Wilderness Survival Merit Badge

April 20, 2010

The Details

Date: April 30 – 2 May

Place: Kensington

Time: Leave Friday afternoon

Requirement #1

•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.

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude 2. First Aid

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude 2. First Aid

3. Shelter

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude 2. First Aid

3. Shelter 4. Fire

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude 2. First Aid

3. Shelter 4. Fire

5. Signaling

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude 2. First Aid

3. Shelter 4. Fire

5. Signaling 6. Water

Requirement #2

•From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

1. Positive Mental Attitude 2. First Aid

3. Shelter 4. Fire

5. Signaling 6. Water

7. Food

Requirement #3

•Describe ways to avoid panic and maintain a high level of morale when lost, and explain why this is important.

Requirement #4

•Describe the steps you would take to survive in the following conditions:

•A) Cold and Snowy

•B) Wet (forest)

•C) Hot and Dry (desert)

•D) Windy (mountains or plains)

•E) Water (ocean, lake or river)

Requirement #5

•Put together a personal survival kit and explain how each item in it could be useful.

Signaling (Whistle, Mirror, Emergency Blanket)

Emergency Devices (Knife, Fire starters, Compass, Fishing line)

Medical (Small first aid kit)

Water and Food (Energy bar, Water purification, fish hooks)

Other (Tape, cord, sewing kit, thread, pencil, paper)

Requirement #6

•Using three different methods (other than matches), build and light three fires.

Requirement #7

•Do the following:

•A) Show five different ways to attract attention when lost.

•B) Demonstrate how to use a signal mirror.

•C) Describe from memory five ground-to-air signals and tell what they mean.

Requirement #8

•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.

Requirement #9

•Explain how to protect yourself from insects, reptiles, and bears.

Requirement #10

•Demonstrate three ways to treat water found in the outdoors to prepare it for drinking.

Requirement #11

•Show that you know the proper clothing to wear in your area on an overnight in extremely hot weather and in extremely cold weather.

Requirement #12

•Explain why it usually is not wise to eat edible wild plants or wildlife in a wilderness survival situation.

Next Steps

• Fill out merit badge application form

• Review requirements

• Build your wilderness survival kit before the campout and have it approved

• Turn in your homework. We will complete numbers 6,7,8,10 on the campout

Wilderness Survival Stations

Fire Starting Water Purification

FirstAid

•Lighters

•Water proof matches

•Metal match/spark

•Flint & steel

•Chemical

•Filtration

•Boiling

•1st Class Req’s

•Dr. Long

Signaling

•Light or reflecting

•Fire

•Smoke

•Ground-to-air

•Shadows

•Flags

•Noise

•Contrasting colors/shapes

Shelter

•Instant, Natural, Constructed

•Materials

•Techniques

•Electricity

•Magnification

Wilderness Survival Timetable

• 7:00 am Wake up

• 7:30 am Breakfast

• 9:00 am Begin stations

• Noon Lunch

• 1:30 pm Stations complete; Begin shelters

• 3:30 pm Shelters complete

• 5:30 pm Dinner

• 8:00 pm Campfire

• 10:00 pm Lights out