A simple (EW Microrecorder) is under $800. In todays
money, an extra $20 for a badge flight is less than
the round of beers you buy. 40 badge flights and you
can buy a second one. Pretty soon, you hold a club
meeting to decide what to buy next once there are
enough
recorders.

Again you're making the wrong comparison. The point
is that a Garmin Etrex costs a tenth of that, and can
provide just as secure a record for badge flights.
It's not much for navigation, but it will tell you
how far away you are from where you're going, and what
your ground speed is. Surely a Silver Badge attempt
doesn't require moving map capabilities, or extensive
computation power. There's something to be said for
encouraging the new XC pilot to keep his head up out
of the cockpit.

Sounds like P3 is making good progress on making this
all accepted.

Jim Beckman