The "one battery type" theory

Hi guys,

Just wondered if any of you have ever thought about this ?

Imagine the following situation in which most of us can find ourselves: urban power failure, holidays, backpacking...
You have a mighty and powerful 2 x CR123 flashlight, perfect but the 2 batteries inside are dying. You just remember putting 4 fresh AA batteries in a portable radio or any other AA batteries device... :shakehead

All local stores are closed, one of them is still open :huh:, they have AA, AAA, 9V :thumbsup: ... but they DON'T sell CR123 batteries.

In an emergency situation, wouldn't it be good (did I say vital ?) to be able to scavenge all remote controls, wireless home phones, radios, alarm clocks, that would be available around us ?
Don't get me wrong, I think Lithium CR123 are fantastic but are they possibly harder to find in a critical situation ? Most of you will tell me "yeah, but I got a pack of 12 Lithium CR123 at home and they have a 10 years shelf life".:twothumbs

Ok, ok. But what if you're not at home ? What if you've just forgotten to take the extra life saving CR123 batteries ?

Is this "one battery type" theory any good ?
Thanks for you input.

My always carry is an AA EDC on a neck lanyard with a 14500. I rotate the brand but never the AA battery format. For my pocket or belt carry,anything goes. Unless I can't find any batteries, I'll always have light.

All my lights can use Cr123's or 18650's or 16340's for small single cells. And yes I have a stash of SF 123's. I also have a backup generator for my acreage, 12v adaptors for my chargers, solar to charge lead acid battery bank running an inverter for mission critical devices like the furnace. I guess in the name of redundancy having some AA lights would be a good idea.

I usually carry my E2L-AA or other AA operated flashlight...usually in my back-pack, etc. But, I'm not afraid to leave the house with just my CR123 lights...I have a good mental idea of their battery levels. I keep an SC1 in my pack with fresh CR123's that goes with me to work everyday, and I never take it out, so it's always there. The one battery concept is hog-wash. Why rely on one battery type? With kids, everything in the house takes AA's, AAA's, C's, D's...so, why not implement those into your flashlight round-up? I have yet to hear a VALID (other than simplicity/ease of use) reason for sticking to one battery type. An E2L-AA and an E1B/E1L as EDC, and your pretty much covered.

hemdale said:

Hi guys,

Just wondered if any of you have ever thought about this ?
Is this "one battery type" theory any good ?
Thanks for you input.

Click to expand...

I would take from this that you do NOT like 123 bats!!!!!!!!!!!

I have lights with AAA and 123 and 18650--works great for me. If things get that catastrophic--------we are all in deep do-do if all depends on batteries. Just imagine , the power has been off for 22 days---are flashlight bats your main concern???

hemdale said:

Hi guys,

Just wondered if any of you have ever thought about this ?

Imagine the following situation in which most of us can find ourselves: urban power failure, holidays, backpacking...
You have a mighty and powerful 2 x CR123 flashlight, perfect but the 2 batteries inside are dying. You just remember putting 4 fresh AA batteries in a portable radio or any other AA batteries device... :shakehead

All local stores are closed, one of them is still open :huh:, they have AA, AAA, 9V :thumbsup: ... but they DON'T sell CR123 batteries.

In an emergency situation, wouldn't it be good (did I say vital ?) to be able to scavenge all remote controls, wireless home phones, radios, alarm clocks, that would be available around us ?
Don't get me wrong, I think Lithium CR123 are fantastic but are they possibly harder to find in a critical situation ? Most of you will tell me "yeah, but I got a pack of 12 Lithium CR123 at home and they have a 10 years shelf life".:twothumbs

Ok, ok. But what if you're not at home ? What if you've just forgotten to take the extra life saving CR123 batteries ?

Is this "one battery type" theory any good ?
Thanks for you input.

Click to expand...

Wouldn't World piece be great too

If there is a power failure, everyone rushes to buy AA for their crappy minimags or C/D cells for their maglites. They don't normally rush to buy CR123A cells so they can go take pictures of absolutely nothing.

If I'm away from home I'd have atleast a minimum of 8 CR123A cells in my pack.

This is why I carry I ZL SC80. It will use any type AA or 123 battery.

wrencher, I can hardly wait for the SC80w.

The way I see it at least one AA battery vampire is basically a necessity.
CR123 are Great of course so long as you stock them ahead or have the $ to throw at them.
Eneloops make AA format lights even more essential.
I am seriously considering getting a Pal-Lite even if I end up carrying it without it's 9V battery, the light itself should weigh next to nothing (10 grams guesstimate) and looks like it takes up the space of 3-4 sugar cubes.

Even with this worst case scenario, I don't see a need to absolutely have a light that runs on AA batteries. All of my EDC's run on cr/rcr 123's or 18650 batteries. Never had a problem with running out of batteries.

Roger999 said:

If there is a power failure, everyone rushes to buy AA for their crappy minimags or C/D cells for their maglites. They don't normally rush to buy CR123A cells so they can go take pictures of absolutely nothing.

If I'm away from home I'd have atleast a minimum of 8 CR123A cells in my pack.

Click to expand...

