The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Big Frank on November 13, 2024, 08:41:19 AM
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Okay, let's talk about Battery Storage. You may know that I have several Storacell Caddies in the house and car. I also have a THYRM CellVault XL clipped onto the back of my backpack. The clip is threaded through 2 MOLLE loops. It takes up very little room and doesn't weigh very much.
There are several models of CellVaults -- the original, the XL that's twice as wide and holds twice as many batteries, a large modular system, one specifically for an 18650 or pair of 18350 batteries, and one just for 21700 batteries. More of the newer lights are shifting toward that size because the capacity is so much more than an 18650 while barely being any larger. That's what my 3,100 lumen Olight Seeker 4 uses. An 18650 would fit in the 217000 holder with 3mm side to side play, 2/3 the diameter of a BB. And there would be 5mm extra room end to end if it wasn't made to hold 2 18350s, the same length as a 21700. I think I would buy that one over the 18650 size even if I wasn't currently using 21700 batteries, just to allow for a size upgrade.
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The CellVault XL says it will hold among other combinations, 6 CR123s, or 2 18650s with the center divider removed. But it will hold 2 CR1213s AND 2 18650s. I put a CR123 on each side of the divider, then an 18650 on top of one, and a AA on top of the other one. Those 4 batteries of 3 different types will cover most of the WMLs or flashlights I'm likely to have with me at any given moment. They fit tight with the divider in place and don't rattle, but I almost have to use a multi-tool to pull the divider out to get the batteries out. That's the easiest way to get them out. Without the divider, I have to use a scrap of mattress topper foam to keep them from rattling around. The FDE color is a good match for my backpack.
https://thyrm.com/product-category/cellvault/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8-5qRjpplA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX8rbIewtuw
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I have a bunch of Storacell battery caddies and accessories. I bought different color caddies in different battery sizes to make it easy to identify them. I have orange for AAA, yellow for AA, military green for CR123, a purple one for 18650 and when they quit making purple I got clear ones, black for C cells and clear for 9 Volt batteries. The battery caddies come in many different sizes, but I mostly bought the smallest sizes, with the exception of 6 AAAs that are about the size of 4 AA caddies. I didn't buy any of the "Moonshine" glow in the dark battery caddies because they cost a little more and they'll mostly be in the dark, not absorbing any light.
https://storacell.net/
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They gave me a AA-AAA Combo, but I can't remember if t was yellow or orange. I have a few "cradles" to hold pairs of battery caddies, and a belt pouch that holds a couple of them. I have a Magnetic Button Caddy 8pk Military Green full of 2032 batteries and a Magnetic Button Caddy 4pk Black-White full of 2016s. You can stack 2 2016s on top of each other since they're the same size as a 2032, but there's no guarantee they'll stay in place. And I bought on of their 5 buck battery testers so I don't need to get my multi-meter out every time I want to check a battery.
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Ouch. Those THYRM products are expen$ive. I don't think I need one of those for anything above $5-10.
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Yeah, 30 bucks for the XL I got is pretty steep, but I got a veterans discount so it wasn't quite so bad. I haven't seen anything better at any price, and will still recommend them until I do. They almost look like you could drive a truck over them without breaking them, and they're water tight which is always a good thing for batteries, first aid gear, or fire starting kits.
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I feel so inadequate. All these years and all I use is a little snap shut utility case from The Container Store.
While the picture doesn't show it, I also put a 2032 and a 1632 in their original plastic case inside and it still snaps securely shut.
I keep one of these in my range bag/cart and one in each vehicle emergency bag. My rotation is to take out of the range bag first then restock that. Once a year I swap out the vehicle bag ones and put them up for everyday rotation.
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I never heard of the container store before, but I'll be checking it out. I think I'm going to order a THYRM CellVault-21 Battery Storage for 21700 and Streamlight SL-B50 batteries. I'll put my Sniper Hog Lights 18650 to 21700 battery adapter in it with an 18650 battery in it. And I'll take the 18650 battery out of my other cell vault and put 2 AAA batteries, or whatever fits, in it instead. I think I'll have a pair of CR123s, a pair of AAAs, and and a AA. I may be able to fit one or 2 more than those in it. I was looking at my CellVault again the other day and the color doesn't match my tan backpack as well as I thought it did. It's a lot darker. It's a much closer match to the MOLLE pouch that's attached to the back of my backpack.
