this one time i bought a duralast gold "auto zone" battery...well the gold batts are a 3 year warranty battery...anyway the battery went out in 2 years and 11 months not a single problem with them replacing it...in the vegas desert 3 years on a batt is pretty damn good! back on topic you could have taken that everstart back to wally world and if the sticker on it was within the 2 years they would have replaced it no questions asked!

Exploding batteries are usually not the fault of the battery.  The main dangers are overcharging and heat which causes accelerated electrolysis, heat and gasses.  And any heat source close to the battery will also cause accelerated electrolysis and gasses (Skip's case).  Have you ever heard your battery bubbling or hissing?  That is a problem.  Look at the battery case, if the sides are bulging, that could be a problem.  If it is leaking, that's bad.
I work part time at NAPA, and all of our batteries are made by Exide.  Almost ALL of our car batteries are 75 month warranty/18 month free replacement, some are 84/24.  You are not gonna get a NAPA marine battery or even a car battery for $70 though...but you get what you pay for.
You should see some of the batteries I bring in for cores...scary.