- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
- Messages
- 386
Yep you read that correctly RECHARGEABLE...
So I got sick and tired of shelling out for 123As for my surefire and EO and while browsing around my favorite chinese knockoff website (www.dealextreme.com) for some more keychain "button lights" (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253 which work excellent and you can't beat the price) I came across some rechargeable CR123s.
Now I already buy CR123s from DX every now and again, I usually use them for use at the range and in my flashlights for non-pressing times. Basically I don't trust the batteries with my life but thus far they've been just as good as my normal "surefire way to take a chunk of my paycheck" CR123As.
(Batteries - http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.400)
So I added in a set of eight rechargeable 3V CR123As and then tracked down a charger for them. I figured for fifteen bucks if nothing else I'd be able to get a single if not double use out of them and make my money back.
Took around nine days to get the package to me and another 12 hours to charge a set of four batteries. First thing noticed is that they are a bit thicker then normal CR123As but nothing drastic, the size is close enough that they still fit in my EO and surefire with a bit of "motivation" and they don't have much wiggle room.
Chargewise I was VERY suprised, I expected them to crap out in less then half the time a normal surefire battery did, but they lasted just a hair under what I normally get out of a set of surefire batteries. With my flashlight constantly on I had about a nine minute difference in light give or take 30 seconds [when compaired to a set of surefires].
Now those nine minutes could be critical, but I change my batteries often if they need it or not. The batteries that still have a charge in them and I'm replacing "just incase" go into the range bag to be spent on my EO while at the range. Also keep in mind I ran my flashlight non-stop so it wasn't exactly "real world" testing.
So far after that initial test I recharged them and slapped them in my light again and used it "normally" and haven't seen any loss in charge or anything...Working perfectly and that makes me VERY happy!
Overall I'm loving having this option to reuse 123As, so far after two full drains and recharges I haven't seen any change in battery life (still the same as the first charge) and they seem to be holding up quite nicely. If you chew through 123s like I do it worth a big look and snag a few.
If you do buy from DX keep in mind its chinese knock-off, I've been buying from them for a number of years now and everything even though being knock-offs holds up quite well. I've been a big buyer of 22000mcd keychain/button lights having bought around a hundred in the past two years (mainly reselling them for $2 a pop
) as buying them from normal places would cost me around $4 a piece rather then the $4 for 10 I get from DX. While I don't condone it a guy can pickup a ten pack and trade/sell them off for a few favors or a quick profit 
. Same with CR123s, mine have a habit of sometimes dissapearing so I keep a small stock of the cheapo DX types out and my good ones hidden in my stash.
Ship times from DX are usually solid, but depending on if your shipping to a APO/FPO it will take longer (shocking I know!) and DX will make you use HK air mail, normal addresses take 7-13 days which isn't bad so if possible ship the package off base for a quicker shiptime.
So I got sick and tired of shelling out for 123As for my surefire and EO and while browsing around my favorite chinese knockoff website (www.dealextreme.com) for some more keychain "button lights" (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253 which work excellent and you can't beat the price) I came across some rechargeable CR123s.
Now I already buy CR123s from DX every now and again, I usually use them for use at the range and in my flashlights for non-pressing times. Basically I don't trust the batteries with my life but thus far they've been just as good as my normal "surefire way to take a chunk of my paycheck" CR123As.
(Batteries - http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.400)
So I added in a set of eight rechargeable 3V CR123As and then tracked down a charger for them. I figured for fifteen bucks if nothing else I'd be able to get a single if not double use out of them and make my money back.
Took around nine days to get the package to me and another 12 hours to charge a set of four batteries. First thing noticed is that they are a bit thicker then normal CR123As but nothing drastic, the size is close enough that they still fit in my EO and surefire with a bit of "motivation" and they don't have much wiggle room.
Chargewise I was VERY suprised, I expected them to crap out in less then half the time a normal surefire battery did, but they lasted just a hair under what I normally get out of a set of surefire batteries. With my flashlight constantly on I had about a nine minute difference in light give or take 30 seconds [when compaired to a set of surefires].
Now those nine minutes could be critical, but I change my batteries often if they need it or not. The batteries that still have a charge in them and I'm replacing "just incase" go into the range bag to be spent on my EO while at the range. Also keep in mind I ran my flashlight non-stop so it wasn't exactly "real world" testing.
So far after that initial test I recharged them and slapped them in my light again and used it "normally" and haven't seen any loss in charge or anything...Working perfectly and that makes me VERY happy!
Overall I'm loving having this option to reuse 123As, so far after two full drains and recharges I haven't seen any change in battery life (still the same as the first charge) and they seem to be holding up quite nicely. If you chew through 123s like I do it worth a big look and snag a few.
If you do buy from DX keep in mind its chinese knock-off, I've been buying from them for a number of years now and everything even though being knock-offs holds up quite well. I've been a big buyer of 22000mcd keychain/button lights having bought around a hundred in the past two years (mainly reselling them for $2 a pop
) as buying them from normal places would cost me around $4 a piece rather then the $4 for 10 I get from DX. While I don't condone it a guy can pickup a ten pack and trade/sell them off for a few favors or a quick profit . Same with CR123s, mine have a habit of sometimes dissapearing so I keep a small stock of the cheapo DX types out and my good ones hidden in my stash.Ship times from DX are usually solid, but depending on if your shipping to a APO/FPO it will take longer (shocking I know!) and DX will make you use HK air mail, normal addresses take 7-13 days which isn't bad so if possible ship the package off base for a quicker shiptime.
Really hoping for something a bit closer to the nonrecharable runtime.
