Inventing Merit Badge
Nine requirements drawn so the camping trip both of the gear requirements depend on, and the approval buried at the end of requirement 7, are visible before a reader reaches them.
10 steps (13 parts inside them). 4 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Inventing Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 2 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 2 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.
Your progress
20 steps can be started now; 2 are waiting on something else.
Clear ticksYour ticks are kept in this browser, so they will still be here next time. They are in the address as well, so a link to this page carries them to another device.
The steps
Stage 1 of 10
1 step
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1. Define inventing, and what inventors did for the country Requirement
The requirement asks for your own definition first, then adds two parts.
Stage 2 of 10
1 step
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2. An inventor interviewed, or three read about. Do ONE Requirement
The badge states the choice. The two routes cost very different amounts of arranging.
2 parts
Stage 3 of 10
1 step
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3. Intellectual property, patents, and a patent number off your own kit Often forgotten Requirement
Four parts. The third needs a piece of camping gear you have used and a parent or guardian's permission to look the patent up.
4 parts
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3(c). Find a patent number on camping gear YOU HAVE USED, and read the patent Often forgotten THIS ONE NEEDS USED GEAR TOO. "Examine your Scouting gear and find a patent number on a camping item YOU HAVE USED." Together with requirement 5, that is two of the nine requirements on this badge depending on the Scout having actually been camping: on a badge that otherwise looks entirely indoors.
Stage 4 of 10
1 step
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4. What is worth sharing, and one invention nobody patented Requirement
Discuss which types of invention are appropriate to share with others and why, then tell your counselor about one UNPATENTED invention and its impact on society.
Stage 5 of 10
1 step
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5. Improve a product you used on an overnight troop camp Often forgotten Requirement
Choose a commercially available product that you HAVE USED on an overnight camping trip WITH YOUR TROOP, recommend improvements, sketch them, and discuss them. The trip has to have happened already.
THIS REQUIREMENT NEEDS A CAMPING TRIP THAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. "A commercially available product that you HAVE USED on an overnight camping trip WITH YOUR TROOP": past tense, overnight, and with the troop rather than with family or friends. A Scout who has not yet camped overnight with their troop cannot start requirement 5, and nothing on the page warns them. If that trip has not happened, it is the first thing to plan.
Stage 6 of 10
1 step
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6. Invent something: users first, then the design, and start the notebook Often forgotten Requirement
Think of an item that would solve a problem for your family, troop, chartered organisation, community or a special-interest group. Three parts, kept in a notebook that starts here.
THE NOTEBOOK STARTS HERE, not at requirement 7. It is introduced in the same sentence that introduces the three parts: "while keeping a notebook to record your progress", which is exactly why it reads as scene-setting. 6(c) records user feedback in it, and it is the record of how the invention changed between the first conversation and the finished prototype.
3 parts
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6(a). Talk to potential users FIRST, then write and sketch Often forgotten THE CONVERSATIONS COME BEFORE THE DESIGN. The requirement is to talk to potential users and determine their needs, and THEN: "based on what you have learned". Write the statement and draw the sketch. That is the reverse of how most people invent something, which is to have the idea first and look for users afterwards. A Scout who arrives at 6(a) with a finished idea has done the parts in the wrong order.
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Stage 7 of 10
1 step
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7. Build the prototype, but the approval comes first, and it is in the last line Often forgotten Requirement
Build a working prototype of the item invented for requirement 6, test and evaluate it against cost, usefulness, marketability, appearance and function, and describe how it compares with your original vision. Your counselor evaluates and critiques it. A note at the END of the requirement makes their approval a condition of starting.
Usually comes after 6. Invent something: users first, then the design, and start the notebook.
THE APPROVAL IS IN THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE REQUIREMENT. "Before you begin building the prototype, you must have your counselor's approval, based on the design and building plans you have already shared." Read from the top, requirement 7 says "build a working prototype" first and states the condition on building it last. The plans being approved are the ones shared at 6(c), so the real order is: model and sketch, share them, get the approval, then build.
Stage 8 of 10
1 step
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8. A build team, or a museum and a presentation. Do ONE Requirement
The badge states the choice. One is joining something; the other is a visit followed by a talk to a group.
2 parts, 1 ticked
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8(a). Take part in a club or team that builds something useful Optional May not apply Often forgotten
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Stage 9 of 10
1 step
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9. What it takes to be an inventor, and three career fields Requirement
The skills, education, training and experience it takes; how you can prepare yourself to be creative and inventive at home, at school and in your community; and three career fields that might use an inventor's skills.
Stage 10 of 10
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 9. What it takes to be an inventor, and three career fields.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.