Useful links
Local Cradle of Liberty Council: www.colbsa.org
Good for getting all sorts of general information, downloading forms (for trips, rank advancement, adult training, etc.), and more.
BSA: www.scouting.org
Everything official about Boy Scouts of America (including Venture Crew stuff).
Merit Badges (official): www.scouting.org...
A direct, deep link to the official BSA site's page on Merit Badges. Only the basic requirements are in there (in other words: none of the answers), since they want to sell that in the old-fashioned booklet form.
Merit Badges (unofficial): meritbadge.org
Private, unofficial, but darned useful site, listing all of the requirements plus plenty of supporting intel that is missing from the official site. However, make sure to check with the official site to get the actual and most up-to-date requirements.
Uniforms and such: www.scoutstuff.org
The official BSA retail site. Beyond the necessities (uniforms), the general merchandise they sell (clothes, camping gear, etc.) is not bad—way better than it used to be even five years ago—but it's not the cheapest, either. For that, see below:
Gear: www.rei.com, www.ems.com, www.llbean.com [Discount outlets: www.sierratradingpost.com, www.steepandcheap.com]
These places are where most of the boys and adult leaders tend to shop for outdoors clothing and specialty gear. Really, though, you can shop anywhere—so long as you be sure none of the clothes are cotton (that includes socks and underwear). Wool or any synthetic material will do.
(There is a reason for this rule. Once cotton gets wet—from rain, water sports, or even just sweating—it actually begins to suck heat away from the body, which can lead to hypothermia and other life-threatening conditions. The 116 clothing motto is: "Cotton kills.")
Trip planning
There is a page of links devoted to helping Scouts plan our summer trips by figuring out costs, rules and permits required, etc.