EDC Light Battery Preference

[Shawn Dodson]

I EDC a Streamlight Microstream AAA. I does everything I need it to do, and it's about the size of a ChapStick.

I don't trust anything with rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable battery powered devices always seem to shit the bed when I need them most. (It all started with a Surefire 6R on patrol.)

Plus, I don't like anything "electronic" on a flashlight, be it a charging circuit or multimode switch. Give me an old-fashioned mechanical push ON, release OFF tailcap switch.

[StraitR]

I've been running a SF Stiletto Pro for about a year now and bought SF rechargeable CR123's for my other lights. I greatly prefer rechargeable at this point. Guilt-free use and no issues handing a light to my kids anymore. Just throw stuff on the charger, done.

[NH Shooter]

Spot-on comments above from those who still prefer primaries, especially in regards to the reliability of rechargeable cells.

The Li-ion cells offered today fall into two categories: protected and unprotected. Those "in the know" use unprotected cells in their serious-use lights.

A protected cell includes a thin circuit board on the negative end of the cell. While this circuit can provide protection against short circuit and over discharge, they come with two key disadvantages: fragility and making the cell longer and wider in size. A third category could be those cells with an integral micro USB port and charging circuit, which makes for all the more that can fail. Bottom line is that a cell with electronics integrated in it is going to be far more likely to fail than a cell without.

Unprotected cells are like the batteries in our vehicles - they are simply raw power storage devices with no add-on electronics.

For those of us who live an armed lifestyle, the safety precautions of using an unprotected cell is no different than basic safe gun handing. Just as you can go about every day of your life safely carrying a firearm, so can you use unprotected yet highly reliable cells in your flashlight.

Just like carrying a set of spare CR123 batteries, you can also safely carry a spare unprotected cell in a Delrin Battery Locker. Swapping out a depleted (or failed) Li-ion cell in the field is no different than changing batteries.

A top tier 18650 cell can be purchased for $10 or less, and a high quality charger for $20 or less. Considering the extended run time, improved performance, reliability and eco-friendly characteristics, for many it's a no-brainer.

[TGS]

I don't use checks to buy things, and I don't buy one-time use batteries.

The future is now, old man.

[Casey]

Those "in the know" use unprotected cells in their serious-use lights.

I remember reading about this from another flashlight enthusiast on a different forum. I still use protected cells in most of my lights because that's what came with them (Modlite/SureFire), but I did start using unprotected cells in my Modlite PL350s to eliminate the possibility of the protection circuit getting damaged by recoil and rendering the light inoperable. This reminds me I've been meaning to go that route for my 18650-powered rifle-mounted lights, as well.

[BillSWPA]

I have 3 people in my household who are not familiar with safe use of unprotected li-ion cells. I only use protected cells.

I do not see the point of a charging port on a cell. Simply using a good quality smart charger is easier.


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[NH Shooter]

I have 3 people in my household who are not familiar with safe use of unprotected li-ion cells. I only use protected cells.

For a household light that makes sense, and this may be a use case where primaries make even more sense.

I had one protected cell that tripped on over discharge after my wife used it and didn't shut it off. It was days later when I discovered it, and I was unable to "untrip" the protection circuit. There are some tricks to doing so, but I was unsuccessful in that case. An unprotected cell would have become so over discharged that it may not be recoverable, so the end result would have been the same.

In another case I had received a new 16650 protected cell from Orbtronic that read zero volts out of the box due to a tripped protection circuit. After an unsuccessful effort to recover it, Orbtronic replaced the defective cell.

The main "danger" of any unprotected cell is shorting it out, which short of extreme damage to the flashlight is unlikely to happen. When removed from the flashlight an unprotected cell should be stored in an appropriate container to prevent shorting.

...I did start using unprotected cells in my Modlite PL350s to eliminate the possibility of the protection circuit getting damaged by recoil and rendering the light inoperable. This reminds me I've been meaning to go that route for my 18650-powered rifle-mounted lights, as well.

I think this is a wise decision. Using a protected cell in a serious-use light is like carrying on an empty chamber.

[Crazy Dane]

I voted for the primary cells because I learned the hard way several years go. I was deployed to a wildland fire when we arrived at the CP, I was greeted by the incident commander who was one of my mentors in the wildland fire fighting and he assigned us to night watch on the fire(cush job). After 3 nights of babysitting this fire I had run out of CR123s and needed resupply, the logistics officer laughed when I asked for those batteries. There was a country store a few miles down the road and all they had was several packs of aa and D cells. I managed to scrape together enough light to finish out the next 2 days.

Being deployable to fires and natural disasters, I have made sure all of my lights are AA or AAA that way I can resupply at at most convenience stores and logistics seem to have these too. Rechargeable would be great but the last hurricane I went to there was no electricity for over a week. Its also convenient to be able to walk in to any big box store and get large packs of these. The biggest I have been able to buy was a 48 count of AAAs. if CR123s ever get to this point I may go back to all of my old lights.

[RevolverRob]

I voted for the primary cells because I learned the hard way several years go. I was deployed to a wildland fire when we arrived at the CP, I was greeted by the incident commander who was one of my mentors in the wildland fire fighting and he assigned us to night watch on the fire(cush job). After 3 nights of babysitting this fire I had run out of CR123s and needed resupply, the logistics officer laughed when I asked for those batteries. There was a country store a few miles down the road and all they had was several packs of aa and D cells. I managed to scrape together enough light to finish out the next 2 days.

Being deployable to fires and natural disasters, I have made sure all of my lights are AA or AAA that way I can resupply at at most convenience stores and logistics seem to have these too. Rechargeable would be great but the last hurricane I went to there was no electricity for over a week. Its also convenient to be able to walk in to any big box store and get large packs of these. The biggest I have been able to buy was a 48 count of AAAs. if CR123s ever get to this point I may go back to all of my old lights.

Eneloops are your friend. - You can run store bought AA/AAAs if you run out of Eneloops. But the Eneloops have a higher capacity overall and can be recharged quickly. I've switched every AA/AAA device in the house to Eneloops and I'm happy for it.

My EDC and backup EDC lights are AAA (FourSevens Preon MKIII) and AA (an older Jetbeam MKII) respectively for this exact reason. Running Eneloops primarily, but I know I can grab some AA/AAAs at the local Wal-Mart if needed. Finding CR123s in some areas while traveling is about like trying to find clean water in Mexico. It's possible, but not probable.

I don't really want any more 'port rechargeable' items. The damn laptop and cellphone are enough.

___

For weapon lights, I'm running protected 18650s in long-guns, but still running a CR123 in my pistol light. That will change, either I'm switching over to a 18350-based pistol light or Surefire XC1/XC2 setup running AAAs.

[Casey]

I think this is a wise decision. Using a protected cell in a serious-use light is like carrying on an empty chamber.

Any recommended models/reputable vendors for unprotected cells? I found some high-drain unprotected KeepPower 18650s through Illumination Supply Company out of California. I've had good experience with KeepPower (their protected cells were originally included with Modlite products), but I'm always a little hesitant buying batteries from unknown retailers.