With all the advancements made in small, tactical flashlights and the new rechargeable batteries that are becoming available for these applications, I thought it would be good to share some thoughts about safe handling of these batteries and how to properly use/store/care for these batteries.
Most of the small flashlights on the market today are capable of putting out some very bright light. It is not unheard of 500 or more lumens of out-the-front light in a small flashlight powered by single or two small batteries, such as AA, AAA or CR123. With this high output level comes high heat generation. If you are running one of these blazers, you need to be aware that it will become very hot, very rapidly. I remember the days of camping in Boy Scouts with a large, bulky Ray-O-Vac flashlight that ran on 2 D cells and put out maybe 10 lumens! Never worried about heat coming from these lights, would put them anywhere with no worries. With today’s tent fabrics and the high heat generated, you can melt the tent or even start a fire.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had more flashlights ruined by leaking alkaline cells than I care to mention. One of the advances in batteries is the proliferation of lithium batteries. I am talking here about the non-rechargeable variety. These cost a little more than comparable alkalines from the same manufacturer, but with improved shelf life and reduced risk of leaking, I have stopped using the alkalines in all my flashlights and delicate electronic devices. I like to keep flashlights in lots of places, so they are handy when needed. I’ll keep a flashlight in each of the cars, in the garage and other strategic locations around the house, available for use, if and when needed. These lights don’t see a lot of usage, so the increased shelf life of the lithium really comes in handy here. I also like to keep an excel file of all the flashlight locations with a record of when I last changed the batteries along with the quantity and type of battery in the device. In this way, I can keep the batteries refreshed, normally change them every five years when using the lithiums.
I used to shy away from flashlights that use the CR123 batteries because of the extreme price I was seeing for these batteries. Typically, I will see them on a card next to the cash registers at Lowe’s or Home Depot, selling for something like $5 for 2 of them! Why would I want to ever spend that kind of money for a flashlight battery?!? Now with some really excellent flashlights on the market that use these, I started looking for alternative ways to buy these and can buy them on brightguy.com for about $21 or amazon.com for about $23 for 12 batteries. A lot more reasonable pricing, to be sure. I like to buy the Surefire brand batteries as I know the company will stand behind them. There are a lot of Chinese imports available which I shy away from if I know nothing about them.
One critical factor to take into consideration when using CR123 batteries is that they should all have the same state of discharge when used together. If you are running a flashlight that uses multiple CR123 cells and one is almost completely dead and the others have a full or strong charge, there is a high risk of the battery exploding. And the explosion which I am talking about is very severe and violent, can cause grave injuries and start fires. For this reason, I keep my CR123 batteries in the flashlight together in that flashlight for life and I don’t mix brands. When the battery has reached the end of it’s useful life for me, I put it into the battery recycle bin at a local retailer and put fresh batteries into the device. This is most critical with the CR123’s due to their higher voltage/current capacity.
As with guns and ammunition, we are living in the golden age of flashlights and batteries. There is a wide variety available to meet almost any need or application. With a little bit of forethought, you can develop a good plan for keeping your batteries fresh in your flashlight or battery powered device, so it is ready for that time when you will need it!
Another area for consideration is the advent of the rechargeable lithium ion batteries and the devices that keep them charged, but that will be the topic of a future article. I hope I have sparked some thought for you in creative ways you can keep a working flashlight readily available to use in a time of need or emergency.
If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Ben and I will be happy to respond!
Be Safe!
Soccerdad