RE: Making my own battery
I'm the same way. I'm confident in my ability to stick two wires together and shrink wrap them, so I make extensions and Y harnesses. It's worth the time it take to do that and save those dollars. I buy NiCd's from hangtimes whose prices are just about the same for a welded cell pack than what I can buy the cells for and solder up my own. Of course now I'm slowly switching over to LiFe so I buy the Hyperion packs.