jasonl549

This is smart. There is too much misinformation out there and a ton of marketing smoke and mirrors. I'm the one who made the video that the OP referenced to start the thread. I just found this thread so I signed up for the site and hope to make myself available to answer some questions. Full disclosure, I obviously sell one particular brand (MillerTech). But there are many great brands out there. And there are also many bad ones that are outright lying to you. I won't bash any particular brands or mention any names. I would shop a company as opposed to a battery. Look for a company that has been around for a while and has an established reputation to uphold. As was mentioned, new companies pop up every day. And they may be backed by someone who knows their stuff. But this is a VERY hard business with a ton of competition and, despite having a great product and their best efforts, they may not be in business in 2 years if you have a warranty issue. I know this from personal experience as I had my own brand, Jericho Battery Company, fail to make a dent in the market. But I have sold MillerTech since 2017 and they have already made great inroads into the bass fishing market so I just stick with them. Be careful following a "pro" or "guide" or other expert. And be super careful following any Youtuber. I know because I am one. Most of them are in the pockets of a manufacturer. So you are not getting unbiased, objective information. It is very easy to edit a Youtube video in such a way to deceive or leave out parts that would cast a bad light. And when they stand to gain 5-10% commissions on your purchase, they will say almost anything to get more sales. Not all of them, but enough of them that you need to take their word with a grain of salt. Talk to amateur anglers that have nothing to gain by pushing a brand. I know I sponsored a charity fishing tournament on the Susquehanna the last few years and talked to a ton of good, hard-working guys that love to fish. They work hard for their money and some have converted to lithium at great expense. Some were sorely disappointed in their purchases but most were amazed. But the point is that these are people that put their money where their mouth is and will sing the praises of a good brand or rip into a bad one without any monetary incentive behind it. If you want to do even more sleuthing, look up the shipping manifests for your favorite brand. That is publicly available information. It won't tell you whether their batteries are using Grade A or Grade B cells or if they cut corners with a junk BMS. But it can tell you who their manufacturing partner is in China. And you can go by their reputation and size and get a pretty good idea whether the quality is there. Not a foolproof method but it is one more piece of information you can use to make a good decision on a brand. Hope this helps!