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One of the few home décor places I really like. Have to stay away because I'll spend too much there. Miss Kitty same. They have brick and mortar stores in many states, but only in the largest cities. Besides these little snap shut cases in various sizes they carry Akro-bins and lots of other "containers".
https://www.containerstore.com/welcome.htm (https://www.containerstore.com/welcome.htm)
So feeling so inadequate, BUT HAVING a 3D printer (2 now), I looked up all the shared printouts. A lot of cute, interlocking storage containers, all sorts of shapes and sizes. I decided to design them myself to fit my space. Here's one of 100 designs.
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My smallest gun cabinet came with 2 small brown AkroBins that are hanging in 2 of 3 slots on the inside of the door. They're about 3" high x 4" wide x 5" long. I have a small yellow AkroBin that may have followed me home from work. I'm not sure where it came from but it's in my footlocker and full of spare keys. The 3rd slot in the door of my gun cabinet has a couple of Contender barrels hanging on bent steel rods. If they weren't there I'd put another bin in that slot. Those things are great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av_4SXp5Z20
https://www.akro-mils.com/Products/Types/Plastic-Storage-Containers/AkroBins/AkroBin-30210.html
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The CellVault-5M Modular Battery Storage is available in "M81" Woodland camo for a limited time only. But it's not cheap. $64.99, with just 6 modular inserts for CR123, 18350, and 18650 batteries, plus wells for CR2032s. Not including 10 additional inserts for all battery combos including AAs, AAAs and 1632s, or one each of CR123, 18650, 18350, and AAA labeled patches in black or tan. Modular inserts are available separately on another page, including a 4-pack of 2 AA battery holders for 10 bucks.
The U.S. Woodland camouflage pattern that was issued to the United States Armed Forces in 1981 with the issue of the Battle Dress Uniform, is "known unofficially as M81" after the Battle Dress Uniform it was first used on, though this term was not officially used by the U.S. military. I still don't call it M81 and never heard anyone call it that until a LONG time after I got out of the army. Maybe not until several years after its replacement, Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) was replaced by Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) in 2015. I can't honestly say I heard it referred to as M81 until the last year or 2, by companies selling stuff in woodland pattern. It is and always has been woodland camo or woodland pattern. Nothing more, nothing less.
https://thyrm.com/product/cellvault-5m/
https://thyrm.com/product/cv5m-insert-pak/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Woodland
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Besides using the little plastic snap shut cases for carrying batteries, I decided to print my own storage trays for "storing" batteries. My battery shelf is littered with the original packaging and this will bring order.
Rather than use the cute designs on-line I designed my own. No real need to make them all identical size or to be interlocking. They'll all be the same height, 1", but otherwise designed to hold however many I think I'll need. Here's the AA and AAA. Stacking multiples seems to work well. Next up will be the 9V, CR123 and the button holders over the next couple of days.
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They look good, Alf. If I had a 3D printer I'd be so busy making stuff with it, I wouldn't have much time for anything else.
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The Storacell AA-AAA Combo Caddy they gave me was BLACK. I was thinking it was either yellow or orange like the AA and AAA caddies I bought. Seeing as it's not the same color as either one, I'll know at a glance it's the combo caddy.
The Sniper Hog Lights 18650 to 21700 battery adapter they sent me wouldn't work in any of my 3 21700 flashlights. I tried 4 brands of batteries in one and it still didn't work. The description of the adaptor said that it had a spring in it but it didn't. They said that was the old model and what they sent me was the new model. Maybe that's why it was red instead of black like the picture. They changed the description after that, and sent me one of the old versions with a spring in it for free. It's black like the one in the picture. I tried it in all 3 of my flashlights and it didn't work in any of them. Then I put the bottom of the battery into the adaptor so the - was at the + end. I put it in upside down so the polarity was right and it worked in all 3 lights. The button on the top of the batteries didn't seem to make contact with the adaptor in any of my flashlights, or else the adaptor didn't make contact in the flashlights, but with the adaptor turned around it made good contact. I ordered a Thyrm CellVault-21 Battery Storage for 21700 batteries and will put the adaptor with an 18650 battery in it. Then I can use it in any of my18650 or 21700 flashlights. I'll take the 18650 out of my CellVault XL and have Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs like the one in the bottom of my PyroVault 2.0 Lighter Armor take up the extra room. Amazon just delivered a 50 Pack of them a little while ago. I have another PyroVault 2.0 Lighter Armor for another Zippo on order. The one for liquid fuel and one for butane will be different tactical colors.
