I’ve had a battery storage rack and tester on the wall in my back hall for about 10 years.  A few months ago the tester part stopped working and I just ordered another rack (old one is going to the garage).  Hands down, this is something everyone needs.  No, really – this is an extremely useful organizer gadget and the most you will need to spend on it is about $15 (probably less).

My new unit is the Range Kleen 66 Battery Organizer with a removable tester (though I can’t imagine why you would really need to remove it).  It stores more batteries than my old unit which was a Battery Rack 40 Battery Organizer with tester and it also has a cool little drawer for flat batteries (watches and such) that the old one didn’t have (and I really wanted).  That said, it’s a bit cheaper looking and stores the batteries in slots instead of a top to bottom “rolling stock” manner, so you don’t have the “older batteries are used first” advantage.  I prefer the old rack’s tester as easier to use.  Either needs to be hung with a bit of a bottom out angle or you can have batteries slip out – easy enough, just shim the bottom before you screw it to the wall.  The Range Kleen layout can also be used flat in a drawer, but I find that encourages drawer clutter.

Either way you go (and it’s pretty much just a preference thing – both get great reviews) you will love having a battery organizer – no more running out of batteries (particularly if it is on the wall so you see those empty slots), no more wondering if that stray battery is good or not since it’s quick to test, no more grabbing a dead battery and no more digging around in drawers looking for the right size.

I consider this one to be a gotta have purchase – it does what it says it is going to do, makes life easier and keeps your batteries handy, usable and out of the way.