New batteries in the beacon, please

[Hugh Conway]

Except there are shit brand batteries (though not commonly found in the US) that don't work instructor Summit.

[summit]

OK... perhaps Hugh should be careful when trying to save his trustafarian pennies when buying sketch batteries at the bazar while trekking through Nepal.

Came back to add this lithium discharge profile pic provided by Hacksaw:



Shows the sudden drop at the end of battery life that fools the battery meter in the beacon as mentioned earlier by Bean.

[Jonathan S.]

There was an issue years ago with generic batteries being made to the small end of the AAA spec. It caused them to bounce lose in beacons and they would stop transmitting in the middle of the day unbeknownst to the wearer.

The moral is, don't fuck about with your beacon. Use Duracell Alkalines.

That was an assertion for one particular beacon model whose manufacturer was forced to offer replacement battery covers even though the supposed problem was never replicated.

[Hugh Conway]

OK... perhaps Hugh should be careful when trying to save his trustafarian pennies when buying sketch batteries at the bazar while trekking through Nepal.

sometimes they are the only thing available

It was more than that Jonathan; at least one mountaineering association offered warnings about the use of substandard batteries in beacons.

What the fucks the harm in suggesting decent batteries, that haven't been laying around, from a known non-dubious source for something's supposedly important? other than a shining example of the limited experiences of "instructors" what the fucks your point you two? Sure, it's not common. So are many things, including avalanches.

[Jonathan S.]

From what I remember BCA said that Duracell were the most consistently true to size and what they tested the trackers with.

For many years BCA shipped out Tracker beacons loaded with some kind of off-brand Godzilla Super Power batteries.
(When I asked them about that they emailed me a detailed spec sheet.)

[Jonathan S.]

sometimes they are the only thing available

It was more than that Jonathan; at least one mountaineering association offered warnings about the use of substandard batteries in beacons.

What the fucks the harm in suggesting decent batteries, that haven't been laying around, from a known non-dubious source for something's supposedly important? other than a shining example of the limited experiences of "instructors" what the fucks your point you two? Sure, it's not common. So are many things, including avalanches.

Find me a contemporaneous assertion that more than that one particular model (well, okay, fine, it was two different models but they shared the same housing and were identical in everything else too except for their transmission pattern) was affected by slightly smaller battery housings.
But yes, I agree that trying to save money with some unknown generic battery in a beacon is unwise. However, I also dislike unsubstantiated claims about particular battery brands...although then again I'd much rather have that than someone advocating Lithium batteries. (I think some of Rog's four banishments have been for lesser offenses.)

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I'm rocking Radio Shack batteries this season.

[summit]

fair enough to say don't by sketchy batteries... but the "duracell is the only cell" crap is a buncha bunk

[summit]

fair enough to say don't by sketchy batteries... but the "duracell is the only cell" is a buncha bunk

[thewon]

i might "rely" on my trusty lexan shovel..................but i only buy the best quality batteries. and only buy enough to fill the beacon for the current season. next season it's a new package. hope i dint offend anyone