Originally Posted by ItsJustMe

That's because none of us are using non-rechargables in them. OK, maybe some people are, but I haven't even BOUGHT an alkaline battery in about 10 years. NiMH are cheaper AND they last longer unless you're going nuts and buying lithium primary cells.

I use rechargables not only because of the expense, but because of the environmental disaster of non-rechargables. The recycling place in our town has four 55 gallon steel drums for people to dump recycled batteries in. They fill them to overflowing every week. They weigh a hell of a lot when full, something like 400 pounds. So about 1600 pounds a week. I'm guessing that MAYBE, at BEST, 2% of households recycle batteries, the vast majority just dumps them in the trash. So I'm guessing that for one smallish town (50,000 population) 1600*50=80,000 pounds, or 40 tons of household batteries hit the landfill. For ONE smallish city.

That's a lot of guesswork, but I bet whatever the real number is, it's a shipload.

And they're not all alkalines either, there are nicad and lithium and lead-acid cells in there too.

If you're gonna talk price alone, my Magicshine gives even MORE lumens and is cheaper at EVERY point from purchase to end of life, even if it lasts half as long and I have to buy twice as many of them, and I honestly don't think that's the case.