: Good tips. Here's my two cents based on 30 or so years.
: I used to do a lot more carpentry & shop stuff than I have in
: recent years. But I'll still go at it hard for 4-8 hours several
: days in a row.

You are right on. I seems to me that with every new battery technology we get we also get a shorter battery lifespan. My old Craftsman nicads would last all day putting in drywall screws. I don't think anything built today would do that. Living in Florida and working around standing water a lot I shy away from corded drills. I build kayaks outside under a big oak tree and get surprised by sudden rain fall almost every day in the summer. My tools I am using at the time are usually spread out on a old flat interior door that's on sawhorses and when the downpour starts I try and get the kayak covered first then start grabbing the most expensive tools first and run for the garage. I have a shelf full of old cordless drills also, all with unchargable batteries. I don't buy new batteries because of some other major defect in the produce. My Porter Cable batteries barely lasted a year but with a chuck that comes loose every time you reverse the drill I am not going to spend a fortune on new batteries. The only old tool that I am thinking about buying new batteries for is my old Craftsman drill, light, saw 19v set and that's because I can get lithium batteries for them now and the tools work as good as when I bought them.