Yesterday, I went through a daypack-sized kit I assembled to put in whatever vehicle I am using (i.e. in my truck usually, on vacations it gets tossed in the van to travel with us). Anyway, went to check the 2 AA mini-mag-lite that I keep in it, and it would not come on. Went to open the battery compartment and the screw cap would not budge. I knew something was wrong so after using pliers to remove the stubborn cap I discovered that one of the batteries had leaked/corroded. I'm not exactly sure what caused this but I have some suspects.

My first suspect is the type of batteries DW buys. No, they weren't lithium but they were the standard duracell alkaline. I know, I know, ditch the alkaline and switch to the lithium. I am going to use this as an example to get her to spring for the lithium batteries next time per another recent flashlight thread which mentioned lithium batteries won't leak.

A second possible suspect is the weather. Since this kit almost exclusively rides in vehicles, the constant exposure to heat and cold may have caused the batteries to leak/bust.

Another suspect is the flashlight itself. Could the aluminum construction of the mag-lite be acting as a sort of super-conductor for the heat and cold extremes, making the batteries even more likely to fail? The reason I ask is I had this happen once before with a full-sized 3-D-Cell mag-lite that was kept in the car. I could not save that one and had to throw the whole flashlight away. It looks like I'll have to ditch this 2 AA mag as well.

My final suspect is ... me. Perhaps I am not doing a thorough enough equipment check, or I am not checking often enough.

Any thoughts or comments would be most appreciated. I do know I need to make the leap to upgrading to lithium batteries, and I need to check all the gear in all our kits on a regular basis ... thoroughly. Anything else? How often should I check the gear? I commented to DW that I need to check at least every season change (roughly every 3 months) but I am wondering if that will even be often enough. How often do you check your gear and what is your que to do so? I may have mentioned before I am absent minded and it would be really helpful to me to have some que to check my gear - say every holiday, or the first of every month, or ... well you get the idea. Anyway, I look forward to anyone's insight on this, or if anyone has had similar problems, or what flashlight/battery combo you use in your car kits that has been relatively trouble and maintenance free. Thanks in advance.