Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Ridiculous battery pack prices.........

So my battery pack for my bike light died. Called to find out the replacement price -$180.

Took it apart to find out what batteries are inside. $30 worth of rechargeables.

Guess what I did?

That's one reason I like Dinotte -- their battery packs are very reasonable compared to the competition, and on top of that their connectors are very DIY-friendly so you can easily make your own batteries without cannibalizing another battery pack to get the connector.

So my battery pack for my bike light died. Called to find out the replacement price -$180.

Took it apart to find out what batteries are inside. $30 worth of rechargeables.

Guess what I did?

That's why I like the MS. The whole light set costs half of what the battery pack you're referencing costs. A new MS battery pack is less than $40.

I just rebuild packs on whatever I have when they die. My cordless drill is now on its third rebuild. $80 for new packs, $25 for the cells inside, about 30 minutes to do the job.

Laptop packs are a problem because they weld those suckers closed really hard, and if you rip them open you can never get them back together good enough for them to slip back in the slot.

I found a way around the problem by stumbling across the right deal at the right time. I have a cygolite dual cross and wanted to get another battery pack. The replacements run $60 to $70. So I ran across another dual cross, with almost twice the lumens output, that lists for $199, but was being cleared out for $99. Then I had a 10% off coupon for a final price of $89. So for a few bucks more than a replacement battery, I have a new and brighter primary light, an excellent back up light, and two batteries that work on both.