Olathe Scout Earning Every Merit Badge Completes 144-Badge Feat

Nathan Ganaden completed the full set of 144 merit badges available in the Boy Scouts of America this week. The Olathe, Kansas, resident officially finished the achievement after a six-year effort. Fewer than 650 Scouts have ever accomplished this specific feat.

Since the organization was founded in 1910, roughly 130 million individuals have earned the Scout rank. Ganaden's completion of the badge set places him in a group representing less than .0005% of that total. The journey began when he joined the Scouts in second grade. His father, David Ganaden, accompanied him through the process for every step.

Ganaden described the pace of his progress as uneven. He noted that there were periods where he completed 20 badges and other stretches where he finished only three. He said the initial idea came from seeing the collection and wondering if he could obtain every single one. "I saw all these badges and was like, what if I got all of them?" he said.

The badges covered a wide range of skills. Ganaden listed woodworking, horseback riding, and scuba diving among the topics he studied. He identified chess as his first and easiest badge. "It was an online merit badge so I sat down and I did all of the requirements, did some chess dot com and got it," he said.

Backpacking and cycling proved to be the most difficult challenges. Ganaden cited the physical demands of the backpacking requirement. "I would honestly say the hardest one was backpacking. You’ve gotta do quite a bit of hiking for that one," he said. He also mentioned cycling, which required riding 22 miles for one portion of the course.

Ganaden named welding as his favorite badge, noting that it opened his eyes to potential careers. Law was his least favorite subject, which he described as very boring. Wildfire management was the final badge he completed. "My very very last one was wildfire management," he said.

David Ganaden said watching his son grow through the experience was a highlight for the family. "A lot of kids don't get to experience camping hiking backpacking, things like that so this has just been great being able to watch him grow," David said. He called the completion a proud moment after six years of work. Nathan said he had never felt that level of pride before.