Reddit mentions of ExpertPower EXP12200 12 Volt 20 Ah Rechargeable Battery

Thanks! Yup Mikey was always my fav. Here is the battery I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KC39BE6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're fucked, must've used the wrong charger for them, or the charger malfunctioned. They won't explode, but I doubt they will be useful for more than like 2 miles.

Good news: It's not too terribly expensive to replace them: https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP12200-12V-20AH-Lead_Acid_Battery/dp/B00KC39BE6

Though I'd 100% upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries instead, a drop in upgrade no modifications needed: https://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/products/12v-20ah-lithium-ion-battery/

LiFePo is superior Wh/kg and will last you pretty much forever.

At that budget level, you're going to be looking at more budget oriented radios from the likes of Baofeng, TYT, QYT, Leixn, and the other assorted Chinese manufacturers. The one you mentioned is not a bad choice, so let's run with that...

• Radio - $128.86
  
  
• 8Ah SLA battery - $17.77
  
  -or-
  
  
• 20Ah SLA battery if you don't mind the extra size and weight - $38.00
  
  
• Battery charger - $21.85
  
  
• You'll need an antenna. I'm guessing you don't have a vehicle to attach a mobile antenna too, so I'd recommend something that attaches directly to the back of the radio, like this antenna. I actually have one and it's surprisingly decent for the price. - $12.99
  
  
• You'll need a right angle PL-259 to BNC adapter to properly attach this antenna to your radio - $7.49
  
  side note: For a mag mount antenna, the Tram 1185 is a good cheap option at $21.63
  
  additional side note: Neither one of these antennas I mentioned is tri band capable, they're dual band 2m/70cm only. Tri band 2m/1.25/70cm antennas are considerably more expensive. Unless there's regular 1.25m activity in your area, you may wish to reconsider your need for having this band.
  
  Total: $188.96 or $209.19 if you choose the 20Ah battery option.
  
  Use whatever is left over for a case. A nice Pelican will probably consume the rest of your budget. Or you could go down to your local sporting goods store and browse the handgun cases there. You'll probably be able to find something good for $15-30 and have a few bucks left over. I found this 4 pistol case at my local Sportsmans Warehouse, it's cheap, reaonably well built, and is a pretty good size. I can fit a small army of handheld radios and associated paraphernalia in mine, so it should be big enough to hold a mobile rig plus battery.
  

I know your question was about water, but I'd like to rebut that article in general. I'll make sure to focus on water for you though. (TL;DR: I see The_Prepared is already here, and the article you already found is my suggestion.)

Here, I shall make some useful alternate suggestions:

Article Title: Well, I see the lies have already begun. Hey, I know of an article with almost the same name that's actually useful!

• Pedal power fail socket: Dumb. For that price, buy a solar panel, a decent charge controller, and a battery. Find a nerd if you aren't one, hook them up (safely, standard internet advice disclaimer here), and you get power without needing to pedal, and also storage. If you want to charge your phone, use a 12v adapter, and if you need 120v power for something, you can get an inverter. It's pretty easy to hook it all up, there are a lot of resources, search for "DIY solar generator". Here's one I made for a good friend. This will be about a hundred times as useful to you, at only a slightly higher price.
  
  
• Crappy GMRS radios: You can tell this article is BS because they actually think the "23 mile range" claim has some kind of validity. Emergency comms for preppers generally means a Ham radio license, those walkie talkies are only marginally better than toys. All the same, they're cheap, and can't hurt. I have a pair.
  
  
• Cell phone: It amuses me that the article states "we have a strong suspicion", thus confirming they did no actual journalism or research . In the event of a disaster, 2G will be exactly as non existent as it is now. They also chose the Nokia because of a meme! What's their next memetic indestructible suggestion? A Wiimote? Gamecube? At least you could bludgeon an intruder to death with a Gamecube. My suggestion: Use your regular phone, because it works with the existing infrastructure. Text messages tend to work better in disasters, because high call volume stresses the network, and texts are a tiny amount of data. Also, stay off the phone unless you really need to use it, because someone else might be in a life threatening situation and need to call for help.
  
  
• Ultimate survival kit: I disagree with premade survival kits because they use low quality items, most of them won't actually be useful, and if you build your own, you have more familiarity with the equipment and usage. If you want a pre made kit, look at the contents, buy it in pieces, and test every piece before you put it in your kit. At least then you'll know how it all works, and be familiar with exactly whats in there.
  
  
• Glowy keychain thing: I mean, i like glowy things, but the only real use for this is if you want to take a photo and post it on /r/EDC and then get flak from them because it's not even tritium, which incidentally doesn't need charging and would work far better for the purpose the article suggests anyway.
  
  
• Waterbricks: No argument here, but The Prepared has a really awesome article about this and I'm not going to type words that they have already covered in great detail. (I see they've already found this thread, anyway.)
  
