Black Diamond Unisex's Revolt 350 HEADLAMP

Product Information

After 10 hours using the two single-power LEDs, there is very little difference in range between full and minimum power, being 3m and 2.4m respectively. The worst scoring products were those whose operation required reading the manual. The Petzl Reactik+ is the worst with a score of 3/10. It has small buttons, and Petzl's innovative (but not generally loved) "Reactive" mode complicates use. Without a manual handy, it is easy to be left simply guessing at which of the two buttons does what — Reactive is a wrench in the works in the operation of a device we'd like to be fall-off-a-log easy to use, we're not fans. Gloved Use

I’m not sure this post recognizes recent improvements in NiMH performance. (“…they don’t work in cold temperatures.” and, “NiMH batteries are also known to lose power very rapidly.”) This may have been the case with earlier versions of the chemistry, but it seems progress has been made. How big a selling point is the USB charging? I suppose it gives flexibility to an already versatile headtorch. It enables the torch to be charged from a variety of sources, including many that people will be carrying anyway. Max beam:not much of a difference here –we are talking 5m (or about 16ft).It might make the difference for you. Then get the Storm.

Best Applications

The headlamp also has an integrated brightness sensor. This allows it to work in two different modes, reactive lighting, and constant lighting. If you set it to reactive lighting, the lamp will autonomously adjust the brightness level and put out the optimal amount of light for your surroundings.

Another incredibly important benefit of this headlamp is that it is fully waterproof. It can be submerged up to 1 meter into water, and you can then use it for about 30 minutes. This makes it a great choice for diving, and basically anything where you need a waterproof headlamp. The Revolt 350 could be described as a solid all-round headlamp. The strap is excellent, with strong elasticity and a hard-wearing weave. I find many lightweight hiking focused headlamps tend to have rather puny straps. The lighting buttons (particularly the mode selector) are a little on the small side, especially if you’re wearing gloves. But there is a nice “powertap” function which allows you to switch between the main and dimmer bulb simply by tapping the side of the lamp. I imagine this light would fare well if you used Eneloop AAA batteries and removed them from the torch for charging, in a unit like the Maha C9000 charger. One feature we don't love is the auto-shutoff after 2 hours to prevent accidental battery drain. This prevents its effective use as a nite light, which would otherwise be a great option (we typically set headlamps to a very low dim level, and leave them on all night). The Wiz is not a great general purpose light for grown-ups (or even older kids), due to the limited beam distance, but it is perfectly adequate for walking the dog at night, reading or use around camp. The Wiz is affordable and we consider it the best light for young kids, great for travel, sleepovers, and camping, assuring you a happier family adventure.In terms of the bean length, the low setting is perfect for any activities where you are focused on your immediate surroundings. The medium settings will be great if you are moving around a lot, and the high setting will allow you to see almost 200 feet in front of you. I think the ReVolt is an excellent headlamp if used with regular batteries primarily, but that there are just too many little gotchas with the NiMH batteries to really count on them for primary use. While NiMH batteries and a built-in battery charger are included in the headlamp, they don’t provide as much power as non-rechargeable AAA batteries, they don’t work in cold temperatures, and they need to be recharged more frequently between uses. Still, there are use cases where having the NiMH batteries and built-in charger can be convenient and save you money and hassle over carrying spare AAA batteries. Waterproofing:Technically not a huge difference here, but the Revolt is rated to more than 3.3ft depth BUT not tested for dust. The Storm is also dust proof, but only waterproof to 3.3ft. If you turn off the headtorch in red mode, when it is turned on again, it will go straight into its red LED function again without having to cycle through white light, useful if you want to preserve night vision. The Sprinter works well around camp, but it isn't ideal for that purpose due to battery life issues. If you are looking for a general-purpose light, the Sprinter is both overpriced and misses the mark when it comes to features and functionality. But, when it comes to running, the Sprinter leaves the competition in the dust.

The NiMH batteries also take a fairly long time to charge, up to 5 hours. You also can’t use the headlamp while it’s recharging.Burn time:because the Storm has an extra battery, and it ONLY uses Alkaline batteries it lasts 10 hours more(on average when compared with Alkalines) and way longer when you compare against the Revolt with rechargeables. In fact, all functions are carried out via the main button, making operation simple, as long as you can remember the different methods of selection.

This headlamp is water-resistant, so you will be perfectly fine in the rain and snow. However it’s not fully waterproof, so it’s not really suitable for deep-sea diving or similar activities. With alkalines, the ReVolt is claimed to provide 70 hours of light at full power on the main beam, and 300 hours at minimum. The initial charge via a USB lead attached to a laptop took a long time: 13 hours before the battery indicator said the headtorch was fully replenished.

But you can also set it to constant lighting, which means that it will shine as bright as you want it for as long as the battery allows it. Either BD shipped these with junk, cheap NiMH cells - or they didn't do their homework on the technicalities of NiMH charging problems and the torch's inbuilt charger is crap. So, what makes this lamp iconic? Well, for one thing, it’s the battery life. Although it uses alkalines, the Icon headlamp can last you up to 175 hours, on the low lightsetting. This is a drastic improvement over Petzl’s Nao+. Yes, the Nao+ had 250 more lumens, but the battery life difference is still more than 150 hours! Petzl tries really hard to make its headlamps compatible with its own Core rechargeable battery. You can charge this battery directly via the headlamp’s USB port. And it will last you hours and hours on end.