I had Optima batteries back in 2008-2009. In those 2 years, I went through 5 batteries, all under warranty. I finally got tired of being stranded with a truck that wouldn't start, and gave them away to some chump, and have been running the cheapest batteries I can find. I figure if I get stranded, it might as well be from being a cheap ass. Oddly, the cheap ones have yet to let me down, but usually only last 3-4 years.
From my saga with the Optimas, I found that you can start the truck with one battery just fine (even a cheap one), it just cranks slowly.
Hopefully Optima has sorted out their issues. It has been almost 8 years since then. I'm due to replace my current set of cheap AutoZone batteries, maybe I will risk the price of Optimas and give them another go?