Black Diamond Spot Headlamp - 2011 BCS

For some a light is a light, but the BD Spot is brighter then most. Also, the option for a red light, to save night vision, was a benefit for me and it works great. The few times I have been able to use this light people with me have commented on how bright it is.

Seems durable and I got it wet and there was no issue. The strap is comfortable too.

For the same weight, size, and price, this little headlamp outperforms the popular Tikka on almost all fronts. I own both, and I'd recommend this one over the Tikka hands down.

My favorite feature about this headlamp is its incredible range of adjustability. This light shifts from a blinding 75 Lumen spotlight to a faint, dispersed, glow totally seamlessly. The dimming function is easy to use and totally intuitive. I also love the three level battery indicator which assures you know well before heading out on a new adventure that you should put in a fresh set. The band fits nicely and is easy to adjust, the batteries are simple to swap out, and the redundancy of having 5 LED's assures that even if one is to go out, you won't be left in the dark. The locking function is genius, and assures you won't pull your headlamp from your pack only to find that the batteries have drained.

That said, there are a few attributes of the Tikka that I think are executed better. Firstly, the button on the Spot is not as easy to click or find with your finger as the Tikka, this is minor, but it could be quite a pain to operate with thick gloves. Secondly, the control scheme is quite complex, and would be impossible to fully understand without reading the menu - the Tikka's, by comparison, is simple and easy to intuit. Finally, I far prefer the aiming mechanism on the Tikka, which consists of two sturdy and redundant plastic hinges to the single, flimsier one on the Spot.

Despite its occasional shortcoming, the Spot is the better headlamp, and is quite an impressive little tool. I'd recommend it.

One wrong glance at one of these and you'll be seeing spots for quite a while.

Pros:
• Super bright spot mode
• Comfy
• Lightweight

Cons:
• Relatively weak wide mode
• Blinding (not great around other people)
• Light fails at cold temperature
• The button is really hard to press

I prefer my Tactikka plus to this light. I usually go camping or backpacking with a few buddies, and this thing is no fun in camp. (see my first comment) However, it's great on night hikes; we usually give the spot to whoever is in the front of the group.

Good lamp in terms of brightness. It's incredibly bright and has great features. Red LED, bright spot light, more wide angle light, and it has a dimming function which I use quite often. However, it seems to eat batteries. It goes through a few brand new batteries and in less than about 4 hours of use, the lights starts to get pretty weak.

I don't have too much original information to express except that the housing is in fact tiltable even though the specs on backcountry say it is not. Other than that it is super bright, very light and after a couple uses it is second nature switching between bright/dim/strobe/red. It has quickly replaced all other headlamps!

I've been using this for 6 months. I do a lot of night ice climbing and it works fantastic for both the climb as well as the hike down after. Also used for mountaineering and even some caving. In every case my headlamp was by far the brightest in the group and the batteries lasted the longest. The only things I don't like are the weaker wide beam, but I guess it's supposed to be weaker, and the button can be hard to push. I can live with those cons, when all of the pluses are available.

The other comments kind of lay it out: The spot shines brighter than justice, not the best wide lighting, and the button can be tricky. Actually, what I find the most difficult about the lamp is it's fairly symmetrical shape, meaning it takes me a quick second to figure out which way is up when putting it on. I have to find the button then arrange the headstrap accordingly. Again, as this takes me all of a second, this isn't a serious problem. Other than that, I feel that the control functions are good - much more intuitive than my wifes Tikka 2, and even my daughters BD Wiz. There doesn't seem to be another lamp at this price that offers this many functions. Bomber piece of gear!

older version: great, bright light! plenty of settings, except no red. never lost the trail in the dark with this guy on my head. rain resistant. cannot attest to waterproof ability where submersion is concerned. no problems. got this guy off SAC for $25, grrrrreat purchase for the price. no complaints. buy this thing.

new version: paid full retail for this thing and i would do it again. well constructed and bright enough for my purposes. i like the addition of the red setting from the previous version. i take this and the older version of this same light with me every time i hit the trails. granted, i dont have any of the $100+ headlamps to compare it too, but these work well for me.

Dollar for dollar, one of the best headlamps on the market for the price.
Super bright, light(for the lumen output), and rather comfortable.
The battery life has been pleasing as well.
I would buy this headlamp over and over again.

