Grandpa didn't need no stink'n batteries...

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Rembrandt

Rembrandt

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Range time at the farm was a bit frustrating.....(AAA) batteries were dead for electronic ear muffs, one of the .22's red dot batteries were dead (2032), an older Aimpoint 1000 batteries were flat (CR1/3N, DL1/3N). So I tried the Beretta 92 with Crimson Trace grips.....wasn't dead, (yet)......but was so dim as to be unusable. This doesn't take into account trail cameras, flashlights, and other gadgets latest technology has suckered me into buying. :(

Began to think I needed one of those battery displays you find at the store to replenish my shooting equipment needs. :what:

On reflection it occurred to me that Grandpa got by just fine without batteries....and his guns worked every time. :thumbup:
 
I read somewhere that something like 1/3 of our troops' gear weight is batteries. All of the tech IS nice, but it is ridiculous. Our house has 3 chargers for rechargeable AA and AAA. My range/go bag has 3 different kinds of batteries, when it should have 4. Of course, my ear pro, flashlights, radios, scope, and red dots, EACH take a different battery :cuss:
 
I can get by pretty good in the firearms and hunting world without batteries. Even walking in woods in the dark. I have pretty superhuman night vision. I cant track game in the dark though so that is where I like batteries. I don't use red dots, trail cameras, laser sights, or any electronic optic. Not saying that I wont some time. I have owned them but never actually used one hunting or shooting. If I had my own land, I would have dozens of trail cameras so I am not against any of this stuff. For me, I like to keep things as dirt simple as possible. I have not ventured down the electronic ear muff road yet. No chronographs or any of that periphery.

Mainly, I do not embrace technology remote from my house BECAUSE of batteries. Hunting, shooting, kayaking, fishing, etc. I try to stay as technologically dumb as possible. At home though, I have many modern electronic doo dads.

The only electronic gadgets I have while hunting is my phone, mophie and a flashlight. Sometimes a dedicated GPS but not often with my phone and a mophie. The public land I hunt has full cell service.

I will not let go of my cordless tools ever though.

I am pretty close to starting up a business which will require house calls. Much technology and batteries are going to happen because of it. Remote invoicing and contracts are going to be a thing that will happen out of my vehicle. That will probably be the beginning of me taking technology outdoors and away from home and while hunting and shooting.
 
Sounds like someone wasnt paying attention and not keeping up on the batteries. :)

I like the Aimponts. Mine are older M2's, but Ive yet to ever find one dead (in about 20 years of using them), and I never turn them off. I change the battery once a year at the time change in the fall.

Other than lights, I dont have to many other things gun wise that require batteries, and the lights are usually good for about 10 years if they are just sitting. I dont wait that long though. I still check them every time I have them out though, just to make sure the batteries didnt start to corrode or go south. Havent found one of them dead yet either.
 
I started putting labels on the outside of things like earmuffs, timers, chronographs with the battery type on it. Not enough space on the dots and sights, but I think all of mine are 2032 anyway.
 
I try to stay supplied with good batteries but my shooting systems and ear protection all have low tech fallbacks or redundancy so across the board power failure won’t stop anything. Battery technology keeps getting better but I don’t rely on it entirely.
All tech will eventually fail.
 
Well I’m no longer a hunter and most of mine was done with open or receiver sights. I don’t know how many hunters out there are going to agree or disagree but if you can’t see the animal thru your sights unaided perhaps it wouldn’t be the best policy to take the shot anyhow.
 
whughett said:
Well I’m no longer a hunter and most of mine was done with open or receiver sights. I don’t know how many hunters out there are going to agree or disagree but if you can’t see the animal thru your sights unaided perhaps it wouldn’t be the best policy to take the shot anyhow.
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If you cant see well enough with your open sights and can see better through your scope at dusk, wouldn't that belike seeing the same as 10 minutes prior with the open sights?
 
2 is 1, 1 is none. I always have spare batteries for everything I am taking with me in my range-bag/toolbox. That said I only have one firearm that has a sight that becomes useless in the absence of battery power, and it has BUIS just for that reason.
 
My Grandpa, rest his soul, felt toward scopes the way some people here feel about newer tech. He also didn't shoot for enjoyment. Times are different for sure, and what was "good enough" for that generation is considered completely unprepared now. When my 9 year old's generation is running the show it'll probably be something like "I can't believe those people needed batteries".
 
I've got a solar powered battery charger system with a number of back-up solar-charged lights.
I've always got charged batteries.
Also, when the power goes out in my neighborhood (which happened three times last week), our house is the only one with electric lights.
Admittedly, there are a few of my battery types that aren't rechargeable, but I'm working on it... .
 
Batteries ... Now there is something that is not on my mental checklist when I head out for a shoot. I do have electronic hearing gear ; if the batteries fail in that device I will have a bit of a loss of convenience in conversation and a loss of some cool sound effects , but no loss of hearing protection.

the simpler the better in my book.
 
I forgot and left my chronograph switched on after a shooting session. So the next time I went to use it, the battery was dead. I just called my wife with my cell phone and had her bring a fresh 9V battery down to the range. Of course our "range" is a county gravel pit about 2 miles south of the house, so it wasn't much of a problem. Nevertheless, I now keep a spare battery taped inside the chronograph.
 
Howland937 said:
My Grandpa, rest his soul, felt toward scopes the way some people here feel about newer tech. He also didn't shoot for enjoyment. Times are different for sure, and what was "good enough" for that generation is considered completely unprepared now. When my 9 year old's generation is running the show it'll probably be something like "I can't believe those people needed batteries".
Click to expand...


I'd suggest that if at any point our technology leaves us with less capability than Gramps had, then it is we that are unprepared.
 
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