lundi 16 octobre 2017

Rechargeable batteries in a BOB?

I've recently been doing some consolidation in my BOB. Everything in it that uses batteries now uses AAs, with the exception of my hefty Maglite (3 D batteries; I carry 3 spares). To do this, I recently purchased a Coast HL27 headlamp, which uses 3 AA batteries. Besides producing a very clear and even light, it has a dimming feature that allows you to take the brightness down from 330 lumens to 1 lumen. Surprisingly, 1 lumen is still good enough to get around and even read a book with. At that brightness, 3 AA alkaline batteries last an impressive 93 hours.

Other items in my BOB that can run on AA batteries are my Coast HP1 flashlight (1 AA), my shortwave/AM/FM radio (3 AA), my handheld VHF/UHF radio (normally uses lithium-ion but I have a 5 AA battery pack for it as well), and my handheld CB radio (normally runs on 12 volts but can use 6 AA).

In addition to keeping fresh batteries in all of the devices, being sure to flip one of the batteries around to prevent them discharging and leaking, I also keep 16 fresh AA batteries in my BOB (mostly alkalines but a few Energizer ultimate lithiums too). I've lately been thinking of switching some of the alkalines (4 to 8) to Eneloop rechargeable NiMH batteries. The Eneloops have somewhat less capacity than alkaline batteries, but they can be recharged from a variety of sources. These are low self-discharge batteries as well (only 15% drop after a year), and I could easily top them off in my LaCrosse BC700 charger every few months.

I already have another AA charger capable of recharging up to 4 AAs in 4 hours, and it works on both 12 volt and 120 volt power. This would enable me to recharge with any vehicle's 12 volt socket (mine or otherwise) or else simply use some small clamps to get power from any engine with a 12 volt battery I can access.

So I'm thinking that the trade-off of slightly less capacity for some of my batteries would be more than offset by the ability to recharge those batteries. Considering that if we do BO, it will almost certainly be by vehicle, I'm thinking that such a move would be prudent.

Thoughts?

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Rechargeable batteries in a BOB?

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