The definitive requirements are always in the Boy Scout Requirements Handbook, for the current calendar year. This paperback handbook is published, by BSA, each February, and contains the current requirements for all ranks and merit badges. It costs less than five dollars. We keep a copy in the Troop Library, but most families also purchase one each year because it is a good place to start when your Scout is trying to decide which Merit Badges to work on. It gives a great overview of them all.
The front inside cover is helpful because it details rank requirement changes, a listing of the badges that have had revised requirements, and any new merit badges. The back cover is helpful because that gives a listing of all the latest revision dates for all the merit badges pamphlets.
Merit badge pamphlets are available for each merit badge and provide all the background information a Scout and the Merit Badge counselor need to achieve the requirements. It is the hope of the Troop that we will be able to afford to purchase the merit badge pamphlet a Scout needs to work on any desired merit badge. Just ask the Troop Librarian to order the merit badge pamphlet you need, if the Troop Library does not have it. If you are the one doing the purchasing, please be careful to check the copyright and printing date inside the merit badge pamphlet to make sure it is the most recent one (check against the back cover of the Boy Scout Requirements Handbook). Sometimes, old stock is put out on the shelves to sell to unsuspecting parents–often because the clerks don’t know the difference. Any “out of date” merit badge pamphlets we have in the Troop Library will be marked as such–the basic information is still usually still good, but the requirements to which the Scouts must adhere may be out of date.
It is the requirements which are in place, when their merit badge is completed, that are the ones that need to be satisfied. If the merit badge pamphlet copyright (notice this might be different from the printing date) is up to date, the requirements will usually be up to date. For example, last year, 30 badges had requirements which were updated, but only six had the merit badge pamphlets updated. Once again, the Boy Scout Requirements Handbook would have the proper requirements.
Another excellent source is http://usscouts.org/usscouts/meritbadges.asp This is a superb site which has requirements for all the merit badges (though it may not always be up-to-date). Again, check against the Boy Scout Requirements Handbook. The cool thing about this site is it has, for some merit badges, worksheets to help focus the activities. Once again, the worksheets may not be up-to-date, but portions of them may be. We have found it is helpful to use what we can.
