Â
All Merit Badges
January, 2018
Requirements for the Wilderness Survival merit badge:
- Do the following:
- Explain to your counselor the hazards you are most likely to encounter while participating in wilderness survival activities, and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, or lessen these hazards.
- Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses likely to occur in backcountry settings, including hypothermia, heat reactions, frostbite, dehydration, blisters, insect stings, tick bites, and snakebites.
- From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.
- Describe ways to avoid panic and maintain a high level of morale when lost, and explain why this is important.
- Describe the steps you would take to survive in the following exposure conditions:
- Cold and snowy
- Wet
- Hot and dry
- Windy
- At or on the water
- Put together a personal survival kit and be able to explain how each item in it could be useful. (Sample Kit)
- Using three different methods (other than matches), build and light three fires.
- Do the following:
- Show five different ways to attract attention when lost.
- Demonstrate how to use a signal mirror.
- Describe from memory five ground-to-air signals and tell what they mean.
- Improvise a natural shelter. For the purpose of this demonstration, use techniques that have little negative impact on the environment. Spend a night in your shelter.
- Explain how to protect yourself from insects, reptiles, bears, and other animals of the local region.
- Demonstrate three ways to treat water found in the outdoors to prepare it for drinking.
- Show that you know the proper clothing to wear while in the outdoors during extremely hot and cold weather and during wet conditions.
- Explain why it usually is not wise to eat edible wild plants or wildlife in a wilderness survival situation.
All Merit Badges
Comments:
Â
Jul 27, 2015 - Jerry "pops" Lollar
I am trying to locate a syllabus for the Wilderness Survival merit badge can you direct to a on line copy of this please.
Jul 27, 2015 - Scouter Paul
@Jerry - Well, the requirements are all listed above, and there's a link to an optional worksheet aid that can be useful. ÂIf you are wanting a merit badge pamphlet, that can be purchased from ScoutStuff.org but there are no free online pamphlets.
Mar 13, 2020 - Tony
Hello...2 part Question on #8 (Build Shelter).
1.) "have little negative impact on the environment". How can this be obtained when you have to make it somewhat rainproof? When i did W.S.Mrt.Bdge. We cut live white pine bows down for thick roof coverage. What are the "scouts" suggesting be used to enact little negative impact?? A tarp over dead branches? How is that an improvised "natural" shelter?
2.) All we were allowed to bring was the cloths on our back and a flashlight. I froze at night. Who brings heavy cloths to summer camp?? So what are they allowing the kids to bring and stay in shelter overnight with at this day and age?
Thanks
Tony
Mar 31, 2021 - Tom
A "way" is to teach them to put a large trash bag or two in their ten essentials. ÂStuffed with leaves makes a sleeping bag, can improvise a rain coat, ground cloth, tarp over some branches, etc. ÂBonus if one them is a bright color for signaling and one is clear if you want to teach solar still.
Apr 21, 2021 - Jeff
My son is in scouts and neither of us knows what he can and can't bring with him overnight. I looked at the requirements and it doesn't say what he can take with him.
Apr 21, 2021 - Scouter Paul
@Jeff - The Wilderness Survival merit badge pamphlet has a few lists of essential items, clothing, and gear. ÂI would expect a scout to at least have the emergency survival kit items.
If your son directly asked his merit badge counselor, that would be the best answer since the counselor knows what is expected of the scouts.
May 16, 2021 - Heath Maness
For number 8 spend the night in your shelter. What does that consist of? Can they sleep in a sleeping bag or a hammock? I'n the scout manual page 280 mentions a sleeping bag on top of a tarp.
Jul 01, 2021 - Scouter Paul
@Heath - It means to spend the night in the natural shelter the scout built in that same requirement. ÂIf this requirement is fulfilled at a scout camp, different camps have different "comforts" they allow in the shelter.
Just for Fun: Socializing merit badge
This site is not officially associated with Scouting America
Â
Â
Â
Â
Find more Scouting Resources at www.BoyScoutTrail.com
