Heading out on a weekend camping trip and want to maximize my Kenwood TH-D74A battery life. I've seen tests showing these draw about 0.5A average, but that seems optimistic for real-world use.

Besides using low power mode and carrying spare batteries, what other energy-saving tricks work well? Should I avoid the backlight and other power-hungry features?

Turn down transmit power - QRP operation conserves a lot of energy for only a modest sacrifice in signal effectiveness. Also make sure you're using a lithium battery pack if available - much better performance than older NiCad/NiMH types.

I carry an AA battery pack as backup with rechargeable NiMH cells, plus regular AAs for emergency use. Many handhelds have 12V connectors for external power and can also use AA/AAA battery packs.

Some radios like the BaoFeng BF-F8HP get 20+ hours on high power with their large batteries. Worth considering if runtime is your priority, though the interface isn't as nice as your Kenwood.