[Paddlewise] NiMH vs non-recharhgeables

My apologies if this has been already discussed, but I don't remember.  I'm
using a semi-submersible headlight Aurora by Princeton Tec, 3 LED, powered
by 3 AAA. It's water-resistant according to Princeton, but can survive some
immersion (not that I recommend, but it can).  It is similar to Petzl Tikka.
Until recently I was satisfied with no-name non-rechargeable AAA battery
life - I didn't clock the time, but at least 40-50 hours at medium power
mode. (According to the specs, it is 110 hours). Getting obsessed with being
"green", eventually bought NiMh Duracell 1000 mAh (not a bad brand, right)?
Made in Japan - not China. Charger is good too (Maha).  These NiMh were dead
after a week of roughly 20 total hours. Self-discharge and hot weather a
primary suspect, so here goes home testing, freshly charged, non-stop medium
mode light on. (Drum roll)... Result: 22-24 hours.

Testing old Alcaline AAA (such oddity does exist) - didn't expect much from
them, old and without even capacity shown.  About the same: 20-22 hours. It
is interesting that these ones had 1.5V written on them, as opposed to 1.2V
on NiMh (the voltage drops later with discharge, naturally).

My GPS (2AA) never showed a big difference in battery life of
non-rechargeables and NiMh rechargeables, with the best of them providing
about 80% of the Garmin's alleged time. But such a discrepancy - 22 hrs vs
claimed 110 hrs is stunning. Like I said, I don't know but am 100% positive
that any low-end non-rechargeables worked at least 50 hours in Aurora
headlight. Bad batch of Duracell? Anybody else with LED headlights
experienced MUCH lower times than those written on the package?
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