Gear Review – Black Diamond Spot Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot Headlamp
18
SEPTEMBER, 2022
I bought my second Black Diamond Spot headlamp in early 2021, just after our Cheaha Wilderness hike in Alabama. It replaced a perfectly good Spot headlamp I had purchased in 2020. Why replace an essentially brand-new headlamp? I’ll explain that below – one new feature sold me. The Black Diamond Spot headlamp is an affordable 400-lumen, multi-mode headlamp that is small and lightweight. I have owned many headlamps during my backpacking career, but the Black Diamond Spot may be the perfect headlamp for backpacking.
Black Diamond Spot Headlamp – Overview and Specifications
The Spot headlamp I bought in early 2021 is called the Spot 350. The version that Black Diamond currently sells is the Spot 400. As you might suspect, the primary difference is the Spot 400 is a brighter, 400-lumen headlamp. The Spot uses three AAA batteries for power. Three separate LED lighting elements provide: (1) a bright, focused ‘distance’ mode that is plenty bright enough to be used for night hiking, (2) a lower-power, wide-angle light that is perfect for use inside a tent at night, and (3) a red-light mode for maintaining night vision. The Spot is IPX8-rated waterproof, meaning it can be submerged in 1.1 meters of water for 30 minutes. It has a lock feature that prevents accidental turn-on.
“This headlamp has worked perfectly. The controls are intuitive and it’s very bright! It is lightweight, so it’s no big deal to throw it in my bag even if I don’t think I’m going to use it. Great product!” – Customer Review
Size and Weight
The Black Diamond Spot headlamp is not the smallest one you can buy, but it is relatively small. The dimensions are 2.25 inches long, 1.5 inches wide, and a litter over 1 inch thick. The Black Diamond website lists the weight of the Spot 400 as 44.5 grams without batteries and 77.5 grams with AAA batteries (alkaline batteries, I assume). I weighed my older Spot 350. Without batteries, it weighed 48 grams, and with three AAA Energizer lithium batteries, it weighed 71 grams. The newer, brighter Spot 400 is lighter than the 350. Regarding batteries, I recommend using only Energizer lithium batteries. They are more expensive, but they are considerably lighter than alkaline. It’s a cheap and easy way to shave some weight off your gear.
Beam tilt adjustment
You can adjust where the light beam points up and down. The head strap weaves through a plastic plate on the back of the Spot 350. The plate is attached to the headlamp’s body with a hinge with a simple friction ratchet system to hold it in position. It allows you to tilt the beam from straight forward to about 45 degrees below horizontal.
Black Diamond Spot Headlamp controls
Controlling the Black Diamond Spot is simple and intuitive. There are only two buttons. The larger button turns the headlamp on and off using a single push. Double pressing the large button while the Spot is on will enable strobe mode with whichever LED is active. A single press of the large button will turn it off. Pressing and holding the large button while on will adjust the brightness up and down. Release the large button at the desired brightness. The smaller button controls the active LED. Pressing the smaller button while the headlamp is on will cycle between the white spot beam LED, the white wide-angle LED, and the red LED. That’s it – the Spot 350 is simple to operate.
Lockout feature – what prompted me to buy the new Spot
The one thing I didn’t like about the old Spot headlamp was that it was easy to turn it on inadvertently. I keep the headlamp in my ’emergency’ storage bag inside my pack while hiking. This bag contains my first aid kit, duct tape, leukotape, etc… Random pressure on the headlamp buttons while inside my pack had turned the Spot on while hiking on multiple occasions. This caused the batteries to run down, and the headlamp was dead when I needed to use it. Carl purchased the new version of the Spot in early 2021. When I asked him about it during our March 2021 Cheaha Wilderness hike he told me it had a great new ‘button lockout’ feature.
The lockout is enabled if you hold both buttons simultaneously for three seconds. The red LED will flash multiple times to indicate you have successfully enabled the lockout. If you press either button while the lockout is enabled, the red LED will flash several times to indicate the lockout must be disabled to turn the headlamp on. The lockout feature works great. No more dead batteries!
Conclusion – Black Diamond Spot headlamp
With the button lockout feature, the new Black Diamond Spot headlamp is the perfect backpacking headlamp. It is small and lightweight yet casts a powerful beam of light. The picture below was taken during my October 2021 Tecumseh Trail hike and showed the power of the narrow beam LED. It is bright enough to hike in total darkness easily. Intuitive controls allow you to easily switch between the two white LEDs and one red LED and control the brightness. It is comfortable and can be worn for long periods without noticing you’re even wearing it. I own the older Spot 350. The current Spot 400 version is even better – it’s lighter and brighter! For its features, the $49.95 cost is a bargain. You can purchase the Spot 400 here. I’m not the only one who thinks highly of the Spot. It has won the REI Editor’s Choice award in multiple years, including 2022. I highly recommend the Black Diamond Spot headlamp.
I am a ‘content creator’ with a passion for backpacking, creating videos, photography, and writing – with a healthy dose of all things outdoors on the side!
