For many years I've made a practice of using the change to and from daylight saving time [second Sunday in March and first Sunday in November] as a reminder to switch out my carry magazines and change the batteries in my smoke alarms. I've now added the batteries in my laser sights and weapon-mounted tactical lights to that list.
My primary bedside home-defense weapon has long been a tactical 12-guage shotgun. The weapon is equipped with a tac light and a laser sight, the batteries of which I would change whenever I thought it about time to do so.
This weekend, I was amusing myself by giving the shotgun a routine "clean & lube" and, as usual, checked the operation of its laser and tac light. The light was blindingly bright, as usual, but to my embarrassed surprise I did not see the familiar red dot dancing on the floor when I pressed the laser's switch. It then occurred to me that I had not changed the batteries in either sight or light for over a year. That was immediately remedied, but the whole experience served to remind me that even someone as obsessive-compulsive about his gear as I tend to be can occasionally be guilty of a careless oversight.
So . . . remember to rotate the batteries in your tactical gear on a regular basis. When that proverbial "bump in the night" occurs, a dead laser or tac light won't be of any use whatsoever.
Thus endeth the lesson for the morning.
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