Current Merit Badge Pamphlet
and Requirement Revision Dates

The following Table shows the latest Copyright / Revision dates for each of the Merit Badge Pamphlets currently in effect, and the date of the last change to the Requirements for each badge. In addition, it contains the current BSA Publication (Stock) Number for each pamphlet. The Stock Numbers are taken from the Scoutstuff.org online catalog (updated during the year if new pamphlets are issued ). The table also includes the dates from the "Merit Badge Library" listing on the inside back cover of the 2008 Boy Scout Requirements book. We have discovered a few errors and/or omissions in that listing (Discrepancies are noted by brown text). The discrepancies in that list became apparent when more recent books have been found available. In particular, we have verified later dates than those in BSA's listing by physical inspection of merit badge pamphlets at local Scout council trading posts or Scout Shops™.

When there are two dates in the "Pamphlet Copyright Date / Revision Date" column, there has been a revision since the copyright date. These dates (Copyright and/or Revision) frequently do NOT correspond to the date of the latest revision to the requirements for the Merit Badge. (The date is the date the CONTENT of the pamphlet was last updated.)

In the past, BSA used a number of techniques for identifying the most current edition of these books. The following descriptions all identify books which were last updated in 1985:

• © 1969 - Revised in 1985
• 1985 Edition
• 1990 printing of the 1985 Edition
• 2nd 1998 printing of the 1985 Revision
• 1985 Revision

In recent years, like BSA does for other publications, when the content has been updated, the stock number has been changed from 33123 to 33123A, 33123B, etc. If the stock number has changed, you should use the newer book, regardless of the dates listed below.

If you find a pamphlet with a later publication or copyright date or a newer stock number than what we have listed below, please write us, with the Merit Badge name, BSA stock number (e.g.. 33999A, 33999B, etc.) and the exact wording of the revision description (as described above - (e.g. ©1999, 1999 Revision, 2nd 1999 printing of the 1985 Revision, etc.). If the booklet also has revised requirements, a copy of those requirements would also be appreciated so we can update this site.

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The REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL MERIT BADGES posted on this system are current as of January 1, 2008. If you are starting a Merit Badge, use these, rather than those in the Merit Badge Pamphlet, when they differ.

Merit Badge pamphlets are constantly in the process of being rewritten, with the goal of updating all of them every 4-5 years (a rate of around 25 per year). Since Jan. 1, 2000, all but eight of the merit badges have had new or revised requirements implemented, and all but four of the pamphlets have been rewritten and new editions issued.

As new pamphlets are issued, when they contain new requirements, Scouts will have the option of starting with the new requirements as soon as the pamphlets are issued, or they may start work using the old requirements until the next edition of Boy Scout Requirements is issued. If a Scout starts work after the next edition of Boy Scout Requirements is issued, he must use the new requirements. In any case, once a boy starts with a set of requirements he can continue using them until he completes the badge or turns 18. This is stated in the on-line Merit Badge Counselor Training on BSA's web site. If he started using the old requirements, he also has the option of switching to the new requirements (which may in fact mean starting over in some cases). So long as he meets all of the requirements (either old or new) he can earn the badge. However, he can't use, for example, old requirements 1, 3, and 5 and new requirements 2, 4, and 6-8.

The Requirements Revision Dates in the tables below usually reflect the year the revisions first appear in Boy Scout Requirements, unless a special announcement is made by BSA, such as was done with Personal Fitness Merit Badge in 1999.

To our knowledge, there is NOWHERE on the web where you can find complete copies of any of the 120 merit badge pamphlets published by BSA. The contents of those pamphlets are copyright by BSA, they use the proceeds from the sale of the pamphlets to defray the cost of revising them periodically, and the sheer size of the files needed to have those available on line would probably be prohibitive.

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Note that Music and Bugling, while separate Merit Badges, with separate requirements, are covered in one pamphlet -- Music and Bugling.

Dates in Bold RED Italic in the tables below are changes in the 2008 edition of Boy Scout Requirements. Dates in GREEN denote a new or revised pamphlet issued during 2008 after the release of Boy Scout Requirements, or revised requirements that have not yet appeared in Boy Scout Requirements, but which have appeared in the most recent edition of the appropriate merit badge pamphlet. Publication Dates in Fuchsia indicate a new pamphlet has been announced but I haven't gotten it yet.

The following listing shows the Merit Badge Pamphlet and Requirements Revision Dates listed above, sorted by Date. Where Pamphlet Publication Dates below are shown in Fuchsia, it means that a new book is listed in Boy Scout Requirements 2007, but has not yet been released. In such a case, the current pamphlet publication date is also listed lower in the table.

The booklets are $3.49 each. However, if ordering from the National Supply Service, keep in mind that they are obligated to charge sales tax unless you submit a sales tax exemption form with your order, and that there is a shipping / handling / postage charge of $5.50 for orders up to $50.00, $7.95 for orders between $50.01 and $100.00, $11.95 for orders between $100.01 and $150.00, and 8% for those over $150.00, so ordering small quantities in that manner can be VERY expensive on a unit cost basis unless you order other items at the same time. These fees are based on ground shipping in the USA. 2-day shipping adds an additional $10.00 to the ground shipping fees, overnight shipping adds another $5.00. International shipping charges are a minimum of $35.00 or 25% of the total order, whichever is greater.

The toll-free phone number for ordering through the BSA National Supply Division is 1-800-323-0732, or you can order on-line at http://scoutstuff.org.

Here is a table of costs and unit costs for small orders of Merit Badge Pamphlets only: These figures do not include sales tax, and are based on the information on the BSA's National Supply web site.

• 1 booklet would cost $8.99
• 2 would be $12.48 (6.24 each)
• 3 would be $15.97 (5.32 each)
• 4 would be $19.46 (4.87 each)
• 5 would be $22.95 (4.59 each)
• 6 would be $26.44 (4.41 each)
• 7 would be $29.93 (4.28 each)
• 8 would be $33.42 (4.17 each)
• 9 would be $36.91 (4.10 each)
• for orders of 10 to 14 booklets, the unit cost varies between 4.04 and 3.88
• for orders of 15 to 28 booklets, the unit cost varies between 4.02 and 3.77
• for orders of 29 to 42 booklets, the unit cost varies between 3.90 and 3.77
• 43 or more are 3.77 each