Our decide
The Spot 400 is an easy-to-use, bright-enough headlamp that gives long-lasting battery life and dependable efficiency, 12 months after 12 months.
Whether or not you’re automotive tenting or digging via a closet, the Black Diamond Spot 400 supplies precisely what you want: a vivid beam, easy-to-navigate buttons, and long-lasting battery life. The Spot has been on the prime of our checklist since 2012 as a result of it’s dependable and vivid sufficient to mild the way in which in most conditions, indoors or outside.
The Spot 400’s two prime buttons are intuitive to make use of; you’ll must experiment with clicking via the varied modes, however the studying curve is pretty fast. It has a crimson mild (for evening use), a “proximity” floodlight (for a wider area of view), and strobe choices (for throwing an emergency sign). The Spot 400 weighs 3 ounces, has a lock mode, and is weather-resistant.
Though headlamps with brighter, higher-quality beams exist, none supply the identical mixture of brightness, simplicity, and reliability at such a low worth. As of 2023, you can even purchase an add-on rechargeable battery for the Spot. (If you wish to save a bit of cash, the discontinued Spot 350 remains to be a very good headlamp, if yow will discover it.)
Price range decide
As vivid as our prime decide for half the worth, this headlamp weighs even much less. However it’s not fairly as comfy to put on and lacks some helpful options.
Costing solely $20, the Black Diamond Astro matched the brightness of our prime decide in our assessments, regardless of its decrease lumen depend. It additionally weighs half as a lot. We acquired 10 hours out of the battery on excessive, the identical as our prime decide, and the settings are less complicated. However the headband feels cheaper than the Spot’s, and there’s no battery mild indicator (most of our different picks have them) or crimson mild. Nonetheless, it is a stable headlamp for working round the home. The Astro is appropriate with the identical add-on rechargeable battery because the Spot.
Additionally nice
Weighing simply over an oz., this comfy, adjustable, ultralight headlamp works nice for operating or different high-movement adventures. It’s not as vivid as our prime decide, although, and has more-limited battery life.
After years of testing operating headlamps that have been subpar, we have been stoked to search out the rechargeable Petzl Bindi Headlamp. Its headband—bungee cords as a substitute of the standard thick strap—is adjustable with one hand but stays regular in your head. The Bindi’s mild is much less highly effective than that of the Spot (simply 200 lumens), nevertheless it’s greater than sufficient for runs in the dead of night. You’ll additionally must recharge the headlamp usually (a color-coded system indicators you when to plug it in); it lasted for 5 hours throughout our assessments, half the time of the Spot and Astro. That mentioned, the Bindi’s feather weight (it’s our lightest decide), low-profile head strap, and simply directed beam make it excellent for runs. The one critical flaw: no rear mild. (In the event you want one for security causes, take a look at the Black Diamond Sprinter.)
Additionally nice
Rainbow lights make this youngsters headlamp enjoyable to play with throughout tenting journeys or yard adventures.
The Black Diamond Wiz shines in all the colours of the rainbow, which actually offered us on the headlamp. In contrast with the opposite youngsters fashions we examined (all of which provided solely crimson and white lights), this headlamp is each the best worth and extra enjoyable to make use of. It additionally turns off on the two-hour mark, in case your child forgets. The management mechanism on the Wiz is a bit difficult, however our child testers didn’t thoughts clicking via the rainbow colours as they figured it out. Though the Wiz has solely 30 lumens, that ought to be ok for most youngsters (plus, they received’t be capable to blind one another—otherwise you—with the sunshine).
