Black Diamond  Spot 400-R Rechargeable Headlamp

I use my headlamp almost daily, not only for my camping adventures but my day-to-day morning and nighttime hikes with my dog. I was very impressed with the options on this headlamp. The only drawback I could find is the integrated battery which can't be replaced. The manufacturer does mention on their website the longevity of the battery and mentions a 1000 or more times of recharging. The features are many for this small and compact headlamp. Its headband is comfortable with a small profile, so you hardly know it's there when wearing it. The light intensity I was able to sample side by side with other competitors and the intensity was equal. The biggest difference is the focus of the beam. The competitors was a bit more focused, where the 400-R is a wider more peripheral beam. Regardless of your interest there is ample light when in max. The dimming function was what I was impressed most with. With the leading competitors brand it has a step down staging affect each time you press the button, whereas the 400-R can give you whatever light intensity you prefer by simply pressing and holding the button. The button itself is designed so its raised feature has an ease of locating aspect to it. This makes it much easier to find your button if you are wearing gloves. The mode button was recessed a little so it was a bit more challenging with gloves, but given the raised button for the on off light intensity adjustment, which is right next to it, I easily got used to its location. A unique feature for this device is the touch sensing min max option. With this feature you simply graze your finger (doesn't work with gloves very well) on the bottom right side and it takes the beam in whatever mode (red, single beams and combined beam) and adjust to max or min with each touch. This actually helped to save on my battery life once I got used to it. The tilting of the 400-R is on par with other leading brands but has a tension type vs a ratcheting action which gives you whatever angle you want with ease. The memory function took a little figuring out. I thought there was a button pressing code but it really just came down to whatever mode or intensity you leave off on the light will return to that intensity when you turn it on again. This feature is nice because you always can have your fine tuned preferred adjustment. The SOS function was a bit of a disappointment. You have to use the touch feature for the SOS yourself and it is very difficult to get the right sequence right, plus if I was trying to get a rescuers attention wouldn't I want to have a brighter light? The waterproof function was by far the biggest standout for me. Other competitors headlamps don't give very many choices for waterproof features at this level, and especially at this price point. This is by far the best feature in my opinion. I used this light in the poring rain and it stood up just fine. The battery life goes fast in the max mode...I would say about 3 hours by my estimates. In summary this small, lightweight, full of options headlamp is a win!!!...and at this price point makes it by far a leader in this category of headlamps! I look forward to making this my primary headlamp for future adventures and hope the more than a thousand charges holds true. Being factory sealed, there would be no way to replace the battery unless you RMA'd it...which would help prevent it from being yet another filler for the landfills. Thanks' Black Diamond for this one! (PS I tried to video the comparison on my GoPro but it was too dark for the results to give you much perspective)

This sounded like a great light. But I was disappointed in it. The white light is ok. But I mostly use the red light. I live on a farm, and have a lot of chores at night. Animals and birds are not agitated by red light. And it does not take away my night vision either. I have purchased a number of white/ red lights over the last 15 or so years since they have been popular. Improvements have been made, they are rechargeable, run times are longer, and lumens have increased. But the red light on this headlight is so difficult to see anything with it is mostly useless, it does not shine very far in front of me, and is not very bright even up close. Lights I bought years ago outshine it. I will not buy one of these again.