Icon Headlamp

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

I'm an Alaskan guide. I've used headlamps since they first came out. This is the best one yet. It is bright for hiking and camp use. Excellent battery life. It is perfect for cooking in the dark. I recommend it.

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

I have been avoiding LED lights, because until now most of them are not bright enough to be used safely for night outings at higher speeds, such as cross country skiing. Our group skis at a pretty good pace for 2-3 hours at night on narrow wooded trails. Good lighting is essential. This is the first main stream, readily available LED lamp I have tested that is bright enough for this purpose. I have tested other brands in this price range and most of them are unsafe (not bright enough). The ICON passes the that test! Great light!

I wish the battery case was better (see other reviews).

I wish there was a super bright setting to turn on flood and spot together for dangerous downhills and etc ...

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

Good headlamp, super bright. good adjustment.

TERRIBLE battery compartment. It had to have been designed by idiots. Not even close to water resistant, the screw is a pain, and the batteries are hard to get in. Loading new batteries in a tight situation in the field would be a nightmare.

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

This is a great lamp. It was cheaper than others with the same features and range. The Icon's beam settings work great for a wide range of use. It is light enough to jog with but powerful enough for those AM peak starts.

The only con I can think of are more about intended use. If you don't need the power, I would get a smaller lamp for simple activities like jogging or for backup on day trips. This lamp has 6 settings, 3 for the focus beam, 3 for the flood. I would like to see a setting that uses both flood and beam for higher speed activities.

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

overall this light is great, everyone else seems to be a little duller!! i have 4 headlights and this is #1!! thank you

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

This is the best head lamp yet. I've loved Petzl, the BD Moonlight and Gemni, but this is the brightest beam of all. Lots of adjustment to suit the trail or wall. Our last trip to a peak started in the dark with me bringing up the rear. By the time we were into route finding, they asked me to go first, since the Icon was amazingly bright, especially at long distances.

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

The main beam on this lamp is fairly narrow, but it is great when you want to see a far distance ahead or up a wall. Unless I really need to see far with the main beam, I find that I can generally run it on a lower setting, thus stretching out the battery life even further. For all close up work like around a campsite, I use the 4 smaller LEDs, which use even less power.

In reference to the first person's comments, you might want to check your rechargeable battery life again after a few recharges. Some rechargeable batteries don't hold a charge as well when they are new. If they still don't hold the charge they should, then request a new battery set from BD as you might have received a bad pack.

Comments about Black Diamond Icon Headlamp:

Very bright for it's size and weight. The beam is a bit narrow. good for route finding and seeing distant objects. I got the rechargeable battery kit and was very dissapointed with its battery life. BD told me it may be a bit less then regular batteries but were quite vauge about details, so I tried it. The literature with the battery kit shows 17hr life on high (down from 70hrs for regular batteries). I charged the batteries fully and turned it on. After just 8hrs the light was to dimm to be of any use. I am a bit sceptical of the 70hr claim but at 16hrs with regular batteries the light still is plenty bright.