My Panasonic ones that keep their charge whilst stored (like eneloop) are 2100mAh and severely dropped off in performance last night after ~ 1hr 15 mins in my fenix L2D torch.

Was this just the cold stopping them providing power? or do I just need some bigger capacity batteries?

7Dayshop seem to have 2900 mAh regular Ni-mh batteries which look like a more powerful option. i guess all you need to do is charge them within a couple of days of using them to make sure they fully charged.

my 7-day shop 2900’s were rubbish, VERY short life and lost charge VERY quickly when not in use. Binned them (which is a big deal for someone as tight like myself) and got some Duracell (and some Panasonic ones) which are waaay better (2800 I think, off flea-bay).

If you want them to maintain charge when not in use you want Sanyo Eneloops

If as you say your not bothered about that and will charge before use then the Annsman ones are good
http://www.batteries-plus.co.uk/acatalog/Uniross_AA_2300_mAh_NiMH_batteries.html

These work well in my Fenix – I get good life and they’ve maintained this for the last 6 months of daily charging.

I switched to Hybrios a while back because the self-discharge rate is too annoyingly high on conventional NiMH cells. Batteries do not like temperature extremes, so that would explain the short life. Just take a spare pair, they’re so quick to swap.

looks like panasonic (infinium) and eneloop reckon that their batteries are better performers in the cold as well.

Looks like carrying a spare pair is the best option.

ta.

Ansmann 2800mAh are about the best quality long lasting batteries you can get but they do lose charge when not in use.

Hybrid batteries like Hybrios don’t lose much charge but they also don’t hold much overall so don’t last as long.

Get a decent charger too – look up BL700 – it’s the best by miles.

eneloops

Eneloops are only 2000mAh so won’t last as long as Ansmann 2800s. I notice a difference even using Hybrios (like eneloops but 2100mAh).

I’ve been using Duracel 2300 for two years now. Always charged them on a slow trickle charger (takes 16 hours apparently) and they still go for nearly 2 hours on turbo. I have noticed decreased run time in very low temps.
I believe that lower capacities are better for holding charge when stored.

Duracel Supreme Re-Chargable Batteries (x4) 2450mah £4.51 in amazon.

Last lot from here I was impressed with. Not used them in the cold yet though.

http://www.vapextech.co.uk/

The Vapex ones are excellent:

http://www.vapextech.co.uk/acatalog/High_Power_Consumer_Batteries.html

Long life and very low self-discharge rate as well – highly recommended.