a local law enforcement office that will help out with the gear. You can earn this one in about an hour with 10 kids.

By: different alex

different alex — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:24:17 +0000

I earned the fingerprinting merit badge. I think my older brother had the cinematography one.

By: agentkevinski

agentkevinski — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:56:15 +0000

And let's not forget Motorboating!
http://www.usscouts.org/mb/mb076.asp

By: Jake.w.B

Jake.w.B — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:42:28 +0000

I have the finger printing badge. It was an easy badge to get and it could be earned in just one night. We got a local cop to teach it at the station.

By: Skipweasel

Skipweasel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:39:12 +0000

Anyone else remember the Nuclear Boy Scout?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_boy_scout

By: Bonehead108

Bonehead108 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:38:51 +0000

I actually have the Railroading badge; since I was at scout camp and locomotives were in short supply, I learned various train parts using models. It was really pretty interesting. Did you know that train cabooses aren't used anymore because they were replaced by a FRED? (Flashing Rear End Device)

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:28:10 +0000

Check out the blogging badge! http://www.neatorama.com/2008/08/04/merit-badges-for-real-world-skills /

By: rintrah

rintrah — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:19:08 +0000

I had Fingerprinting. One of my friends had Beekeeping, which is another weird one, and was discontinued in 1993.

By: renderanything

renderanything — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:53:28 +0000

Yes, one of the first merit badges that I earned as a boy scout was handicap awareness. I never met any other scouts with that one.