Lithium Batteries

[barber oregon]

I normally keep a bunch of Alkaline batteries in my assorted BOBs that I check and replace every couple of years. For the following reasons I'm considering changing to lithium batteries for this purpose:

-- I find that we don't normally use alot of AAA or AA's around the house so these older batteries tend to just sit around or eventually get thrown out: lithiums have a much longer shelf life so this sort of 'wastefulness' wouldn't be as bad (espcially for the environment)

-- Lithiums are much lighter: this would be great for lightening the load of my portable BOB that I carry to work everyday; what with folder/binders, my lunch and other assorted gadgets in my bag, onces count!

-- Lithiums supossedly work far better in extreme cold: great for the car BOB (I live in Canada)

However, I remember reading somewhere that lithium can't be used in a number of applications because of the amount of energy that they put out. Is this true? I can't seem to find any references to this on the 'net.

I'll be using these mainly in Nite-Ize LED modded Mags and small portable radios.

 

[Will]

Lithiums batteries are 30% lighter, which is only an issue if you are carring a lot of them.

They function perfectly even in extreme cold which is a huge advantage.

They have a higher voltage (1.7 v/cell) compared to alkaline (1.5 v/cell) which can flash bulbs in your lights. They should work with the LED modual, but will blow the normal AA mini mag bulb.

Lithiums have a constant voltage output which is nice too - no dimming of your light like with alkalines. The downside is that you don't get much warning when the battieries do die.

Much longer shelf life 10-15 years with little to no loss of capacity.

I use and love lithiums in my LED lights for all of the above reasons, and highly recomend trying them out. Battery station and LightHound have generic ones that are cheaper than the Energizers. Best place I have found for the Energizers is either Walmart (in the US) or here:http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/energizer_lithium_aaa_batteries.html

Will

 

[beezaur]

It is mostly about flashlights, but there is a lot of great information about the performance (and dangers) of lithium batteries on CandlePower Forums. Much information about and testing of lithiums there. All brands are not equal. Here is a link to their electronics forum, which is where discussions of batteries is held:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=9

Scott