Camping

Camping requirements

1. Do the following:

   (a) Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may encounter while participating in camping activities and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards

   (b) Discuss with your counselor why it is important to be aware of weather conditions before and during your camping activities. Tell how you can prepare should the weather turn bad during your campouts.

   (c) Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses that could occur while camping, including hypothermia, frostbite, heat reactions, dehydration, altitude sickness, insect stings, tick bites, snakebite, blisters, and hyperventilation.

2. Learn the Leave No Trace principles and the Outdoor Code and explain what they mean. Write a personal plan for implementing these principles on your next outing.
3. Make a written plan^{[Note 1]} for an overnight trek and show how to get to your camping spot by using a topographical map and one of the following:

   (a) A compass

   (b) A GPS receiver^{[Note 2]}

   (c) A smartphone with a GPS app^{[Note 2]}

4. Do the following:

   (a) Make a duty roster showing how your patrol is organized for an actual overnight campout. List assignments for each member.

   (b) Help a Scout patrol or a Webelos Scout unit in your area prepare for an actual campout, including creating the duty roster, menu planning, equipment needs, general planning, and setting up camp.

5. Do the following:

   (a) Prepare a list of clothing you would need for overnight campouts in both warm and cold weather. Explain the term "layering."

   (b) Discuss footwear for different kinds of weather and how the right footwear is important for protecting your feet.

   (c) Explain the proper care and storage of camping equipment (clothing, footwear, bedding).

   (d) List the outdoor essentials necessary for any campout, and explain why each item is needed.

   (e) Present yourself to your Scoutmaster with your pack for inspection. Be correctly clothed and equipped for an overnight campout.

6. Do the following:

   (a) Describe the features of four types of tents, when and where they could be used, and how to care for tents. Working with another Scout, pitch a tent.

   (b) Discuss the importance of camp sanitation and tell why water treatment is essential. Then demonstrate two ways to treat water.

   (c) Describe the factors to be considered in deciding where to pitch your tent.

   (d) Tell the difference between internal- and external-frame packs. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

   (e) Discuss the types of sleeping bags and what kind would be suitable for different conditions. Explain the proper care of your sleeping bag and how to keep it dry. Make a comfortable ground bed.

7. Prepare for an overnight campout with your patrol by doing the following:

   (a) Make a checklist of personal and patrol gear that will be needed.

   (b) Pack your own gear and your share of the patrol equipment and food for proper carrying. Show that your pack is right for quickly getting what is needed first, and that it has been assembled properly for comfort, weight, balance, size, and neatness.

8. Do the following:

   (a) Explain the safety procedures for:

   (1) Using a propane or butane/propane stove

   (2) Using a liquid fuel stove

   (3) Proper storage of extra fuel

   (b) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different types of lightweight cooking stoves.

   (c) Prepare a camp menu. Explain how the menu would differ from a menu for a backpacking or float trip. Give recipes and make a food list for your patrol. Plan two breakfasts, three lunches, and two suppers. Discuss how to protect your food against bad weather, animals, and contamination.

   (d) While camping in the outdoors, cook at least one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner for your patrol from the meals you have planned for requirement 8c. At least one of those meals must be a trail meal requiring the use of a lightweight stove.

9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:

   (a) Camp a total of at least 20 nights at designated Scouting activities or events.^{[Note 3][Note 4]} One long-term camping experience of up to six consecutive nights may be applied toward this requirement. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched. If the camp provides a tent that has already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent.

   (b) On any of these camping experiences, you must do TWO of the following, only with proper preparation and under qualified supervision:

   (1) Hike up a mountain, gaining at least 1,000 vertical feet.

   (2) Backpack, snowshoe, or cross-country ski for at least 4 miles.

   (3) Take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or at least four hours.

   (4) Take a nonmotorized trip on the water of at least four hours or 5 miles.

   (5) Plan and carry out an overnight snow camping experience.

   (6) Rappel down a rappel route of 30 feet or more.

   (c) Perform a conservation project approved by the landowner or land managing agency. This can be done alone or with others.

10. Discuss how the things you did to earn this badge have taught you about personal health and safety, survival, public health, conservation, and good citizenship. In your discussion, tell how Scout spirit and the Scout Oath and Law apply to camping and outdoor ethics.

