I’ve got most all battery sizes for when SHTF—
but wondering in a MacGuyver situation;
-Will a 14500 with sleeve/o-rings + 15mm charging spacer
(conductive post within synthetic surround type)
have any trouble powering most 18650 lights?
not good for high power lights but will work in most applications.short runtime being the issue.
as snakebite stated, yes they will work, but why wouldn’t you have the opportunity to pack a few more 18650 batteries?
These might not work as sources for purchase, but the links do indicate that they exist.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?244152
http://www.oveready.com/battery-/sleeves-spacers/aa-delrin-battery-spacer-sleeves/prod_271.html
18650 is a far superior battery, especially for a “preparedness freak.”
Getting battery adapters only adds a margin of preparedness, it doesn’t mean that a person is limited to using the smaller battery or even wants to.
Having adapters is smart, for instance I recommend that anyone who uses AA flashlights for EDC or the car (or anywhere), should also have AAA to AA adapters, just in case.
Don’t many, or even most of us here, have 18650 to 26650 adapters, AA to Ds and Cs, AAA to 18650?
I dont See a need for such a specific(and useless)adapter because you can just use anything metal which fits…
In normal situation nobody will use a 14500 or 16340 in a 18650 light. It’s a whole different story to have AA to D adapters to use standard AA eneloops for everything else, that makes sense right now and not only in a never existing scenario.
For example: A piece of wire, a piece of paper/cardboard (all ubiquitous) maybe a bit tape or whatever will you in a minute an “adapter”…you even could lengthen up a 18650 flashlight with a piece of cardboard, tape and wire to use 3AAs with it….
And of course you can do a lot of other things with duct tape and don’t have layin around stuff you will never need….
Conclusion:if you want to be prepared for everything, stock some miles of ductape
I’m a contractor in a hot climate, duct tape gets pretty messy and unpleasant in the desert.
I’ll take the adapter over wires and duct tape.
Don’t many, or even most of us here, have 18650 to 26650 adapters, or AA to Ds and Cs, AAA to 18650 adapters?
I don’t, apart from the ones that came with torches i’ve bought.
Have plenty of different sizes of batteries, but if I did need to power something that I didn’t have a battery for I’d rig something up from what I found laying around, like Werner said.
Can’t somehow see MacGuyver carrying round a box of various battery adapters, which was your original post question 
Personally I’d skip the 14500’s all together for prepping. For batteries look to 26650,18650,cr123a’s and AA Ni-MH LSD’s One charger can charge all the rechargeables. Ni-MH AA’s can be used in many devices the 14500’s can’t. I skip the 14500’s for prepping because only slightly larger 18650 lights are the standard and have a much better run time, 3500mah vs 800mah.
Carrying around? I would rather keep a couple of AAA adapters in the glove compartment for my AA car flashlight and headlamp, rather than duct tape and wires, and it would sure make it easier to use if I had to switch to AAAs, especially in the rain.
The same goes for my YEZL Y3, if I need to, I just use the 18650 adapter, not wires and tape.
Just thought about where I use adapters right now:
I have some lights which were made for the 3xAAA adapters I use a 18500 with two orings on them to prevent rattling. I have seen this here somewhere and it works really good.
The wire and tape scenario is only needed if the length doesn’t fit!
if you want to use a 18650 in a 26650 light mostly you can use nothing or a piece of cardboard….I thought we were talking about the “earth falls into the sun scenario”, for which I wouldn’t stock dozens of plasticspacers which only have one specific use which is also unrealistic in real world.
And why has someone AAA and AAa to AA adapters in the glove compartment but not simply AAs???
AAA cells are very weak by the way…
Just a short comparison of some different cells and their energy at 1A discharge
AAA alkaline. 0.3Wh
AAA eneloop 0.85Wh
AAA lithium 1.1Wh
AA alkaline 1.3Wh
AA eneloop 2.25Wh
AA lithium 3.4Wh
14500 2.9Wh
18650 11Wh
26650 17Wh
The desert is very harsh on batteries, I try to limit the extra batteries that I keep in the car since they degrade, while also hedging my bets with a couple of adapters.
If someone has AA flashlights and AAA battery devices in his vehicle, why would he not have adapters that convert the AAAs into AAs, why would someone be so hostile to the idea of owning battery adapters?
Adapters don’t age, don’t spoil, don’t take up any valuable space, why would a prepared person who faces battery shortages during hurricanes for example, or who wants versatility when car traveling, deliberately avoid having them?
I don’t see the wisdom of pulling out duct tape tape and wires when someone wants to use a 18650 in their Yezl Y3 to go board up a broken window during a hurricane.
I just tried to make a 18650 light to work with 3AA
I grabbed a small and dull knife a piece of cardboard from the garbage and cut a piece of cable from an old powersupply which is waiting to get recycled…
It works and for a first try very good, if I would plan to use it more heavy I would probably invest in some more tape and maybe an additional strip of cardboard,wood plastic whatever can be found…. Maybe I would also tape the batteries together with a piece of tape to make it super stiff…
LOL, I think you are pulling our legs, this is a silly argument to be making when a guy posts a thread asking where he can buy an adapter.
If someone wants to buy an adapter, just let them do it.
Have you ever seen macgyver? He always uses what he finds and assembles it with ductape and his swissarmy knife. So he is prepared for everything with just tape, one tool and what the environment gives him and of course his skills.
if you have often the need of a specific adapter you should of course buy one, but I never seen macgyver buying some useless stuff in case he will need it five episodes later in a hurricane.
He didn’t post a thread asking where he could buy an adapter.
Right, sorry about that, but he was asking a simple question about using 14500 batteries in what sounds like an emergency.
I took it to mean that he has all the batteries, but what if………………
If you already had a heap of 14500s laying around I could see the usefulness of making an adapter, but I’m generally against having 14500s in an emergency situation. It’s too easy for someone else to think they’re AA and damage radios etc. with the higher voltage.
Overkill much, guys? LOL
Answer:should work fine in a pinch, just with reduced runtime?
-Thanks, got it. LOL
I mentioned being a preparedness freak.
To me that means BOTH having adaptors ahead of time AND knowing how to
jerry rig if needed.
Good discussion anyway 