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As others have stated, the new 2010 BD Spotlight is a very solid (if not best in its class). The bright lights, dimmable feature, red lights and battery indicator are all great. And, if it's anything like other BD headlamps I've had, it'll last a long time.

My only gripe is that it's sometimes difficult to remember the right button pushes to activate different features (have to click and hold button for 4 seconds to turn on red light, for example). None are super complex and the instructions are clear, but they can be hard to remember when using it late at night for the first time after a while.

Overall, a great performer and choice. If I had it to purchase again, I'd still get the same one.

This is a great product at a very attractive price. I will add to past reviewers who have troubles with the button: I don't find the button to be difficult at all when operating with bare hands, but is much more difficult with gloves on. I also personally do not have any issues with adjusting the settings. A quick read of the manual is all it took; I actually really enjoy the manner in which you change settings.

Two features that I love about this headlamp are, first, how adjustable the light settings are. You can always find the perfect, most efficient setting for anything you may need. Secondly, this thing is rock solid in regards to durability. I have punished mine and it works time and time again.

One feature I wish it had is waterproof construction. Though my Spot has been through both rain, snow, and dropped in puddles, I still wish the box read "Waterproof."

I have and will continue to recommend this product.

i can't elaborate on anything that has already been said. this superior headlamp has been reviewed to the max!

My first head light, and while I have little to compare it to I have no complaints. The 1 watt bulb is VERY bright. Flood setting proved adequate while hiking and snowshoeing. The red LED's are also a nice option to have. They give a very dim light which I found useful for that late night pee trip out the tent, while having conversations without blinding anyone, and while enjoying the moonlight and stars ll while maintaining low light around camp. Battery life is superb and build quality is great. I may even pick up extras for myself I love it that much.

Awesome headlight!! This is by far the brightest flashlight I have owned. It is also light and compact. Buy it! You will not regret it!

I bought this headlamp a few months before the Storm came out. It was a good headlamp but since I didn't really use it when the Storm came out I returned it and bought that.

For the additional $10 the Storm is a better deal (waterproof, regulated, flood beam twice as bright, main beam 25% brighter.

However the spot beam is a little better looking in the Spot. It's not great in the Spot however just better than the Storm. The problem is just the cheap optics used. It's quite usable however.

Before the Storm came out I'd say the Spot beat everything out there in its category. The user interface is logical and if you read the instructions once you won't have to read them again.

The lockout mode, battery indicator lights, ability to use the red lights without triggering white light first...these are all great features.

The flood mode produces very pleasing light but it's just a little too weak to be useful outside of the tent. This is corrected in the Storm however.

I like the button better on the Spot even though it is a bit hard to find.

There isn't a better headlamp out there for this price.

Picked this up on steepandcheap for $20. I've had it for about a year, and the batteries are finally starting to die after using it quite a bit. The two brightness settings are nice, and the long-distance light is very impressive. The headband sometimes gets irritating on my forehead, but it's still a great buy. Perfect for virtually any type of hiking, going down into my scary basement, and makes a nice addition to my night cycling getup.

I was concerned about buying a nearly entry level priced headlamp. My friend's have spent over $100 for their's and they are very nice. A quality and performance I would like, but couldn't afford at the time of purchase. I wasn't sure how this model would fare against their pricer units, but I have to say I am impressed. The control button is pretty easy to use and the battery life is good. I was concerned about the issue people had opening the battery compartment, but it is not as hard as some have made it sound, (or it's been improved).

For the price this little headlamp is just awesome. My husband and I each have one and it has survived many many caving, climbing, and camping adventures. +1 to all the positive reviews already posted.

You've heard the good, so here are a few negatives:
The batteries are extremely hard to change!! I always feel I am seconds away from breaking it. I actually think BD's instructions on how to open it is how my next negative occurred.

The plastic head strap holder snapped. It still holds on to the strap and the headlamp just fine, but it no longer holds tight enough to direct the light. Now it just hangs limp like a dead fish staring at the ground. You can wear it upside down, but then the light points more upward and you blind all your fellow outdoorspeople. This happened with both our Spots, and when I asked about it at the outdoor shop where I bought it, the employees just laughed and said "yeah, that always happens."

