Stress_Test
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2008
- Messages
- 1,334
I keep a small number ( 8 -12 ) of D cell alkalines on hand for use during long outages in either a couple Maglites, a radio, or a battery powered fan.
The current cells are about to hit their expiration date so I started looking around to buy some more D cells. I could not believe the prices! It's been a few years since I last bought them so it was a real sticker shock. Something like $2.50 to $3 per cell!!
That was at the local Kroger, so I tried a couple of online vendors. Still high prices. About the best I found was about $1.30 each (Rayovac). Some of the Energizer and Duracell prices were just ridiculous.
Given how frequently I've seen alks leaking in recent years, I just can't stomach the idea of paying a premium cost for a cell that may sit on a shelf a couple years then puke its guts out for no reason (which I've had happen before). I'd rather put the money into Eneloops, Li-ion, and CR123a.
I'll probably by a 12-pack of those Rayovacs since that cost is more reasonable, but I got to thinking: are D-cells still relevant these days? In the past they were the only way you could get decent performance/runtime out of a light or other device, but lights especially now have gotten so efficient that the D-cell seems unnecessary.
My D powered fan is just about the only thing I can think of where I'd realistically need D cells, since during a hot-weather power outage, I'd want it to run all night, and using AAs in adapters can't do that.
The only other need for D cells I could think of would be if you needed to hand a flashlight to someone (think Maglite) that was dead simple to use, and runs for days at a decent ~ 30 or 40 lumen level.
I was thinking about that recently when we had an outage and I was wondering what light I might give to my Dad to use. Anything lithium powered was not a good idea. I was thinking it'd need to be either a AA light or a 3 or 4 D Maglite. The Maglite would be my choice since I can just load it up and give it to him then he shouldn't have to change cells or anything for the duration.
Other than that, I'm finding it hard to justify the costs of buying D cell alks anymore.
The current cells are about to hit their expiration date so I started looking around to buy some more D cells. I could not believe the prices! It's been a few years since I last bought them so it was a real sticker shock. Something like $2.50 to $3 per cell!!
That was at the local Kroger, so I tried a couple of online vendors. Still high prices. About the best I found was about $1.30 each (Rayovac). Some of the Energizer and Duracell prices were just ridiculous.
Given how frequently I've seen alks leaking in recent years, I just can't stomach the idea of paying a premium cost for a cell that may sit on a shelf a couple years then puke its guts out for no reason (which I've had happen before). I'd rather put the money into Eneloops, Li-ion, and CR123a.
I'll probably by a 12-pack of those Rayovacs since that cost is more reasonable, but I got to thinking: are D-cells still relevant these days? In the past they were the only way you could get decent performance/runtime out of a light or other device, but lights especially now have gotten so efficient that the D-cell seems unnecessary.
My D powered fan is just about the only thing I can think of where I'd realistically need D cells, since during a hot-weather power outage, I'd want it to run all night, and using AAs in adapters can't do that.
The only other need for D cells I could think of would be if you needed to hand a flashlight to someone (think Maglite) that was dead simple to use, and runs for days at a decent ~ 30 or 40 lumen level.
I was thinking about that recently when we had an outage and I was wondering what light I might give to my Dad to use. Anything lithium powered was not a good idea. I was thinking it'd need to be either a AA light or a 3 or 4 D Maglite. The Maglite would be my choice since I can just load it up and give it to him then he shouldn't have to change cells or anything for the duration.
Other than that, I'm finding it hard to justify the costs of buying D cell alks anymore.