Battery Daddy

The Battery Storage Solution

Battery Daddy

by Andrew Meblin

For years I have been bothered, irritated, and annoyed by the sad state of battery organization and storage. And then relief came.

So I kept the batteries in their packing until I needed to access some of the 40 or so cylinders on which we have become so dependent, and then struggled to open the packaging. Perhaps the inaccessibility of some battery packaging is designed to keep the product from making a break for it and rolling around the floor of the store. Or maybe the package designers actually hate old people with arthritis.

I assume many of you buy batteries at a hardware store, and pay higher prices for fewer batteries than if you bought them at Costco. And of course, a Costco purchase means you have a    LOT of something, which then usually requires a storage solution. I resorted to placing the opened battery packages in a plastic tub, with a lid, kept in turn in a cabinet in the pantry or garage. I also stored a battery tester in the tub. So far, so good, right? Nah.

This tub of batteries actually looks OK. Only one battery bottom dwelling, but I’ve seen much worse.

Batteries are heavy – just ask any Tesla – and lifting out the opened package of D-cells to grab a few AAA sometimes caused the AAs or Cs to roll out of their plastic and (near impermeable) paperboard container. This meant having random batteries lolling about in the grahdue at the bottom of the tub. How old were those bottom-dwelling batteries? That’s where the tester came in handy. Except when you’re in a hurry, ain’t nobody got time to test the darn thing; you just pull what you need out of the package, and possibly promise, “Next time,” to the ones on the tub floor.

Enter the Battery Daddy! It’s even fun to say, go ahead, say it. Battery Daddy keeps the power cylinders in line and ready for quick access, in a secure and amazingly portable container. Battery Daddy even includes a tester and two tiny-tipped screwdrivers to open the pesky battery compartments that are screwed shut.

There are a number of variations of Battery Daddies (?) on the Amazon listing, and of course Costco has one version only. But the Costco Daddy is just fine. I have two Daddies, and one holds 22 AAs, 70 AAAs, 10 Cs, 8 Ds, 8-9 volts, and 12 button cells in the front side, and 54 AAs plus 2 AAAs on the back side. That’s a lot of batteries!

I firmly suggest that if you’re a human who years for organization of stored batteries, the Battery Daddy is for you.