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Footnotes

1. ↑ To complete this requirement, you may use the Scout Planning Worksheet at https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/512-505-2016-Scout-Planning-Worksheet.pdf .
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} If a GPS-equipped device is not available, explain how to use one to get to your camping spot.
3. ↑ A footnote reading "All campouts since becoming a Boy Scout or Varsity Scout may count toward this requirement." no longer appears in the current requirements. However, although not specifically stated in the requirements, this still applies, even though the Varsity program has been discontinued.
4. ↑ Editor's note: effective December 31, 2017, the Boy Scouts of America ended the Varsity Scouting program.

The official source for the information shown in this article or section is: Scouts BSA Requirements, 2019 Edition (BSA Supply SKU #648914)

A FREE workbook for Camping is available here! (PDF or Word) with the maps, charts, links, diagrams, and checklists you need! Or click here to print just the Camping requirements.

usscouts.org has PDF and Word versions of workbooks for Scouts BSA ranks and merit badges, Cub Scouting ranks and adventures, and STEM Nova awards.

• Per the BSA: "You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject." The Camping merit badge pamphlet can purchased at ScoutSthop.org or at your local Scout Shop.
• "Get a signed Application for Merit Badge ... from your unit leader." An electronic, fillable, and printable PDF file version is available.

• Scout ranks: Scout  •  Tenderfoot  •  Second Class  •  First Class
• Scout awards: Firem'n Chit  •  Totin' Chip  •  Paul Bunyan Woodsman  •  National Outdoor Badges  •  National Medal for Outdoor Achievement
• Scout merit badges: Archaeology  •  Archery  •  Astronomy  •  Athletics  •  Backpacking  •  Bird Study  •  Camping  •  Canoeing  •  Climbing  •  Cooking  •  Cycling  •  Environmental Science  •  Farm Mechanics  •  Fire Safety  •  Fish and Wildlife Management  •  Fishing  •  Fly-Fishing  •  Forestry  •  Gardening  •  Geocaching  •  Geology  •  Golf  •  Hiking  •  Horsemanship  •  Insect Study  •  Kayaking  •  Mammal Study  •  Motorboating  •  Nature  •  Oceanography  •  Orienteering  •  Personal Fitness  •  Pioneering  •  Reptile and Amphibian Study  •  Rifle Shooting  •  Rowing  •  Scuba Diving  •  Search and Rescue  •  Shotgun Shooting  •  Signs, Signals, and Codes  •  Skating  •  Small-Boat Sailing  •  Snow Sports  •  Soil and Water Conservation  •  Space Exploration  •  Sports  •  Surveying  •  Swimming  •  Traffic Safety  •  Weather  •  Water Sports  •  Whitewater  •  Wilderness Survival
• Venturing: Wilderness Survival Ranger Core  •  Backpacking Ranger Award elective  •  National Outdoor Badges  •  National Medal for Outdoor Achievement
• Sea Scouting: National Outdoor Badges  •  National Medal for Outdoor Achievement

• An Introduction to Merit Badges – how to get started, who chooses the counselor, etc.
• Merit Badge revision dates – latest revision dates of each merit badge pamphlet.
• Merit Badge Worksheets & Requirements – with the revision dates, diagrams, charts, checklists, logs, and links you need.
• Merit Badge Application – offers online resources to let you print "Blue Cards," etc.
• Merit Badge FAQ – answers dozens of questions like: Who can be a counselor? Can requirements be added or removed?
• Merit Badges Requiring Prior Approval – Certain requirements need prior approval. Most do not. Here is the list.
• Also see: List of how many youths have earned each Merit Badge – Merit Badge policies – Merit badges required for the Eagle Scout rank – Merit Badge Days
• Additionally: List of Merit Badges by Field of Study – Merit Badge Pamphlets & Libraries
• Merit Badge Counselors must complete Youth Protection Training, file an Adult Application (and Merit Badge Counselor Information Form); and be approved by the local council. (See the Guide for Merit Badge Counselors for additional details.)
• See Submitting New Merit Badge Ideas for guidance on how to submit suggestions for new merit badges to BSA.