Be Prepared

Today is National Boy Scouts Day. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded in 1910 to shape the lives of young men through outdoor adventure, community service, and character development. The BSA is the largest and most renowned organization in the country. They have 1.2 million youth participants and one million adult volunteers in the US. Worldwide; they have 57 million members in 200 countries. The organization is broken down into several ranks that require a series of skills to move up within. With each skill you master, you’ll be given a special patch known as a merit badge. Here are some badges you can earn that will be very beneficial in a doomsday situation.

• Animal Science: This is all about learning how to identify, take care of, and prepare the byproducts (milk, wool, etc.) of various livestock.
• Archery: Learn how to fire an arrow up to 15 yards away. This badge will also teach you how to make arrows and take proper care of archery equipment.
• Athletics: Teaches you how to set up a training program that will keep you and the others on your team in peak physical condition.
• Backpacking: Learning the skills of backpacking can help you with a bugging-out situation.
• Basketry: Earning this badge requires you to master the skill of basket weaving.
• Camping: This badge will teach you how to handle the inter-workings of a campsite, which may serve as your bug-out destination.
• Canoeing: This one is about learning the basics of canoeing while teaching you what to do should you get thrown from one and how to rescue others in one.
• Chess: Chess is all about strategy and planning, which will be useful when protecting your camp from outside invaders.
• Climbing: This will be a useful skill to have should your path ever get blocked by large amounts of debris or a landslide.
• Composite Materials: Learn to craft objects with discarded composites that will be key to your survival.
• Dentistry: People who master this skill will have to study the structure of a tooth, and how to identify tooth decay and plaque build-up, while learning how to treat it.
• Emergency Preparedness: It's clear why this badge will be important for doomsday.
• Energy: This badge teaches you how to save, produce, and use energy wisely in a disaster situation.
• Farm Mechanics: This badge teaches you the inter-working of basic farm machinery and how to service them.
• First Aid: Again, this badge doesn’t need an explanation as to why this skill is important.
• Fishing and Fly-fishing: Both teach you how to catch and identify fish.
• Forestry: This will teach you how to identify plants and trees to help you forage for food better.
• Gardening: Growing your food will be in high demand on doomsday. This badge teaches you the skills to do just that.
• Hiking: This will teach you how to plan and prepare for a trek up to 20 miles long.
• Home Repairs: This badge will come in handy during the clean-up phase of the aftermath of a disaster.
• Horsemanship: Once the gas is gone, horses will become the primary mode of transportation, so you should learn how to ride one just in case.
• Insect Study: Even though it’s not ideal, bugs are a significant source of protein.
• Leatherwork: This will be a valuable trade skill that will come in handy to make products, like shoes, to trade with other travelers for much-needed supplies.
• Metalwork: Much like leatherwork, this too is a valuable trade skill to know.
• Mining In Society: Precious metals like gold and silver will become the new currency in a doomsday world. This badge will teach you everything you need to know about collecting them.