IMO, the Optimas are only worth it if you are forced to abuse them because of lack of charging facilities. They are extremely tolerant of abuse in the form of poor charging practice. They charge fast and tolerate neglect.

The downside to them, besides price, is that they have a very small capacity compared to other batteries that are much cheaper, The biggest Optimas have a 155 minute RC, compared to 205 minutes for the Everstart group 29 (less than $100), 225 minutes for the Trojan SC 225 (similar in price to the Optima) or around 180 minutes for virtually every Group 27 deep-cycle made.