I would like to see a Slinging Merit Badge for Boy Scouts of America. It has been mentioned before, and some attempts have been made to put together some requirements by PM. It hasn't worked to the best of my knowledge.
Anyways, I threw together some possibilities for requirements, and I want suggestions and comments. Also, more information on how to submit a final draft and so on would be appreciated. I know alot of you are involved in scouting, so...
As you can see, some info still has to be filled in, and I would like recomendations.

Slinging Merit Badge Requirements


1.            Show that you know first aid for the following injuries that could occur while slinging: dehydration, heat reactions, sunburn, hyperventilation, frostbite, hypothermia, insect and tick bites, snakebites, blisters, nosebleed, cuts and scratches, head injuries, shock, object in eye and broken bones.

2.            Define and point out the following terms: sling, projectile, pouch, single pouch, split pouch, retention cord, release cord and finger loop.

3.            Do the following:                                                                                                                            
                  a. Discuss the difference between a split and single pouch sling, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
                 b. Using materials approved by your councilor, and under his/her      supervision, construct a sling for use in the following requirements.
                 c. Discuss different types of ammunition, such as stones, tennis      balls, golf balls, cement spheres, marbles, etc.

4.            Give a brief history of the sling, and its effects on warfare and technology.

5.      Discuss safety on a slinging range, and safety rules and courtesies practiced by good slingers.  

6.            Using a sling and golf balls as ammunition, score X number of points on a target placed X number of yards away.

Sounds like you earned Archery or Rifle Merit Badge...lol
You had everything I was thinking.

Actually, neither. I've helped teach both, and I'm pretty good with a bow and a crack shot with a rifle (just ask the dinner I'm about to consume!). I did reference those two for some of this material. I'm glad you like it.

Suggestions re your points:

1. Wow! I didn't realize slinging could kill you in so many different ways. Surely there's enough material there for a badge in itself. Perhaps just make havng first-aid a pre-requisite. Point 5 covers safety directly relevant to slinging.

3a. This one is very open to personal preference. Some people love split pouches, others hate them.

6. Perhaps for safety's sake, tennis balls or water filled tennis balls would be better than golf balls. Golf balls fly well but can be dangerous because they bounce back very readily if they hit a hard object.

It would be great if this gets off the ground. In PC Australia scouts can never do anything which could be remotely construed as aggressive, ie. no guns, slingshots, slings, crossbows.

   

we don't have Boy Scouts in Canada anymore, its just Scouts Canada. It was deemed unfair by the courts to split the genders, and to deny the girls the right to join the boy scouts because they were girls  ::). Oh they kept Brownies and Girl guides and I'd bet that no guy would be able to join to learn to be domesticated. Its too bad that they couldn't change the curriculum in the girl guides to reflect more of what changes the girls were wanting. Sometimes PC is worse then old school

Well, Macka, my mom has stories of being a counselor at a boy scout camp when she was younger, and she considers her a boy scout. Plus, at least around here, there's a group called the explorers or something like that that's co-ed.

And for Aussie's health point, I'm sure you could include a loophole where if you have completed the first aid merit badge or become first class, you don't have to show these abilities to your counselor, since you would have already completed it.

Over all, it sounds like a fun idea. I've taken my a sling along with me on a couple of scout hikes, but unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to show it off yet. Something tells me that one of the parents of the new scouts would take it away from me  >:( They always overstep their boundaries a bit, but oh well, that's a complaint for another day...

What troops are you guys in i am in troop 14 Long Beach

im in b.s. too and would like to see that

(falls on floor laughing)

number one is TOTALLY covered in the first aid merit.  maybe you should have having first aid merit badge as a requierments.

and for hitting a target X many times, why not hitting a target 5-10 times out of ten? from, ohh say, 15-20 yards?

what about braided, apache, and crochete?

do you have rifle shooting merit badge?

Do I have the Rifle Merit Badge? No.

The reason behind the comprehensive first aid list is pretty much for uniformity. To the best of my knowledge, the only Merit Badge which requires First aid as a prerequisite is Emergency Preparedness, which is largely just an expansion thereof. (This is similar to the Lifesaving - Swimming buildup, except Lifesaving is intense fun.)
All other Merit Badges which deal with being in the field and the possibility of injury just list those most likely, as I have. Therefor, as stated above uniformity was my goal. That list is nowhere near as long as some other I've seen... Try Camping.

WOAH! you wounded like an eagle there!!!