Lights, Lasers, and Optics: Are Your Batteries Organized?

How organized are your batteries for all your electric-eating devices? Do you know what type of batteries you need for them? We live in a world of electricity. Not just in our homes, offices, cars, and other major areas of life, but even in the firearms industry. A gun, of course, doesn’t need electricity to run. Well, not yet anyway. However, the attached scope, red dot, laser, and flashlight do — and the dependency on battery-operated equipment is only increasing.

It’s almost expected to mount some type of red dot, thermal imaging rifle scope, or flashlight to a rifle. Even handgun manufacturers are starting to make optic plates a standard feature on their guns. Don’t get me wrong, modern-age battery-powered gun accessories are wonderful devices. Adding a few accessories to a rifle or handgun transforms the gun’s capabilities enormously.

Having a bunch of devices running on batteries means they’ll need to be replaced at some point. We don’t give a lot of thought to batteries until we need them. After all, it’s just a battery and there’s always plenty of them lying around, right? Wrong. How many times have you gone to swap out a battery, but couldn’t find one? It’s the most annoying thing in the world. We have a junk drawer that usually has a few random batteries floating around somewhere in it. I can find every battery except the one I’m looking for when I need it. Here are some ideas for battery storage and organization.

Keep a list of battery types

Today’s batteries last a lot longer than they did 10 years ago. Some optics have a battery run time listed in years. When we set up a new device, we often don’t worry about the battery because it’s new, so there’s no need. However, we don’t have one universal battery; we have hundreds. I had a pistol optic die on me at the range which ended my practice time early. When I got home, I removed the optic (the battery is underneath the optic) only to find I didn’t have that battery size at my house.

I found one at Wal-Mart a few days later and got it running again. But, what if it died when I really needed it? After that incident, I started making a list of every battery type I needed for my gadgets and gear. I also made a list of which batteries I wanted to change on a regular basis. The idea is to not wait for the battery to die during use before you replace it. If you only have a few battery-powered devices, this may be overkill for you. However, if you’re like me, you may have more battery-powered devices than you care to admit.

Common Types of Batteries

From big DD batteries to 371 watch batteries, I have something in my house that uses just about any battery type you can think of. While my main concern is keeping my optics and lights working, we all have plenty of battery-powered devices in our homes outside of the firearm world. Handheld flashlights, watches, garage door openers, key fobs, TV remotes, and more. The best way to get an idea of what you need is to look at each device. But, if you don’t want to go around opening each TV remote, key fob, optic, and flashlight, here are some common sizes you can start with:

• AA Battery: Probably the most popular type of battery used in everyday items.
• AAA Battery: If it doesn’t use AA, there’s a good chance it uses AAA.
• D Battery: These are the bigger round batteries often used in larger flashlights.
• 9V Battery: These little square batteries are not as common as they used to be, but still used in many devices.
• CR123A Battery: These are used in a lot of weapon-mounted lights and some optics.
• A23 Battery: Smaller than the CR123A and used in some optics.
• CR1/3N Battery: This is not a common battery, but a lot of Aimpoint optics use it.
• CR2016 Battery: This is the flat round battery often used in micro red dots.
• CR2032 Battery: Just a little bigger than the 2016, this battery is used in many optics, garage door openers, and more.

Storage Ideas for Batteries

Organizing your batteries isn’t hard and doesn’t take a lot of work. It does take an initial effort to set up a place to keep them and make a list of what you need. The list can be updated as you add or remove electronic devices. The good thing about most batteries is they can be stored for years and still hold a charge. I like to keep some of my batteries in one place and some with the device that will need it. Remember that optic that died on me? Having batteries stored at the house doesn’t do me any good at the range.

For anything attached to my rifle or handgun with a battery, I keep an extra close by. I have a few small containers for my range bag that hold batteries and some go in my rifle’s pistol grip or stock. You want to make sure any batteries stored are separated and kept in some type of container that protects them. I use individual battery containers for my pistol grips and stocks. You can find these in single, double, or triple storage units (see photo above).

At home, I just use a small plastic 5-drawer storage container I bought at the store. It allows me to keep different sizes of batteries in one place so I can keep inventory and find them when needed. If you really want to get fancy, companies make battery storage bags and they’re not that expensive. I found one that comes with a battery tester and holds up to 104 batteries for $20 on Amazon.

Do you have replacement batteries?

If you have anything that uses batteries, you will need to replace it someday. You can go find one after it goes out or before. With optics, lights, and lasers, I prefer to replace the battery before it goes dead or at least have one on me when it does. If you don’t like having a million different sizes of batteries for your gear, pay attention to battery types when you purchase the device. Vortex, Sig, and others make multiple rifle optics that run on AA or AAA batteries, which are the most popular and easy-to-find batteries in the US.

Smaller batteries for micro red dots are not expensive and can be ordered individually or in small packs. If an optic has a run time of 50,000 hours, great! I still replace them each year to make sure they never die on me. It’s a $3 battery; so, I would rather keep it fresh and know it’s not going to die on me. Organizing your batteries may not seem like a big deal but it saves a headache when something dies and you need it up and running sooner than later.