on topic...
I'm wondering what the most probable mishap is w/ leaving a light loaded.
I suppose a fire (started by something else) would make loaded flashlights a hazard to fire fighters. That's one of the reasons my loaded guns aren't chambered.
Excluding external events, what can happen that would cause battery failure?
So will a stash of (lithium) batteries (be it primaries or rechargeables) in your cabinet, once the fire reaches that. Or your ammo, for that matter.
yes, still hazardous, but the consequences are unlikely to be as severe
If a 12ga slug is set off by flame while it is in the chamber it could exit the home and kill someone inside the house next door - easily.
If a loose round is set off, the slug hardly moves. The casing might leave a nasty mark if it hits you but it'd never leave the room. If the round was inside the magazine tube of a pump, it'd probably rip the tube open and not go anywhere....
There are lots of videos of li-ions venting flame on youtube. Probably not a big deal to be close to that when you're wearing fire fighter's gear - but if you put that thing inside a sealed metal pipe....
I store my ammunition in a fire resistant safe and my batteries in a steel cabinet.
Always all lights loaded...
I keep an ROP with a pair of unprotected 32600s loaded at the back door for dog spotting. As soon as the light is noticeably dimmer, the cells get charged. Rather than balance charging them which is very, very slow, I charge them on two separate chargers keeping a close eye on how much went into both of them. I tend to charge then to 4.1V for this, then balance them up to 4.2. Thus far they are pretty much identical - as soon as differences develop I'l be tossing those cells and putting a triple XM-L in its place for back door duty.
i keep them loaded, because i usually discharge them in 1-2 weeks on my bike :)
I don't have multi battery lights but if I would have them no, I wouldn't store them loaded.