Batteries

[Yorkshire Andy]

Nicad is still available

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-600mAh ... B011HZ144M


Even in industry they are still more common than people think most if not all modern led emergency light units still come with Nicad cell packs (3x AA size cells in shrink wrap)

Reason I said Nicad is many of the cheap garden solar lights still use them you can use the lights to charge during the day then power a basic led torch or radio with them

[Arwen Thebard]

We've been using AA and AAA rechargeable batteries from poundland for several years without any problems whatsoever. The brand names tend to change (currently Kodak) but haven't let us down yet and you get a decent quantity for your money. I think Ive had one AAA go bad in maybe three years.

[tarmactatt]

Nicad is still available

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-600mAh ... B011HZ144M


Even in industry they are still more common than people think most if not all modern led emergency light units still come with Nicad cell packs (3x AA size cells in shrink wrap)

Reason I said Nicad is many of the cheap garden solar lights still use them you can use the lights to charge during the day then power a basic led torch or radio with them

Yes, still legal (last I checked a few years ago) for industrial uses, not supposed to be sold loose to public because cadmium horrible for the environment. I get the solar light thing, but for a 'battery stash' as per OP, low capacity and high self discharge means NiCd no good for me. With the development of LSD NiMh, NiCd is essentially a redundant technology, outside of military or other niche applications, and should not be recommended to the general public.

Can't say I've had as much luck with cheap rechargables:

I bought 4 packs of the Lidl low self discharge cells a year or two ago. Various battery charger/analysers suggest 16 cells vary in internal resistance and capacity, my Laddas and Eneloops show much less variation.

I tried some AAA and AA vapextech a number of years ago, one died fairly soon after opening the packets, and one showed low (about half) capacity after about a year of use.

I mostly keep NiMH cells for gear that can't take 4.2V, everything else gets quality 18650 or 14500 cells