I have recently developed an interest in LED flashlights and the use of rechargeable AA's and RCR123A Li-on batteries.
The miser in me decided I was spending too much money on throw away batteries for my work lights, self defense lights, hearing protection and a gazillion other uses at home.
I have chosen to use a Maha C9000 smart charger and Sanyo Eneloops in AA and AAA.
If you do much research on rechargeable AA's you will definitely hear about the Eneloop
I also bought a set of Tysonic RCR123A cells and a charger from
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/ that are mostly unknown, but I have gotten good service from them so far. Maybe my days of buying CR123A's by the dozen are over.
And, I found some rechargeable N cells for my Pro Ears hearing protection.
These can hopefully be recharged in the AA bays with a spacer. A pair of Duracell N batteries were costing me $6 at the local stores and they have not had very good run times. This seems to be typical of N cells. These rechargeables are $2.95 each and if they work out they can be reused 500-1000 times. Could see a big savings here
My next purchase after looking around on the web forums is a pair of small, inexpensive LED flashlights. The Romisen RC-N3 II Q5
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-123/Romisen-RC-dsh-N3-II-Cree/Detail is convertible from a single CR123A size to a 2 AA size and has a high and medium mode. I like to use the RCR123A sized light clipped on to my hat for hands free operation, and still have the option of using the light with 2 AA's. Very nice, bright little light for $24.
So far this tough little lamp has taken a ride through the auger on my snowblower...
