www.meritbadge.com

 

 On this web site are the current requirements for all of the current merit badge subjects.
You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business and future careers as you earn these merit badges.
There are more than 100 merit badges (119 as of January 1,2001).  Any Boy Scout may earn any merit badge at any time.  You don't need to have had rank advancement to be eligible.

Pick A Subject.
Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests.
Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you.

Pick one to earn.
Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors.
These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you.

 

 Scout Buddy System.
You must have another person  with you at each meeting with the merit
badge counselor.  This person can be another Scout, your parents or guardian, a brother or
sister, a relative or a friend.

Call The Counselor.
Get a signed merit badge application from your Scoutmaster.
Get in touch with the merit badge counselor and tell him or her that you
want to earn the merit badge.  The counselor may ask you to come and see him so he can explain what he
expects and start helping you meet the requirements.  When you know what is expected, start to learn and do the things required. Ask your counselor to help you learn the things you need to
know or do.

 

You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject. Many troops and school or public libraries have them. (See the list of current merit badge pamphlets posted on this system.)> Show Your Stuff. When you are ready, call the counselor again to make an appointment to meet the
requirements.

 

When you go  take along the things you have made to meet the requirements. If they are too big to move, take pictures or have an adult tell in writing what you have done. The counselor will ask you to do each requirement to make sure that you know your stuff and have done or can do the things required.

 

 Get The Badge. When the counselor is satisfied that you have met each requirement, he or she will sign your application. Give the signed application to your Scoutmaster so that your merit badge emblem can be secured for you.

 

 Requirements. You are expected to meet the requirements as they are stated --- no more and no
less. You are expected to do exactly what is stated in the requirements.  If it says "show or  demonstrate," that is what you must do. Just telling about it isn't enough. The same thing holds true for such words as
"make," "list," "in the field," and "collect," "identify," and "label."

The requirements posted on this system (www.meritbadge.com) might not match those in the merit badge pamphlets because the pamphlets may not have been recently revised.  Where they differ, use these requirements rather than those in the pamphlet.

 

 Note: There is NO DEADLINE for earning Merit Badges, except the Scout's 18th Birthday. Once a Scout has started working on a Merit Badge (i.e. obtained a signed "Blue Card" Application for Merit Badge from his Scoutmaster, had an initial discussion with a merit badge Counselor, and started working on the requirements), he may continue using those requirements until he completes the badge or turns 18. 

THERE IS NO ONE YEAR LIMIT ON SO-CALLED "PARTIALS".  In contrast to the rule for rank advancements, which imposes a specific deadline for using the old requirements, The rule for Merit Badges is as follows: If the requirements change while a Scout is working on the badge, he may continue to use the OLD requirements until he completes the work, or he may use the new requirements if he wishes. It is HIS choice, and his alone. 

 

If a Merit Badge is discontinued, Scouts working on the badge when it is removed from the Boy Scout Requirements booklet may continue to work toward completing the badge, and get credit for earning the badge, until they turn 18. However, it may not be possible to obtain an actual merit badge patch, once the local council's supply is exhausted.  If a discontinued Merit Badge is replaced with one or more other Merit Badges covering the same or similar topics (such as Rifle and Shotgun Shooting MB which was replaced by Rifle Shooting MB and Shotgun Shooting MB), a Scout that has earned the discontinued badge may also earn the new badge or badges. If the badge is simply renamed (such as Firemanship MB which was changed to Fire Safety MB), Scouts may NOT earn the badge again. If the badge number in BSA's numbering system is the same before and after the change, it is a renaming. If a new number is assigned, it is a
replacement.

 

 If you are a new Merit badge Counselor, or are interested in becoming one, check out the Introduction to Merit BadgeCounseling

 

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The following is excerpted from an article that appeared in THE SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE on December 26, 2001.  I hope it motivates others!
 
Altamont teen sews up all 123 achievement awards
 
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
 
For Jedadiah Curry, add ambitious, goal-oriented and downright driven. The
16 year old Eagle Scout has 123 merit badges to prove it.
 
For the record, that is every Boy Scout merit badge-from
American Business to Woodwork, including some that have since been
discontinued. Jed completed the requirements for his final merit badge last
month, making him one of only a handful of Scouts to pull off such a feat
and fulfilling a goal he has had since age 8.
 
People are even more surprised when they learn about the physical ailments
Jed endures.  For starters, the Altamont teen pops 15 to 20 pills several
times a day to combat cystic fibrosis, a strength-sapping genetic disease he
was diagnosed with as a baby.  He spends at least an hour a day hooked up to
a machine that breaks up mucus in his lungs, and packs a battery-powered
device on camping trips that does the same thing.
 
To treat his Type I Diabetes, Jed checks his blood sugar four or five times
a day and gives himself insulin injections.
 
Then there is the asthma.  It needs attention from time to time, too.
 
All these maladies might lead one to believe Jed is a sickly kid.  He's not.
  He swims, runs, plays baseball and performs in plays.
 
After getting all these badges, Jed now has a better idea of his strengths
and weaknesses, his likes and dislikes.  He says that is part of their
value.
 
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