The recent devastating earthquakes have prompted me to store some water, food and camping supplies away from the house in a storage shed on the property. Lights, lanterns, headlamps and radios will be stored in a clear plastic storage box without batteries but with one set of lithiums for each device. With the exception of one surefire and a couple of button cell devices, everything in the shed will run on AA.

For longer term and cost I'd like to store some of the copper tops, as the lithiums would be expensive to run devices on for several weeks. So my question is how to store a couple of the packages, 36 AA, of the coppertops and minimize the risk of them leaking? Would storing them in a small cooler help? Or any other ideas? The two packages I just picked up are packed in hard plastic, with 18 on each side so if one leaked it should only get the the 18 on each side. I could split them down further into either zip lock bags or containers, as nothing they would run requires more than 4 batts.

I've learned the hard way that the coppertops do leak, but these were a decent deal so I have them now, as well as a couple of packs purchased in the fall in the house. I'm in W. WA state with a moderate climate but we do have short-term heat and cold, and bringing them into the house during those periods sort of defeats my plan of having some supplies stored away from the house. The storage shed is easily accessible for rotation and checking on things and does have decent ventilation for a shed.

Over the last year, I've started collecting the eneloops and they are deployed in my home and auto kits. Really like them but don't have enough yet to sustain a long-term power outage. I do have a generator but using it to re-charge batts wouldn't be a very efficient (or cost effective) use of the limited gas that I can safely store and rotate. The gas in a separate very old shed over 500 feet from buildings. Gas is such a pia to safely store and rotate.

I'm storing one surefire in the shed, but it will be stored in a separate lock and lid box with the surefire batts, as I've read never to store different battery types together.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.