Lithium Batteries:  the Best that Money can Buy
By Kevin Kersten, Leader since November 2006, Member since August 2005

Having the right equipment for a trip can make all the difference between a fantastic trip and one that didn't go quite as well as planned. I have a habit of liking extreme adventures; and the more extreme the adventure the more you depend on equipment to get you through. It can be very disheartening to have equipment fail you at the wrong time.

Much of the equipment that we use these days is powered by batteries. Cameras; GPS's; walkie-talkies; and headlamps are a few of the modern devices we count on. If you are hiking miles from civilization; canoeing down a river or crawling in the depth of a cave it is not always convenient to stop and change the batteries or carry more spares than you really need.

There is a full choice of batteries out there. There is the familiar alkaline batteries; rechargeable nickel-metal hydride; nickel-cadmium, titanium, Lithium and confusium. If you are left scratching your head I understand why.

Which battery is best in any given situation depends on a lot of things like cost, battery life, power drain of the device, convenience of changing batteries and importance of the equipment. Frequently other factors can come into play like keeping all your equipment on the same size battery or always having batteries available. Myself I just like the electronic stuff to work so I can enjoy the adventure.

Energizer Lithium batteries are one of the newest and most expensive disposable batteries on the market. Most major retailers sell an AA lithium 4 pack for $10 so that is 2.50 per battery compared to the 60-80 cents for a traditional energizer AA alkaline. (AAA also available) Packaging for the batteries claim they last up to 8 times longer in high drain electronic devices like digital cameras. My Kodak digital camera is power-hungry and only gets only 30 minutes of use out of a set of traditional alkaline batteries; but with Lithium I get about three hours of camera use between battery changes. And for those who are watching the weight, the new lithium batteries actually weigh less than the traditional alkaline batteries.

While I still use alkaline batteries in many devices; but when it comes to extreme environments I am sold on the long-lasting lithium batteries. Knowing I have lithium batteries I know they will last; do not have to stop and change batteries while covered in mud at inconvenient times and carry fewer backups. If you are trying to shave grams off your pack, are going to be miles from nowhere and want the most powerful and longest lasting battery consider the new lithium batteries; but when performance does not matter other choices will be more economical.