  
• Condoms: Pretty fair point there. They expire, so rotate them like any other perishable prep item. I'd say probably stock conventional ones because no one wants a hurricane baby, and some unlubricated ones for assorted other purposes, but don't plan on using them for stuff. If you need something waterproof, do not think "I'll just put a condom on it when I need to!". If you can think of it in advance, figure out a proper solution, and leave the condoms for in a pinch fixes you didn't anticipate.
  
  
• Hand crank radio: Sure I guess? I'd rather have a radio that uses rechargeable batteries, and then use the solar rig from my first bullet point to charge the batteries. Anything with a hand crank will put out a really tiny amount of power and requires you to effort. Once you stop cranking, you're running off of the way-too-tiny battery in the unit, whereas solar is a huge amount of power that requires no effort, which you can then use to charge lots of batteries and then just swap them. Or run the radio off of a 12v adapter directly. For the radio itself, You want AM/FM/NOAA Weather Radio at a minimum, and an argument could be made for shortwave, because it can cover huge distances (I'm in central Alberta, Canada, and can easily pick up Radio Havana Cuba on shortwave). Again, a Ham license and some equipment of that sort would also be useful if you want to get into that.
  
  
• MRE's: Sure, though ask a soldier friend what they think of them, and what they do to your guts. I'm personally going to stick with Mountain House or similar. Also, there's an article from The Prepared on this topic, too. (Hey mods, just so you know I'm not paid or coerced in any way to suggest this site. I gain nothing from them, it's just the best information I've found, and it's convenient to link them instead of type a whole lot.)
  
  
• As seen on TV "Tactical" Flashlight: No! Ask nicely in /r/flashlight, or pick something that meets your needs from Here. Thrunite tends to be inexpensive, high quality, nice features, and nice light, if you're looking for a brand suggestion. Fenix and Nitecore are also solid choices.
  
  
• 1911: Limiting this one because too much politics and heated debate. I love 1911s, but .45 is a bit big for an infrequent shooter, but a 9mm clone like an STI Spartan, or perhaps a Jericho (Baby Eagle) in 9mm, or a CZ, would work nicely.
  
  
• Casper Mattress: Wait, that's an ad, never mind. I couldn't really tell the difference.

Yes. u/funbob suggested the 20Ah version for only ~$5 more, but it has screw type terminals. The TS-180S draws 1.6A on standby, and ~20A on transmit. I would recommend at least three in parallel, which is 60Ah. It would take much longer to charge, but as a backup battery, that should be fine, because a 12v charger/maintainer allows you to leave it plugged in indefinitely, and it will always be charged and ready to use.

That battery pack says "12v" but it's totally different from what people mean when they say "12v battery". I'd go with something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Instapark%C2%AE-Black-Mono-crystalline-charge-controller/dp/B004FOGL0K/ref=pd_bxgy_86_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1T501PPQ3EGHT5JYTXX5

http://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP12200-Rechargeable-Threaded-Terminals/dp/B00KC39BE6/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1454045541&sr=8-13&keywords=lead+acid+battery

That solar panel comes with a charge controller, I think; forget the diy option, it's just not worth the trouble when you can get one on amazon for five bucks.

You haven't really specified how bad it will be if this thing runs out of power. I don't know where you're located but in most places in winter especially it's not uncommon to have basically zero sunlight for several days at a time. You need to spec your battery to run the load that many nights -- and if it actually goes to that full limit frequently, it'll trash the battery in short order. If there's any chance of the battery running out, you need something to disengage the load, otherwise it'll drain the battery below the point where it's damaged. Some solar charge controllers have that feature.

I don't think that upgrading the main battery is really what you're looking for. You could get something small like this that could charge off the alternator (plenty of guides on how to do that) and provide enough juice for lights and phones.

Something like this ?:

https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP12200-Rechargeable-Threaded-Terminals/dp/B00KC39BE6

I added one of these batteries and am running them in parallel with the original. It will fit in the front truck with a little trimming. Also had to run new wires. Combined with the original battery (or even alone), it runs for days as the linked battery is almost twice the capacity as the original. Also is a bit faster as there is less voltage drop. People also recommend a better charger.

If you do get one, don't run it with the old worn out battery. It will drain the new one faster. If you wanted to run two, you could buy another oem replacement battery as the one I linked will not fit in the rear trunk.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KC39BE6

It would be pretty easy to build something similar for a lot cheaper. Pick up a used suitcase at the thrift shop, mount a 50w panel on the outside (much better than the 10W panel in the case you linked to.) Inside the case, mount a charge controller with USB, this 20Ah battery (again, better than the 16Ah in the other one), and this 500W inverter (not sure how big the one in the expensive case it, but 500W should be enough.) So for less than $250 and a little bit of build work, you can have a much more functional system (500% larger solar capacity and 25% more battery capacity).

Im looking at this guy right here: ExpertPower EXP12200 12 Volt 20 Ah Rechargeable Battery With Threaded Terminals https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KC39BE6/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_p5xJxbKETAZ92 (I don't know how to format links for reddit off the top of my head on mobile)