2013 Boy Scout Requirements are Here!

The 2013 Boy Scout Requirements book (SKU# 616334) was just released and Scoutbook.com has completed a full review of all the rank and merit badge changes for 2013. 

Unlike 2012 this year the BSA modified every Rank except for Tenderfoot.  In addition we saw twice as many updates of merit badges as last year.  21 merit badges were updated 4 of which are Eagle required badges.

Rank changes for 2013

Second Class - See requirements 3e, 3f, and 3g
First Class - See requirement 4a
Star - See requirement 5
Life - See requirement 5
Eagle - See requirements 4 and 7.

Merit Badge changes for 2013

Astronomy (3b, 9)
Automotice Maintenance (1, 8d)
Bird Study (7b)
Chess (3)
Citizenship in the Community (3a)
Communication (1a, 1b)
Composite Materials (1)
Dog Care (10)
Emergency Preparedness (2b)
Fire Safety (7c)
Fishing (1)
Gardening (1, 3, 6, 8e)
Hiking (5, 6)
Home Repairs (1, 6b)
Law (11)
Oceanography (8b)
Orienteering (6c)
Photography (3)
Safety (6, 7)
Wilderness Survival (1)
Wood Carving (1)

New Merit Badges

Kayaking
Search and Rescue

Rank Update Highlights

Now Second Class Scouts will finally need to demonstrate lighting a real fire from tinder, kindling, and fuel wood.  In addition they will need to demonstrate lighting a lightweight stove.

Introducing MyPlate Food Guide

BSA has introduced the MyPlate food guide program into the Second Class and First Class requirements.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov

Eagle Scout Requirement #7 a focus on Leadership

Now Eagle Scouts are required to submit a statement of their ambitions, life purpose and list of all leadership positions held at church, school, camp including honors and awards.

Merit Badge Update Highlights

We woud love to go over each change but 21 merit badges is a bit too lengthy for this post.  Here are some highlights of some of the changes you will see.

Chess requirement 3: Can't find another Scout to teach chess to? Well now you can teach anyone!  BSA made it easier to complete requirement 3 which had the Scout find another Scout that didn't already know how to play chess and teach them how to play.  It's still the preferred way but know it should be easier to find someone.

Communication - Introduced social media as an option for requirement 1.

Fire Safety requirement 7c - No more melting wax!  Just demonstrate how to light a candle safely.

Gardening Merit Badge had the most changes of any of the 21 merit badges.  A new honey bee requirement was added and an entirely new #1 was added.  The requirements book did not note the addition of Gardening #8e but we noticed it was added.

Hiking #5 and #6. Take as many short rests as you want but not for an extended period.  A little clarification was given about each of the five hikes of 10 miles as well as the big 20 miler.

Law #11 adds Patents, Biotechnology, Privacy Law and International law options

Photography requirement #3 requires Scouts to describe how computer software allows you to make adjustments to digital photographs.  

Over 1/3 of the merit badges updated were directly related to making sure Scouts understood the hazards that could happen with each subject.  We counted around 8 merit badges that added this new emphasis.  In each case they will need to explain to their counselor the hazards they are most likely to encounter and how to deal with them.

New Search and Rescue and Kayaking

We can't forget about Search and Rescue and Kayaking. Introduced during 2012 these new merit badges now appear in the 2013 requirements book.

New Merit Badges in 2013

The new 2013 requirements book talks about the upcoming merit badges like Sustainability (Summer 2013) and the changes to Cooking (new Eagle required starting Jan 1, 2014)

We are excited about the direction BSA is taking the merit badge program.  And it appears more and more youth are really excited about the newest merit badges being released or will soon be released.

We hope this article has been helpful.  Leave us a note below.  We love hearing from you!

Can't wait to get a copy of the new requirements?  We just finished updating all our Rank Requirements and Merit Badge Requirements in our References section with all the new changes.  Check em out!