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Item 826319
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REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviewsPros
Cons
Best Uses
Reviewed by 65 customers
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Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
Positively in love with this headlamp. I love that you can adjust the brightness and angle of the beam, that it has two white light options, and a red light option. No strobe as far as I know, but I never wanted or needed a strobe. It surprised me with how bright it is, too - in fact, it still does, sometimes.
And on top of all this, it's got beautiful colors (I got the red one).
I can't speak to the battery life, but I do get the impression my lamp is wearing out as it grows older in the sense that it seems to require new batteries ever-so-slightly more often. My primary complaint is that the headband has stretched out so much - not sure what I'll do once it's finally too loose! That being said, I've been able to tighten it as needed, and still have some space to tighten the band, should it get looser.
Please note that I have had this lamp for TWO YEARS and while it's only seen moderate to heavy outdoor activity for one of those years, I still use it on a regular basis just because it's so incredibly useful. In short, most of the issues I've had seem to be the result of its old age.
Oh, and one more issue: I tend to put it on upside down pretty much all the time, which I don't realize until I try to tilt the light, and can't. I'm not sure why this is, though.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
I use it to tinker with watches. Frees up my hands. The light is bright. I like the fact it uses 3 AAA batteries. I can use it about 6 hours before it starts getting dim. It is functional. The tilt mechanism works well; and is handy. It is small enough I can carry it in my bibs front pocket. For what I use it for it works fine.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
Bought for a trip to Moab and it worked great. The dimmer function worked well, though everytime you turn it one it goes to full power.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
A great light for use at night for hands free convenience. I use it for wildlife research at night and it has consistently performed flawlessly. Plus the red light is very helpful when writing on data sheets or in my journal without blowing out my night vision. A fantastic product!
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
I used this product on a car-camping road trip through UT/AZ/CO and it worked great, just couldn't really get it to be comfortable on my head...
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
black diamond never fails!!!
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
Got it to replace friends ageing ancient headlamp. Lightweight, works well. Button is a little small through thicker gloves, but worked fine overall.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
This is a great headlamp! I don't know why there's so much bad rep on these reviews. This is indeed an unregulated, lightweight headlamp. And for any other headlamp I've found in it's weight class, it out shines them, and out lasts them in battery life.
I've owned the Zipka2, Tikka2, ION, Energizer 7, and a few other cheap ones. This is by far the best.
If you need a regulated headlamp (one that will provide the same brightness until the battery is dead) - look for another headlamp, and be prepared to either sacrifice runtime (usually less then 25% as much) or weight.
If however you're looking for a great, hike-able and camp-able headlamp that is lightweight - look no further!
This headlamp weighs 91g w/ duracell alkaline batteries. I do not recommend lithium batteries with this (or most headlamps), while they're more lightweight and can work in more extreme environments, they cut usable light life usually in half. The Zipka weighs roughly 20g less then this, however that 20g is worth it.
The beam distance on high for this headlamp is definitely a lot further then all the above mentioned lights. Distance straight and to the sides included (peripheral vision). Usable distance on this is probably around 100-120ft. Although it will hit something further, but I say usable as in more real world scenario. In comparison to the zipka - which I would say is less then 60ft. The tikka is pretty comparable but this seemed to have a bit more distance and a more round/wide spread beam (unless you use the tikka w/ diffuser down - then it does well wide but much shorter distance).
On low, it's wide beam dispersal is probably the best I've had. The two LED's on the side are angled perfectly that really give you a full field of view illumination. It may only give you a good
30ft straight distance but the spread is so phenomenal it helps when scouting/looking for things in the dark. Like wood.
The battery life on this unit.. My observations summed up: On high you get MAX brightness for about 5-7hrs. Afterwards it slowly drops off. (This is the behavior of ALL non-regulated headlamps). After about 35-40hrs of usage, the headlamp become inadequate to hike a trail and see about 25-30ft in front of you. You can still "limp on" for another 5-10hrs, but with severely reduced visibility. On low mode the power output is a lot more consistent output, and you easily get 150hrs of usable light. On low mode for the first 50hrs it's "almost" hike-able. You can see a good 25-30ft in front of you and you have good peripheral view (which the spot light/high mode lacks - especially when running low on batteries).
I've run through 5-6 dozen batteries through this lamp and the results are pretty consistent. Some things that might effect your results:
* Temperature - the colder the weather the shorter life of batteries generally.
* NiMH or Lithium batteries - both will last considerably less then Alkalines. In my testing Duracell's had the best performance (obviously less then a couple percent better then most others, but if every bit matters).
* Brightness setting.
About brightness setting... Probably my favorite feature of this light is the dimmable LED. On both spot and flood (high/low) modes, you can do a full dim by holding down the main button. This can GREATLY increase your battery life. If you're doing some evening hiking or running - you PROBABLY don't need it on SPOT on MAX setting... Try turning it down maybe 50%. You can still see 50ft out, and will get much longer of life and a flatter brightness curve. Roughly 50% on high gave me around 15-20hrs more overall. And if you're just around the campsite, use the flood setting! There's very few instances where I switch to spot at a campsite, usually to locate a noise, spec'in a tree, or walking somewhere. And even on flood you can dim it down very low, to help say around a campfire. It's nice to keep a headlamp on even if you're around a campfire, so you can see what you're eating, rolling a cigarette, whatever. But dimming the flood light a little bit can increase the life of the unit greatly. You can also use the RED led mode, which is great for for transitioning to natural night vision, and if you're next to a campfire not doing much then it's probably idea. However don't expect to get usable light further then 10ft with red mode on.
Only other things to note about this headlamp are:
* Durable, I had it fall off a ladder 15-20ft high, no damage.
* Water resistant. It's been wet numerous times, rain, waterfalls, no problems with it.
* Battery life indicator on side - Green - Yellow - Red, lets you know how much battery is left.
* Comfortable headband - especially coming from the Zipka. The band has a good amount of stretch to it to give you a comfy fit.
I'd recommend this headlamp for anyone looking for a LIGHTWEIGHT camping/backpacking headlamp. Be aware of it's purpose, it's strengths and limitations. The strength of this headlamp is really its light output to weight ratio; and for UL backpacking it's by far the best I've encountered. My sub 10lb weekly pack cant suffer anything heavier.
A final note: One load of batteries in this, can last me 1 week of day hiking. I like to stay up pretty late around camp, but on the average night I'd probably use spot for 1hr, flood for 4hrs, red for 1-2hrs. After 5-7days spot gets to be low, and I'll swap out.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
I use this often in the winter to walk the dog, with the short days, nice to have in the evening or mornings to see his dirty business or avoid ice. Good product.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Black Diamond Spot Headlamp:
I really liked this headlamp. I replaced an older Petzl and Black Diamond. For the price this is hard to beat. Lots of modes and brightnesses. Only down side is sometimes it gets stuck in the lock mode and you ahve to take the batteries out to reset it.
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