When I first saw Black Diamond's Icon headlamp redux for Spring 2012 ($79.95), I was immedately intrigued by its cool metal body. So intrigued, in fact, that I accidentally hit the power button while I was staring into the bulb. It was like getting maced with light.
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| Getting blasted in the face by 200 lumens really helps you gain confidence in a headlamp. |
That's how I met the 2012 Icon's QuadPower LED bulb, whose 200 lumens (versus the current model's 100 lumens) are estimated to throw a beam up to 100 meters, making the Icon the brightest headlamp in Black Diamond's lineup by leaps and bounds. The Icon also sports a 35-lumen setting powered by two SinglePower LEDs for slower pursuits, like camp cooking or setting up your tent. It's also got two red LEDs that can be accessed without turning on the white LEDs to give you a bit of light without killing your night vision.
The super-bright setting comes in handy with anything from high-speed pursuits like trail running to high-dark pursuits like spelunking, while the lower setttings are handy for mellow campsite activities like setting up your tent or assembling your JetBoil.
The one-button functionality is great, too - you can switch between both high and low beam settings and adjust their brightness by holding the button down. The red LEDs are accessed by holding the button down when you turn it on, which bypasses the other two settings and keeps your night vision intact. It runs on four AA batteries, and its max burn times are 75 hours on the highest setting, 175 on the lowest.
I had a friend of mine test it out on an evening trail run while I ran with Black Diamond's new Sprinter model on my head. The Sprinter's 75 lumens lit up the area, but the Icon dominated the dark. With him running behind me, my shadow ran ahead of me in sharp relief for the duration of the run, and I was treated to a sweeping view of the woods around me every time he looked around.
The Icon (with the batteries) weighs about 8 ounces, but the topstrap kept bouncing to a minimum, and neither my tester nor I felt like it was uncomfortably heavy.
Add the aforementioned tough metallic exterior and a waterproof housing (protected against immersion down to 1 meter for 30 minutes), and you're looking at a headlamp that'll take your flashlight's lunch money.
If you want to turn night into day (or you're trying to attract Mothra), you're going to be hard-pressed to find this many lumens for this many dollars.
Just don't look directly into the thing.
