Gear Review- Headlamps

I love flashlights. Its almost a fetish trying to find the brightest, lightest, longest battery, most bombproof light available. While typical torch style lights will always be brighter they may not be the best tool for the job. So today I would like to discuss my new favorite type of lighting, the headlamp.

I am all about being hands free so headlamps and specifically Black Diamond's new Spot LED is a great treasure of my training and outdoor gear. Heck its a great tool for me around the house in general.

Weighing in at 3 ounces and running on 3 AAA's, it is water-resistant, shines a 1-watt HyperBright LED and three standard sized LED bulbs. There is eight total modes of lighting available considering you can switch between the larger bulb and the smaller bulb.

Backpacker Magazine's 2006 Gear Guide, rated this lamp their top choice for cool weather, it should have rated higher considering I own their top pick the Petzel Tikka XP and the Black Diamond is superior in case strength and lighting ability.

I have used head lamps for several years and one is always in my Bug Out bag or hiking kit, one hangs immediately outside my door to the garage in case of black outs or need of a light outside in the twilight. I have had the ignominy of having highly rated units bust on me in the field and having to make due with broken equipment. Nothing is more important that being able to see what you are doing. When the sun goes down and the tent needs to go up or the cooking needs to be done having a headlamp is an absolute must.

I have used this as my lighting for pre-dawn bike rides and do actually prefer it to my 'official' bike lamp. The reason why I prefer it is that with the ratcheting swivel the head is able to be adjusted for your specific aerodynamics plus its nice to be able to look down and see the digits on the cyclocomputer.

I have used this as my late night / early morning run light and will never run with a flashlight in my hand again.

On the home front, I keep this on the nightstand and while using the lowest setting, I can read in bed while the wife sleeps and don't have to worry about the 60 watt table lamp throwing light all over the room. Plus there is no shadow on the pages since the light is directly in front of the book instead of a few feet off to the side.

The nice thing about any micro-headlamp is that the battery's are behind the lamp and not in a separate box attached to the back of the head strap. When you are lying in bed, there is no additional pressure on your head from the pillow.

Since my wife and I have wildly varying sleep cycles, having the headlamp available ensures that I can move safely around my bedroom late at night or early in the morning while collecting my gear without turning on main lights or tripping over shoes and walking into doors.

Technology today puts the lighting of a headlamp in comparative scale to standard style flashlights which gives you a ability to not cheat on illumination and have two hands free to work on your project. In fact the other day a shot glass, used for my sons medicine instead of a toddler syringe, was ground up in the garbage disposal. I tried using a standard style flashlight but could not hold the flashlight and use the tool I was using and push open the flap of the disposal to see and grasp the glass slivers. Then I put on my Black Diamond headlamp which had a tighter beam that did not cast shadows into the drain plus it freed up one hand and the task was finished quickly.

Right now I do suggest the Black Diamond Spot LED, trust me I have tried several brands, though my second choice is the slightly less priced Petzel Tikka Plus.