While I was waiting for the new (old) adaptor to come in the mail, I tried fixing the old (new) one. I was planning on drilling out the button on to of the adaptor and putting a small machine screw with a nut through a small hole. I gave it a little tap with a center punch and it fell out on the floor. I still haven't found it. Now there was big hole, so I dropped a flanged bolt inside it. It wasn't a regular machine screw, it was a self tapping bolt, and I think it had metric threads. The head was so thick I knew it didn't need a nut on the outside too. So I found a toothed washer with the teeth on the inside and forced it over the bolt. I kept hammering away until it was down as far as it could go. Instead of cutting the bolt off flush, I decided to just grind it off. The bench grinder was barely doing anything because the steel was so hard. So I started using my angle grinder. It already had a sanding disc in it so I used that instead of a cutting or grinding wheel. The sanding discs usually take metal off pretty fast, but not this time. I kept at it until it was ground flush with the washer. It got so hot I dunked it in water a couple times, but it melted the top of the adaptor anyway. I dried it off and put it in one of my flashlights and it was too long.
I gave up on it and cut the top clean off. I used it in one of my cheap tactical lights that uses a plastic sleeve with an 18650 battery if you aren't using the battery holder with 3 AAA batteries. One of these was missing the plastic sleeve and I had a piece of cardboard from a cereal box rolled up in there as a spacer. It turns out that a 21700 battery will also fit in these 2 lights if I don't use the spacer. It compresses the springs an extra 5mm but it works. I also made a cardboard sleeve to hold 2 CR123A batteries snugly in the flashlight. Two of them are only 2mm shorter than a 21700 battery, 21x70mm. They're 16x34mm, and 2 x 34 = 68mm. There's more than a 2mm variation in different brands of batteries, so the spring contacts allow for that. Since that makes 6 volts instead of the 3.7 volts of an 18650 battery it's A LOT brighter. Oddly enough, the 4.5 volt AAA battery packs never seemed any brighter to me than an 18650. It probably depends on how good the batteries are. Anyway, if I didn't already have a bunch of 18650 batteries I would run a pair of 123As in these flashlights. If it eventually burns them out, no biggie since the cheap lights all break somewhere down the line. One of mine is an itek tactical flashlight and the other is a Seal Torch 2000 tactical flashlight. The only difference is that the latter is 1/8" longer than the former. They come in dozens of brands, and if you want them to shine bright, you can forget about using 3 AAA batteries or an1860, and use 2 123 batteries instead. You just need a sleeve to keep the 16mm batteries centered in the 21mm hole. A piece of plastic tubing would be great if you found some the right size. My small "tactical flashlight" is similar in style but uses a single AA battery.
https://sniperhoglights.com/18650-to-21700-battery-adapter/
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My Thyrm CellVault-21 for a single 21700 battery got here today. I took the 18650 battery out of the CellVault XL, put it in my 18650 to 21700 battery adapter, and put them in. It has a detachable latch that makes it super easy to install on all MOLLE gear, and includes a security pin that keeps the latch from coming off once you have it in position. Taking the 18650 battery out left quite a bit of room in the CellVault XL, which doesn't have a detachable latch. It latches toward the rear, unlike the new one that latches toward the front. I got a 50 Pack of Tinder-Quik Fire Tabs at Amazon for 10 bucks. I left the orange divider in the middle of the CellVault and put a cluster of 3 Tinder-Quiks on each side, then put another cluster of 3 on one side. I have 2 123 batteries on the side with 3 Tinder-Quiks, and a AA battery on the side with 6 of them. Then I laid 2 more on top of the 123 batteries and one more on the AA battery. So I have a dozen Tinder-Quiks in with the waterproof vault with 3 batteries, and it doesn't rattle. I put both cellvaults on the back of my backpack and after moving them a few times put the locking pin in the tab of the CV-21.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JKWY52Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3VA207xLHg
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Here's what the 2 CellVaults look like on my Coyote Tan backpack. The FDE Mechanix Wear gloves are darker than the backpack or shooting mat that it's on, but are still tan or light brown. By the FDE CellVaults look more gray than tan.
I used Amazing Goop to glue the good half of the broken Switchback 2.0 onto one of my cheap "tactical" flashlights. I heated up the clip and bent it to open it up more, and stuck it on top of the car visor, next to seat belt cutter/glass breaker tool. They both stick out 2 or 3 inches are are easy to grab hold of.
https://www.olightstore.com/otacle-s1-multi-purpose-tool