Primary or Rechargable?

I guess I took them wrong so I will not post on your poll.
I will say I try to use pila's when and where I can. I do have some lights that do not like them so I use both.
Scott

All of my lights feed off of rechargables, with 2 exceptions:

Surefire A2. Simply doesn't take them (except unprotecteds, and I'm not fooling around with those)
CR2 Ion. Don't like the not-very-low output on low with an RCR2. Plus, as a backup/keychain light, I'm more comfortable with primaries.

All my lights can run on rechargables and my EDCs feed on them exclusively. My red/UV lights have a lithium AAA/AA inside since they are generally stored most of the time. Once any light I have needs to be used for any length of time, I switch out the primary cell for rechargables.

Majority of the time, i'll be using AW's RCR 123's 3.7V for my HDS, i also uses them on my KL 1 + VG 1's body for my daily EDC. I carry spare RCR 123's cell and Primary lithium should i ever need them.

As for my Surefire M6, for the present moment the only option i have are the Primary lithiums, kind of costly but the result is fantastic,

alvin

Double Post....

Rechargable NimH are in my SuperBulb lights and my EDC. Two 1L lights, and a KL3 on a G2 have 3V RCR123s, but don't get all that much use.

I'll use Alk around the house (indoors), and Lith AA. AAA and 123 in lights I COUNT ON to work when I need them! (Truck, Garage etc.)

I use an RCR123 in my HDS B42, NiMHs in my SL Propoly Lux, and 14500 in my L2P/L1 body bike light, all of which get used a LOT.

My occasional/backup/emergency use lights (various fenixes, splashlight, micra etc) all get the appropriate lithium primary, so at least I know they'll work when I grab them.

I don't like leaving RCR123s unused in lights for a long time, and NiMHs tend to have gone flat when I want to use them.

I'd love to use rechargeables in all my torches but I get sick of having to have some kind of charging roster in place to make sure all the batteries are OK.

I use both rechargeables and primary (alkaline) cells. Rechargeables are in my regularly used 2/4 cell lights or high drain lights. Alkaline are my back up cells and for flashlights which use one cell. I also have a few D cell lights and no D size rechargeables. Those lights are mostly for back up.

Rechargeables - all the way:twothumbs

Best regards

____
Tom

Im at about 50%. Half rechargeable, half primaries. Most of the time, I use primaries when the rechageable's need to be charged.

I'm liking the AW LiIon batteries for EDC lights. I like the way they "wake up" some of my EDC lights, like the rCR123 in the Fenix P1, 14500 in the JetBeam, rCR2/L2P, rCR123 in my Q3.
One of my favorite rechargeable solutions is the Fivemega/Strion bulb kit for the E2E/E2D.
Another good one is AW's battery for the SF L2.
I like that when I take a light with me I know it has a top charge on it and I have X amount of runtime. I could never keep track of how much run time I have left in primary cells.

frisco

If it's not something for an emergency (hello Eneloop!), and is not a remote control (alkalines last years in them, after all), it gets rechargables. As of late last year, I have geared my purchases and research towards future purchases with a preference for the use of rechargable batteries.

While the green thing is definitely an aspect, I actually find the use of rechargables much more convinient than primaries.

I have been using rechargeable AA's for my Fenix lights since I got them. These lights get used alot. I recently purchased a set of RCR123 batteries and a charger and I started to use these in my L5 and my E1L. I love the result on both and a huge benefit is that I can use these without seeing dollar signs float away... now I know what it means to have guilt free lumens.

I recently purchased some rechargeables for my U2 and L4 and additional RCR123's for my McLux PD and the plan is for all of these lights to be fed via rechargeables so that I can share the fun with my kids without seeing the dollar signs float away again.

The performance is great and I keep primaries available so that if the lights run out, I will have good backup options.

So to answer the question... I use both, but primarily rechargeables but not to save mother earth (which is a noble cause), but rather to save Daddy's money (a little more selfish reason but an honest answer regardless).

-Goatee

I like that when I take a light with me I know it has a top charge on it and I have X amount of runtime. I could never keep track of how much run time I have left in primary cells.

Click to expand...

You know what? This never dawned on me but reading the above makes perfect sense!

After using my P1 (on and off) for a couple of weeks, I may have 60 minutes left on the primary, maybe 45, maybe 15...yet pop a freshly recharged cell in there once every day or two and I'd know *exactly* what was in the tank.

Thanks for totally changing my perspective here Frisco.


CFU

Rechargeables in my EDC's.

Rechargeables for everything that will take them

Will

I no longer use lights with multiple primary lithium cells. IMO the risks of explosion and injury outweigh the utility.

I use rechargables in my EDC Orb Raw and my walk-the-dog U2. I use primaries in my Photon EDC (I don't know of a rechargable coin cell), and in my Zipka+ head lamp. These get very occasional use.

(I use rechargables in my GPS and my electric toothbrush and my camera and my phone, if anyone cares about that.)

I don't understand the comment about "Damn the environment, I need big runtime". It seems to me that the 18650 in my U2 gives better runtime than two 123s would. I'm not too bothered about the environment; it's just cheaper for commonly-used lights.