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[slink]

Having recently come into some spending money, I decided to revisit rechargable batteries. My last experience with them was in the mid-1970s. At that time they were expensive, short-lived, slow-charging, and probably alkaline although they could have been lithium-ion. I figured 40 years should have improved the product, and it appears I am correct, but now there are so many options that I am finding the choice difficult.
 
It appears that what I should be buying are nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. That much seems clear. The difficulty in choice comes in the charger. I am not looking for the cheapest option if it comes at the cost of utility and safety. We use mostly AA and D batteries, some AAA, a few 9V, and we have at least one item that uses C.
 
So, has anyone any experience with the various brands and models, that they would be willing to share?

[MonkeyHead]

Through work I have found the most time efficient method to be to rig up my own charger from a desktop power supply, for reasons of time. Tough I am often using Yuasa gel-cells (top quality, used in most industrial applications) which can cope with such abuse. As long as you go for a decent brand name of cell and charger, the type of charger itself is pretty much an irrelevance - all they really do is deliver a trickle current after all.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

What even uses C batteries anymore? I haven't used a C for as long as I can remember.

[slink]

What even uses C batteries anymore? I haven't used a C for as long as I can remember.

The ignition glow on our kerosene heater uses two C batteries.  Which is exactly how many good C cells we had in the house when the power failed for 36 hours last month, in below-freezing temperatures.