This is wrong!
At the recent Pittsburgh TOR I was going through Joe Klos’s merit badge collection. Joe has a very extensive collection and is passionate about this area of the hobby. Flipping through the recent issues I did a double take. I saw something that was not supposed to exist. Joe was with Ron Oslin who also collects merit badges. After seeing the patch in Joe’s collection, I asked Ron if he had it. He did. See the two patches below.
BSA merit badge Made in China
Now what is wrong with this you might ask? Most of the current BSA merit badges are made in China. Lets look at the front:
This is the American Labor merit badge. It recognizes the contribution of the American labor movement to this country. The Boy Scouts of America are having this patch from China! This is BS (I want this to be a non-R rated blog but it is VERY HARD with this one not to get very coarse.) I am not a “union man” but I respect their impact on this country and to Scouting. Is the BSA asking China for financial contributions? For volunteer leadership? For help in building our camps? The BSA can’t excuse this away as being a fluke. This was two separate collections from two different areas.
What adds insult to injury is that I forewarned the BSA in 2007. In my position in Scouting and as a member of the National Council I am allowed to submit resolutions. I actually submitted the resolution which first runs through my council and then through the Central Region. I received a timely and nice set of exchanges with the then Region Executive Brad Farmer. He checked with the Supply Division and said they were on top of this. Wanting to be a team player and since it had gotten the attention of leadership I withdrew my resolution for submission at the upcoming national meeting.
Well Brad’s been promoted. I don’t fully fault him as this is not his area. It was clear I could have gone ahead with my resolution but I did not want to make waves where they were supposedly not needed. Wrong. I hope this does not get picked up by those who want to attack the BSA. Head(s) should roll on this. This is a slap in the face of all of the American labor supporters of Scouting. I wonder if they have added a new merit badge requirement: “Describe how your job will be shipped overseas? Describe how to sign-up for unemployement. Describe how to get food stamps and get aid from food banks.” Maybe we need to out-source the Supply Division. They can not be any dumber.
If someone knows the union representatives to the BSA Relationships Committee, please pass this on to them. This needs to create some pain in our organization if we are to improve. What did Forrest Gump say? “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Where is the George Meaney Award now made? The knot? The Whitney Young Award and knot? The American Flag patches on our sleeves? If you find any with “Made in China” stickers, please let me know.
on March 25th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
For those of us that have taught JLT, JLD or Brownsea Double 2 courses this an absolute insult. One of the most important skills a leader can demonstrate is “leadership by example”. National Supply should be out sourced or just fired. As a steel worker, I was a Scoutmaster and donor to Scouting for many years. I am just flat mad as he-double toothpicks.
on March 28th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Wow!!!
I can’t believe this
on March 28th, 2010 at 10:38 am
This is a good example of what is wrong with the today’s BSA and further indicates how out of touch they are with what is happening in the real world, and specifically, America. It is obvious the National Office cannot see the present, let alone the future direction the BSA is heading – Smaller membership roles. It has become more about the money than the boy’s we are here to support and teach the virtues of the Scout Oath and Law. Costs keep going up, pushing out the very youth we are trying to help, especially those who cannot even afford to purchase a Scout Handbook. BSA is sending almost everything to China to be produced for pennies on the dollar, and then raising the prices – Merit badges are now $2.29, and probably made for less than 10 cents in bulk. Shirts, $39.99, etc., and things don’t look good next year, as we are told to expect prices to increase – Why?
on March 28th, 2010 at 10:53 am
A perfect example how the mighty dollar or better yet buying at the lowest dollar is becoming ingrained in American society
on March 28th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
This is not new. I know of instances of the BSA getting items produced in China dating back at least a decade.
on March 28th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
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on March 28th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I have been told by reputable sources that the BSA National Supply Division profits fund the BSA Professional Retirement Program. Less production costs, more profit. What’s happened to the “do my duty to God and my country?” “MADE IN THE USA” and “Union Made” were once a source of pride. Manufactured in the USA for the BSA would be a great theme for the BSA as we celebrate 100 Years. If the BSA Volunteers who are union members stopped supporting the BSA with their FOS contibutions. FYI, the 4 100th Anniversary Merit Badges, Carpentry – Signaling – Pathfinding and Stalking are made in CHINA and have the “MADE IN CHINA” sticker. I saw them Friday at our Midnight Sun Council Office. This reminds me of, “do as I say, not as I do.”
on March 28th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
In case you have not seen the 2010 Jamboree patches that are issued by national guess where they are made. When I received my patch it made me sick. For the 100 yr annv. of BSA they could not even get the patch made in the USA.
on March 28th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I do know that of the 2010 dated rank patches, the Eagle Scout badges are made domestically and all the others are from China. That is (I am told) why the Eagle badges showed up a few weeks after the other ones went on sale.
on March 30th, 2010 at 1:15 am
National Supply has been obtaining merchandise from China and other foreign sources since the early 1990’s and probably earlier.
on March 30th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
This is absurd. We wonder why we have unauthorized material out there and here is the BSA right in the middle of the problem. A head or three should roll. I am sure glad that my lodge changed patch companies to one based in the USA.
on May 24th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I am a Scout Shop employee an it is increasingly fustratign to open up boxes form the NAtional Supply Division and see things marked as made in china. Almost everything is now made there. If you made a list of everthing made in the US it woudl be half as ling as the made in china list. Also the BSA issued a memo stating that in their increasing efforts to provide fair prices they were moving many manufacturing processes overseas. However, that year prices went up. Later that year all uniforms were being produced in China and as you guessed it prices were similar despite the switch to a lower cost manufacturer.
on June 18th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Amazing. Why are ANY BSA badges made in China at all. Heck, charge us all the extra for them to be made in the USA by people who actually earn a decent living and have good working conditions. No more China junk.
I did notice in the picture of this merit badge above that the color of the hands are different between each badge. Poor quality control for sure.
on August 14th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
I used to design patches for a manufacturer based in the United States. But because BSA, and even GSA, wants to pay the lowest price possible, they will buy from manufacturers overseas. The company I work for built factories overseas just to keep BSA’s and GSA’s business. But remember, just because its marked made in China, doesn’t mean its not being “produced” by American Companies. If you want to support BSA, be willing to take a lower paying job in a Factory in China. American workers will not work for peanuts. And why should they?
on September 26th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Where does this stand now? I was helping my scout with his badges…noticed the M.I.C. Tag on the back and thought…of all the organizations in the US that outsource services the BSA I thought would be the last. Guess not. How do we bring this home?
on September 26th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Virtually everything is made in China. This issue has not gotten enough visibility nor caused enough pain to those at a national level to effect change. Very sad actually. These badges could be made in the USA with no change in final retail price (very small crimp to BSA patch profits.). VERY DUMB in my honest opinion.
on October 14th, 2015 at 9:39 am
I just sewed 8 new badges on my youngest grandson’s sash. ALL of the badges say made in China. 🙁 I asked my son (an Eagle Scout) about this and he had no answers but does not like it either. I have most likely sewn one a 100 or more of these and this last batch was the first time I had seen this. Not right. BS of AMERICA should have their badges made in the US.
on October 13th, 2022 at 4:59 am
I shared a suggestion to a former National Chair and a former Region President that post bankruptcy, that the BSA could get some good PR out of bringing at least some of their patches back to these shores. There will be good support, I think, for the BSA to be “Made in America”. As it is, China is no longer the low cost producer as their country is demographically aging out and labor costs have increased dramatically. Still, there is the sunk cost of capital expansion and lost skill sets in this country. But we need to start some where and some time. Today would be better than tomorrow.