Originally Posted by
Guns&Guitars
I stopped buying the bulk packs for cheap (OP mentioned he bought a 200 pack for $5). Seems like a good deal at the time, but there's usually a catch. The batteries are usually expired, counterfeit (packaged as a reputable brand but are not) and usually won't last very long. Most clip-on guitar tuners use this same battery, and I was wondering why they all of a sudden were eating up these batteries at such a fast rate. Turns out the batteries were crap. Switch back to Duracell or another reputable brand bought from a reputable retailer (not some shady seller on Amazon, eBay, etc.) and all was well again.
I still use those batteries in my guitar tuners since it isn't a critical application, but for red dots I'm no longer cheaping out or skimping on batteries. In the end the convenience and peace of mind knowing that my red dot battery won't fail on me in the most inconvenient moment (or worse, if my life depends on it) is worth the cost of spending a few more dollars on batteries.
As far as storage, many that come in blister packs (like Duracell) are also further encased in a heavier plastic to child-proof them, making them nearly impossible for small children to get them out of the package and swallow them. I just take a set of trauma shears and cut around the battery, keeping them in the child proof portion, which leaves you with a very small footprint that can be stored in an AR pistol grip, range bag, (I have a few in an Altoids tin in my range bag with a few other small parts like a Glock tool, small Beretta choke wrench, spare charging handle for my semi-auto shotgun, etc.) while also remaining child proof and no chance they can short each other out if two batteries touch.
I keep a set of trauma shears in my range bag (awesome tool that is vastly underrated and everyone should have in their range bag IMO), along with a multi-tool, and always have a pocket knife on me, so it's never an issue having to open up one of the packages if I have an optic battery that needs to be replaced. But to further prevent that I have a routine that I took from others, which is to pick a day of the year (or every other year, or whatever your comfortable with based on your experience and battery life stated by the manufacturer of the red dot), which is to replace all your red dot batteries on the same day, be it your birthday, New Year's Day, etc. This ensures for the most part that you'll never end up with a battery going down at the most inopportune moment. I'm guessing that the firearm that has the red dot cost quite a bit of money, so setting a reminder/making it a habit to replace the batteries every year or whatever schedule your comfortable with isn't going to break the bank.