Is it unrealistic?

I just bought a surefire G2 light to leave in my vehicle. I own other surefire lights and they have had great service, but always stored at roughly the same temperature...

I know these 123A batteries have a 'shelf' life of 10 years... but how will they hold up to heat/cold/heat/cold repeat of life in the car?

is it unrealistic to think that a flashlight that is stored in my glove box should work whenever I turn it on regardless to how often?

-thanks

Lithium batteries hold up much better than alkalines when exposed to long-term cold. That's why they make fine "car" lights. However, I believe heat can debilitate them.

Here's an interesting story that underscores lithium batteries' durability:

Two years ago, I found an original Surefire 6P flashlight that I'd lost/mis-placed with a bunch of stuff -- in the trunk of an old car. That light/those batteries (Duracell) endured 6 (six!) freezing-cold winters and 6 baking-hot summers in my car's trunk! When I turned the light on, it worked just fine... probably at better than 50% output.

I forget exactly what lithium batteries' self-discharge rate is -- maybe something like 3% per annum. Perhaps others can enlighten us re this. It'd also be interesting to hear some other lithium battery "survival" stories, too.

Silverfox--? Anyone--?

Most alkalines seem to do ok in the car life cycle as well. I have a 4D Mag and a MiniMag that stay in my car 24/7 and they have been there for atleast 5 years. The batteries have yet to fail on me. These lights don't get used much, but after 5+ years on a set of batteries they still lit up. I finally broke down a couple months ago and gave them both new sets of batteries.

On the other side of things, I always have either a G2 or 6P on my belt and as much as I use those two lights, they will never have a set of batteries in them that lasts 10 years.

thanks for the info guys!

Of course you could always back your main light up with a "shake light", like the NightStar. No batteries at all in that one.

-LT

I would just change the batteries every year or two. Use them in one of your other lights that you use regularly. You have to buy batteries for them anyway right? That way you keep rotating fresh batteries into your car light.