Reference NiMh shelf life. I have found quite a bit of variability in shelf life between brands.

Years ago I called eveready and they said 3%/day discharge. But I know there was a product change and it got much better. Still, not as good as disposable alkaline.

Best so far for me is eveready NH-15 which is a 1850 mah AA battery. Radio shack seems to be far worse. I keep some eveready NH-15's in two FRS radios in the truck and they seem to last a long time (weeks) and are still functional.

Check the eveready site www.energizer.com for spec. sheets. No shelf life given though.

RS batteries fail quickly and I have a big pile of them that have begun to leak. Guess I should run a shelf life test on the NH-15's. If I do, someday, I will post results.