Rechargable Batteries

[itsybitsy]

Whaddya think? Yay...or nay?

[the-gnole]

Yes from me, but use them and rotate the stock otherwise they might not work when you want them to.

Also convert to AA batteries for as many of your items as possible, buy the adaptors if necessary.

Aldi and Lidl do the better capacity ones and at a good price.

Also get a variety of chargers, home and vehicle, solar are not that good if you want quick charging.

[Carrot Cruncher]

I have quite a few rechargeables and they are very usefull. Agree about the solar charger, the one I got from Maplins for around a tenner a year or so ago is next to useless. I'm sure there are better ones available but check the reviews on them before you buy one

[Huorn]

A nay from me. We bought loads of them when our first kids started getting toys needing them. After a while though you realise that the charger is on full time and the batteries spend more time in the charger than in the toys. We've gone back to traditional batteries.

I think it's better to reduce the kit that requires batteries as much as possible. When rechargable replacements for AA etc batteries equal to the sort used in modern phones become available then we'll start using them again, but for now, they're a miss.

H

[lone wolf]

Me neither, i dont seem to get on to well with re-chargable,

as Huorn says they spend a lot of time in the charger and then seem to run dry just when you need them the most

What works well for me is a combination of cheap ASAD batterys and a pack of the serious high energy ones

I use the better quality for LED torches etc but a shove the cheap stuff in my camera and i also keep the cheap ones on hand and in my ruck as a sort of "get of jail free card" encase of emergency's

I also find the crank/wind up stuff breaks down to quickly too, especially the torches they never produce the same output no matter how much you crank them, anyone else experienced that problem ?

i prefer a good solid Duracell etc for the kit i rely on the most

Lone Wolf

[hobo]

Yay, buy eneloops as they keep their charge for ages.... but, I recommend you keep good quality AAs/AAAs with a good 5 years use-by date on them. Suggest hundreds and hundreds of them!

With rechargeables - have several ways of recharging. I have small solar battery chargers, DC charging from leisure batteries and mains.

Hobo

[pietka]

i use a trent 5000 with various adapters for charging phone, satnav, mp3 player etc. only thing i use batteries for are tourch and radio! never had much luck with rechargables in electronics especially cameras just don't seem to last! still have quite a few though!

[southernPrepper]

A lot depends on the technology of the battery.

Older rechargeables will be Ni-Cad. These are junk. Throw them away

Slightly better are Ni-MH. These are getting there but are not very good for high draw stuff like torches or digital radios.

A lot better are Li-ion. These are used in mobile phones, Ipods, laptops and better quality power tools.

Newer technologies are emerging as well.

[diamond lil]

We dont use batteries in the house at all

[WhiteWolf]

We dont use batteries in the house at all

What no torches, clocks, radios, watches, cameras, mobile phones and last but not least the TV remote

WW