Any body here ever use Storacell by Powerpax for storing their AA, AAA, CR123 or other batteries? A cycling buddy of mine owns the company that makes them - Powerpax. I am one of the organizers of a cycling event each Fall and he has been a sponsor the last two years. He gave us a bunch for rider goody bags and I'm really impressed with them. I've never seen them in a retail outlet, only online. I was just up at Batteries+ and they have nothing for holding batteries. I am in need since I just bought two of the multi-pack Eneloop deals at Costco.
I hope this doesn't come across as shilling - I'm just curious if anyone else uses them. I've been after him to develop one for 18650 batteries. He says they are working on it but they are finding the varying size of different batteries to be a challenge. I use this one for storing a complete set of the eneloops:
I like the idea of these a lot. But I've never seen them advertised anywhere that I could buy them from. I prefer not to buy from US retailers as postal charges are enormous and HMRC (Customs) always get way too much money from me for imports from the US. They don't seem to care about Chinese stuff. I've never paid import duty/VAT/PO ransom fee for stuff from China. I always have (for items of any value) from the US.
I own quite a lot of batteries/cells so would be very interested at affordable prices. If there are any UK retailers selling them - Google hasn't found them for me.
That's too bad, Don. I really like the two I have and so do other biking friends that have them. Damn near indestructible plastic as opposed to the very flimsy multi-colored boxes I see for 18650s. Next time I see my friend, I'll ask him about overseas distribution, at least to fleabay or Amazon. Who knows, maybe an ad on BLF (They do banner ads on CPF). Do you guys have any local outlets that sell lots of AA/AAA batteries?
Same here. Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowes - all have displays and sell tons of AA/AAA/C/D/CR123, but mostly Duracell and Energizer alkaleaks. Starting to see more nimh and pre-charged, but that is pretty much it. Radio Shack has a ton of their own brand batteries. Batteries+ carries Powerex and a couple of other brands besides the big two. Nobody but Costco sell Eneloops and there only on special display 3-4 times a year. Not a Li-ion cell to be had anywhere that I know of, although I've heard there are some retail outlets in California to will build up Li-ion battery packs for bike lights. Hobby shops sell Lipo packs, but that is about it FAIK.
I have a few of the AA’s and 123 powerpax and I find that the 123 units are perfect for even my 16340 batteries (protected or nor!)
When I store them positive terminal down, the retention clip closes just fine as the protection circuit is slightly smaller in diameter than the battery itself.
Glad you asked. The owner of the company was a teammate on my recent Century Challenge. They have had a very difficult time with 18650 due to the total lack of standardization in size. He feels they are very close however and plans to have me over with all my different brands to test out the pre-production model. He even offered me a carbon fiber dummy mockup (that's some serious bling in my book). I'll check in with him and see if we can get an ETA.
I regularly use three of those for AA’s, two for AAA’s, and two more for CR123/ 16340 cells. Those powerpax cell holders also make great gifts for fellow flashaholics. I only bought the GITD-versions, and am still amazed at the quality. The brightest, and longest-lasting GITD ever, also. I bought mine from lighthound, in november, 2011; as lighthound was the only retailer willing to sell overseas, back then.
Somebody once posted “leave it in the open sun for an hour, and you’ll still see it glowing in your bag well after midnight” - which is true.
Neat idea! Since those you asked for aren’t available, my suggestion would be to just stuff something into that magazine pouch of yours, first; like a piece of foam rubber, or even cling wrap or pieces off a plastic grocery bag. Anything will do, as long as it takes up space and won’t attract moisture. And then again, there’s the DIY-route - it is amazing what a few feet of safety belt material, scavenged from your local wrecking yard, a couple of needles and strong yarn can be turned into. I also like velcro. You a velcro man, as well?
If only lighthound would get one of their torch holsters I want back in stock, then I could order some more of the AA/ AAA cell holders at the same time.
Christmas is merely ten weeks away from today!
s.: those Powerpax cell holders don’t work with every kind of cell. AAA eneloops I’ll always have to insert “the wrong way”, meaning the cathod end goes in, first. The cell wrapper of those little eneloops doesn’t wrap around the edge, and WILL get peeled off when you push the cell out of the holder - hence I insert them backwards. Not the fault of Powerpax, I think Sanyo shouldn’t skimp on the wrappers so much. Oh, and AA Duracell Pre-Charged get nicked near the anode, where AA eneloops (and energizer lithium) won’t - those just flip in and out by thumb pressure, beautifully, no marks left on the wrappers.
But, I am still very happy with my bunch of Powerpaxes. CR123A holders work beautifully with the (rebranded) solarforce 16340 rechargeables and Panasonic CR-123-A primary cells.
…the belt clip could go on the pack strap too, I would probably rivet them to the belt/strap, and a cover or capping so they would not bounce out when inverted would be a good idea. I would look like ‘Rambo’ on a snowmobile.
Mounted a holder on top of my helmet for a camera and torch. The T-6 lights , single 18650 with big throw work awesome when riding. I have a Sipik recoil on its way to try for this purpose.
The belt-clip mounted battery holders would be excellent. The boxes are OK, but open too easily.
version, but is not worth alone, ships are expensive(7,5 euro)