The Black Diamond Distance 1500. All photographs: iRunFar
Howdy darkness my outdated pal…. It’s winter within the Northern Hemisphere! Whether or not you name it a headlamp, torch, or head torch, that is the time of yr the place working requires a very good gentle for path working in the course of the workweek. Regardless of the late morning and early night darkness that appears omnipresent this time of yr, a well-lit run within the crisp darkness may be peaceable and rewarding as you glide down the path transfixed in your orb of sunshine. Fortunately, headlamps aren’t the weak, eye-fatiguing, lights they was. We now have long-lasting rechargeable batteries, tiny lights packing plenty of lumens, and splendidly highly effective headlamps for all method of multi-day extremely journey.
I’ve been testing two Black Diamond headlamps for the final six months that really are on reverse ends of the headlamp spectrum. The Black Diamond Deploy 325 ($60) could be the smallest, most snug, and most packable headlamp I’ve ever used that doesn’t sacrifice energy or battery life, whereas the Black Diamond Distance 1500 ($200) is probably the most highly effective headlamp I’ve ever used to gentle up the paths.
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Black Diamond Deploy 325 Evaluate
A entrance view of the Black Diamond Deploy 325.
The Black Diamond Deploy 325 ($60) is a 38-gram wisp of a headlamp that’s unmatched in its versatility. It’s designed to be extremely versatile with an simply adjustable elastic strap related to a versatile rubber headlamp physique that conforms to your head, and has a gentle rubberized backing the place it sits in your brow.
Designed to be worn below the brim of a hat, I discovered that I might put on the Deploy 325 any method I selected in absolute consolation; instantly on my brow, below a hat, over a buff or cap, and I by no means felt any stress factors or must take away the lamp when the solar got here up. The Deploy 325 doesn’t bounce in any respect and I discovered the angle that the sunshine is at completely good for all path situations.
The Deploy 325 has three settings: low (six lumens), medium (180 lumens), and excessive (325 lumens.) These completely different energy settings additionally auto modify the angle of the sunshine beam, which I discovered intuitive and utilitarian. There’s a lock button, a strobe mode, and a dimming operate accessed by holding down the button till you attain your required lumen degree. On excessive the battery burn time is 2.5 hours, and on medium it’s 4.3 hours. I can confirm that these are fairly correct, though I didn’t check the low, six-lumen setting burn time, which is reportedly 30 hours. Battery degree is simple to detect, with three blue LEDs on the underside of the headlamp, and it prices rapidly by USB-C.
This headlamp has been worn working, biking, canine strolling, tenting, and in most house restore conditions. When discounted, I’d take into account the Deploy 325 a should purchase to simply have always in your pack.
Black Diamond Distance 1500 Evaluate
A entrance view of the Black Diamond Distance 1500.
The Black Diamond Distance 1500 ($200) is absolutely the coup de grâce of Black Diamond’s headlamp line and it’s designed for in a single day endurance pushes. There are a lot of tech options right here and I’m going to focus on the primary options I discovered distinctive and useable about this headlamp.
The 1500-lumen quantity is a bit deceptive, because the headlamp isn’t designed to operate on most energy on a regular basis whereas working. As a substitute, the Distance 1500 is designed to offer a excessive degree of sunshine for an extended time period, to get you thru the night time of a technical path ultramarathon or journey. One full battery lasts eight hours at 300 lumens for this 213-gram headlamp, with the PowerTap increase function, which supplies you a 1500-lumen increase whereas in search of a path marker or route discovering. The sunshine forged by the Distance 1500 is marketed to cut back shadows, and I discovered that the broader forged allowed me to be extra conscious of my environment and never really feel like I used to be following a slender band of sunshine.
The Distance 1500 additionally permits for altering the colour of the sunshine to purple, inexperienced, or blue. I discovered this was tremendous good in camp after I didn’t wish to soften anybody’s retinas, or if I used to be simply packing up at night time. The change in gentle on the path permits the eyes a distinct stimuli as effectively. The rear of the headlamp may be set at both a constant purple gentle or a flashing purple gentle, which is nice for security or attempting to stay collectively on the path. I discovered the Distance 1500 very snug and the cradle is designed to be worn at a couple of 35-degree angle on the top for optimum consolation.
One other unbelievable function of this headlamp is the power to very simply swap out rechargeable battery packs in seconds, even whereas sporting cumbersome ski gloves. The flexibility to hold one other light-weight and compact battery means that you can run the headlamp at 600 lumens for eight hours. I’d extremely advocate shopping for an additional $60 battery to make use of this function. It might have a excessive price ticket, however the Distance 1500 additionally has three-year guarantee.
General Impressions
A aspect view of the Black Diamond Deploy 325.
First off, with the Black Diamond Deploy 325 being on sale for $45 at instances, this gentle is mostly a should have for any runner. It’s so extremely light-weight, stashable, and has a formidable battery life. That is the perfect light-weight headlamp I’ve ever used.
If you’re somebody seeking to full multi-night or extremely technical in a single day path adventures, then the battery-swapping function of the Black Diamond Distance 1500 actually is unbeatable. I’ve swapped non-rechargeable batteries in addition to different rechargeable batteries earlier than and this setup is a lot simpler.
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