Charged

Here's a quick tip for your camping/Bug out Bag. You will likely have something in your pack that runs on batteries. If nothing else, your emergency flashlight will likely run on batteries, as will your emergency radio, unless both have the hand crank option to power them. While the manual crank is a great idea and keeps you from needing batteries, it's a good idea to keep some in your bag.

Battery bundles labeled for size, with storage bag.

Start with freshly bought batteries with a long shelf life; these will likely be stored for a while before they are used, so you want to make sure you get super mileage right outta the gate. To keep them stored safely and organized, bundle them together in small groups. Bundles of 8 to 10 for AAA, 4  to 6 for AA, pairs of  9V, etc. work very well. Tape them together in a tight pack with masking or painters tape. A few wraps side to side and top to bottom will do the job. The point here is to keep the batteries tightly together so they don't roll around and get lost, and also to protect the contacts from touching metal and draining the cell down while it is stored. Then label the sides of the pack with a permanent black marker to designate what size the batteries are.

Finally, take the entire lot and put them into a freezer type zip up plastic bag, making sure to squeeze all the air you can out of the bag as you seal it up. You may even want to put some silica desiccant packets in the zipper bag just to soak up any moisture that wanders in. Label the zipper bag with the month and year you packed the batteries up, roll it up into as small a shape as you can, and stow it in your pack in a water resistant place. All done.