Good topic. My wife and I were just talking about this today.

I need to pull the batteries I have in my truck out and swap them out with new ones.

I might just replace them with some Lithium AA's, they tend to keep longer and I don't think they would leak as bad incase I forget. Winter's coming.. and even through we got off very light last year, I suspect this year is going to be more "normal".

Lithium primaries do not leak. This alone makes them superior to alkalines for prepping. They also last longer in storage and provide significantly better power density, especially for high-drain devices.

I didnt know they would do that! I scraped the coating off of a couple so I wouldnt have to waste time in an emergency. What do you coat them with?

Also, I was packing my wifes BOB last sunday and found the 4 AAA batteries in her walky talky had started to leak! Jeesh, they've only been in there about 6 months and kept in the cool basement. Im finding out that creating a BOB is only half the job. You gotta constantly keep up on it.

To me, that is the key to easy maintenance of your kits. they do not sit unnoticed until you need them, you use them, and all of the equipment in them on a regular basis. All of your equipment and supplies get rotated and maintained constantly. It is more difficult if you are not in a position where you have opportunities to use the stuff, though. I am fortunate in that way. All of my electronics, knives, tools, supplies and other stuff get practiced with and used, in my work and with the scouts. I try to teach this to the scouts (and their parents).

I've been told clear nail polish will prevent the rods from deteriorating after they have been used, and will scrape right off when used again. Have't tried it personally.

I'v had enough bad experiences with alkaline batteries that I always store them outside the radio/flashlight. Or just use lithiums. Even then, if I don't plan on using the device for a while, the batteries stay outside of the device.

I use heat shrink tubing and then seal the ends with high melt temp candle wax.