The other drawback to the AA cells for me is that my stash is always getting raided to feed remotes and all the other stuff that uses them. My CR123 stash is always intact, no "WTF" surprises. From what I have seen all the big box stores are now carrying at least a reasonable stock of 123's.

I like the idea of being able to use AA batteries for powering flashlights. If you buy them from CostCo they are plentiful and cheap. If you wait until a disaster is looming, you won't find them at any price. I prefer eneloops, which don't have the propensity for leakage like alkalines do, but it is hard to argue with the price and long shelf life of modern alkalines. Just don't leave dead alkalines inside your gear. Every year around New Years I round up all the lights and check the batteries. Weak or dead alkalines get trashed (actually the fire dept collects them to keep them out of the landfills), and rechargeables get a fresh charge. If you leave a light turned on and put it away, then you'll have leaky alkalines in no time at all.

Zebralight H51Fc - headlamp = hands free, efficient, beautiful color rendition, small (single AA), lightweight, great user interface, 3 levels between ~3 and 127 lumens
Malkoff MD3 body which has a McClicky switch, high-low ring, M30W module - useful 3 and ~120 lumens, good color rendition, bulletproof
FiveMega 3xAA body, 6P bezel, M30W module - about 150 lumens, good color rendition
Maratac AA - (EDC in pocket) 3 levels and 70 lumens on high. Cool white, could use warmer tint
cheapo 2xAA 4-LED plastic light - still on the first set of batteries after 4 years. Around 10 lumens cool white but useful. On coffee table near TV.
Luxeon 2xAA 10 lumen TIR optic - on second set of batteries in 5 years
mini-Mag with 1 watt luxeon - in my sock drawer so I can tell the difference between navy blue and black. Needs a clicky switch.
4xAA ex-bicycle headlight 60 lumen cree - this one tailstands nicely so I use it for ceiling bounce lighting while keeping some night vision.
Costco 4xAA multiple LED, motion-activated light - one in the garage over the door to the house, and one in the shed. Great product! Cool white, could be warmer.
A couple years ago I bought an 8-pack of solar-powered garden lights for the yard. This year I replaced most of the NiCd AA cells with eneloops. Nice way to charge AA cells if there's a long term outage!

Like others, I carry an SC1 with six fresh cells. My lights are in pelican cases with fresh cells. My car has a bunch in it also.
And stores sell out of 123s last.

I think I'll be ok.

I like CR123's because of their long shelf life and ability to stand co,d temperatures. I don't mind leaving a box of 123's in my truck in case i need them. I have light that take all kinds of batteries, I buy in bulk and just keep a stash on hand. Like others sid before with kids you need about every kind of battery on hand.

I prefer cr123 lights. I have a dozen batteries in a pelican case in my house, 1 on my key chain, 2 in a pouch on my duty rig, 4 in a battery holder in the console of my car, 6 in a surefire battery case in my work bag (along with a couple extra lights) and a couple in a battery holder in my gear bag in my trunk. The problem is remembering to rotate them out when I get a fresh batch. That being said, I guess a couple of AA lights would probably be a good idea.
Oh yeah, I do have two TK40s( 1 in the house and 1 in my car) and a Fenix LD01 SS (AAA) on my keychain. I run lithium AA batteries in the TK40s so I keep a stash of those at home also.

Problem solved just get a Zebralight SC80

+1 to the sc80. The main reason I bought mine was the variety of cell choices. I run AAA, AA, and 123's mostly, and keep a decent supply of all three types. Also have and use rechargables in all three types. Various configurations for my favorites as well, as I'm able to use AA's and 123's for all my E-series compatible lights, which works nicely for me.

I don't leave home without at least 8-10 lights I won't even mention the extra batteries. Even if I'm left with what's in my pockets I'll have 4 lights. If I can't find replacement batts in that runtime screw it I'm building a torch. Honestly thought I treat using lights like guns a gun for every calibre so I can shoot anything I find and a flashlight for every battery type. I can't wait for the SC80W

I have CR123s stashed all over the place. In every car, in the camper, etc. That said, we also have any number of toys that use AA batteries and My EDC is a Zebralihgt SC51.
Not big on putting all my eggs (or batteries) in one basket.

I'm just starting out in the "hobby" (more like obsession as I spend a lot of time here at CPF reading) and with a background in IT, I think diversification is the best bet. Have lights that take different batteries. This way you always have something that will work.

Another thing would be to invest in rechargeables. Why? In a power outage or SHTF situation you wouldn't have to buy batteries. Just find a way to recharge them.

If you own a car you have a charging station. Car + Inverter + charger = charging station. You wouldn't red much of an inverter to charge some batteries.

One thing going for AA/AAA is you can pick up a battery cooking 15 minute charger and cut your charge times considerably. Won't do your cells a huge favor but once in a while it will be fine. Also you can reclaim the batteries from remotes, toys, etc in the event you really need them. With the low levels and long runtimes of today's LEDs you could probably get buy nicely with a 1/2 charged AA.

Lithiums are great because the runtimes are longer and they have higher light output. But the are nowhere near as available as AAA/AA/C/D. I can walk into any store in America and find racks and racks of AAA/AA/C/C but maybe 1 peg or 2 of CR123's so it pays to stock up.