But the lamps lasted more than a year before that happened. They are very bright and I had no real complaints until that strap holder broke. For my next headlamp I will be trying something different.

I bought this light, so I could leave one in my pack and have the other for use at the house. This light is very bright. It has two settings, low and hight and also dims, so is great for both hiking and reading. The large single button is easy to use with gloves on. All in all a great lamp.

Black Diamond Spot Headlamp is a nice option for a lightweight headlamp. I purchased 2 of these headlamps for having "around the house/camp/car"..........The Spot has some nice features like being able to tilt to different angles.......the dimming capabilities.......and a nice lock mode so that it doesn't accidentally turn on in your pack. Black Diamond products are known for their quality, and you can see the Spot is no different. Even though it may be considered a lightweight model......it is built and performs just like or better than some of the "other competitors" higher priced models.

As we prepare for a trip to the Outer Banks, NC......the BD Spot will be a nice addition to have on our heads while "ghost crabbing" and surf fishing at night on the beach.

Great lamp so far just recently took it to rocky mountain national park. It makes walking in the dark a breeze with the spotlight mode and the 2 smaller led's make camp work more then doable without using excess battery life. The trips conditions where mild with temps from 76-40 degrees and slight rain at times and I did not have one problem or complaint as for as the lamp goes.

This headlamp is super bright and shines farther then most would ever need in the spotlight mode, however the flood light is comparable to a $20 headlamp.

I find the red light to be kind of gimmicky since it really all that bright, but it worked well in a tent while trying not to wake up my girlfriend with a bright light in her face.

I own both headlamps and prefer the spot to the Tikka XP. It is brighter, has a better spot mode, has a better wide mode, and also has a red night vision mode for when you want a bit more light, without sacrificing all of your night vision. I can't comment on the cold weather performance on either light however, as I've only had them down to around 20F.

Let me tell you something about this headlamp.

I bought it because I wanted something light and reliable on a Mt Fuji snow ascent. It's cold up there in winter - minus 15 celcius ambient and down to minus 40 with wind chill.

But I never had the opportunity to use my new headlamp at those temps because it failed at minus 5. Inside my tent, on a moonless night, trying to set up my stove, sort my gear, eat, etc in PITCH DARKNESS AT MINUS 5 BECAUSE THIS DAMNED THING FAILED.

I ended up with stove water inside the tent (which later solidified into a solid block) and frozen fingers because of all the gloveless fumbling around in the dark.

My money was better spent on the 50 cent cigarette lighter that I had to use instead.

I've bought Black diamond equipment before and had no problems, but don't rely on this lamp.

And yeah - of course it works fine again now.

Es asombrosa la luz de esta lampara, cuando al carro se le dañaron las luces en la carretera esta lampara fue la salvacion llegando a ilumiar mas que la luz de una motocicleta.

It's amazing how light this lamp, when the car lights was damaged on the road this lamp was a salvation coming to light more than a motorcycle.

I bought the 2008 model before i cycled cross country in 2009.These have all the features i loved so much on the 2008 models. Plus they finally put the red lights on there. And yes the reds are dim......they"re supposed to be. That way when your gorilla camping your light, hopefully, won't give away your position. The new way of dimming the mains is an improvement as well. instead of clicking now you just hold the power button. I dare anyone to buy these and see how long they can stare into the main lamp. I guarantee you wont make it a minute without permanent eye damage! Bottom line, all i can say is these are the superior headlamps for under a couple of hundred bucks. They're reliable,functional and very durable. An excellent product.

I walk my dog before the sun gets up and this headlamp lights up the surrounding area for 75 to 100 ft ahead. This is the best headlamp I've owned. The only drawback is the on/off switch requires me to take off my gloves

Well I have to say this thing is Bright! I know there are other Great headlamps out there but, this thing is Awesome!
I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to get a new/first time headlamp. You can access with batteries without a big hassle and they added a red light to this latest model. I have to say Black Diamond has a great deal of Stellar products and this is one of them.

this headlamp is crazy bright, as in it feels like day time when it is dark. has amazing burn time and even shows how much battery life is left so you are never caught in the dark. get one.

Lightweight, bright, easy to use and I like the different settings. Definitely worth the price! I bought one for my father-in-law and he cant wait to test it out.