[Noumenon]

And the older you get, the more important optics become

Amen to that. I went all red dot on key elements of my armor ya couple of years ago. Now I'm happily back to nailing milk jug sized targets at 400 yards. The only rifle I've kept "traditional" is my NM Garand. In memory of what my Dad carried in WWII. I so sentimental. snif.

[Travis McGee]

Yep. With a magnified optic, if you can see an elbow or a foot sticking out of cover/concealment at 400 yards, you can shoot it. Without an optic, you’d never even see it, or know the bad guy was there. Huge advantage.

[Covenantor]

Re: long term storage of batteries.

Probably stuff you guys already know but if not...

Consider recharable Sanyo eneloops, hold charge with nominal discharge for very long shelf life. Far, far better then alkaline batteries. Rechargeable.
Longer life cycle in terms of total usable recharge cycles over NiCad. couple with economic charger than can operate with 12v and USB allows vehicle use and small folding solar panels.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Asanyo%20eneloop

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OQ0CAW6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1447191795&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=folding+solar+panel&dpPl=1&dpID=412gc4xTKDL&ref=plSrch