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Andreas shows the Icon is simple to operate even with large gloves. Learning the configurations is fast, and still relatively easy to guess if when you forget the pattern, again.īonus: the button is simple and easy to activate even with large gloves. I found the Icon headlamp much easier to operate than my old Petzl MYO that had a minuscule button that made for a frustrating experience with gloved hands and was still a pain even with my small naked fingers. There is one large button on the top that controls everything from the lock, strobe, red light, and brightness adjustments with clicks or holds. The operation of the Icon’s different modes is simple and fairly intuitive. Though it does mean you could easily burn through one-set of batteries on a gnarly mountain bike descent. Typical use would likely see the headlamp operated at a minimum/medium output until there is a need for additional illumination during tricky route finding avoiding crevasses, or communicating with the Mir space station. For the vast majority of activities it’s rare to need constant max output. However, other than feeling jipped by marketing, this is less of an issue than it might appear. And the 75 hour promise comes with caveats.
#Black diamond storm headlamp battery life full
Note: After 14 hours of use we tested the life of the batteries and they read on the low side of “good.” It’s not surprising to see the dramatic difference after such a long duration at high output, but it illustrates that you can’t expect to get the full 320 lumens for an all-night excursion. We did a rough and dirty comparison of the maximum light output with fresh batteries (after 5 minutes of use) and the light output with batteries that had been going for 14 hours on max brightness.
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According to Black Diamond’s user instructions, on full power, the Icon’s output will drop to 90% of max within 30 minutes and 25% at 10 hours. So you do get 320 lumens at max output with fresh batteries, but you won’t be getting 320 lumens, or anything close to it, for 75 hours. So although the stated max burn time at maximum output of the Icon is 75 hours (no, that’s not a typo, and yes, that’s 13 hours more than Petzl’s most-powerful $185 Nao), the output will drop substantially during that time. With the Icon at max brightness, the output will taper off over the life of the batteries. The burn time of the Black Diamond headlamps, including the Icon, is not as straight-forward as the Petzl headlamps which include technology (“constant lighting”) to maintain a consistent output for the duration of the battery. The 4 AA batteries and QuadPower LEDs provide a stated maximum of 320 lumens which is substantial considering the next brightest Black Diamond headlamp, the Storm, tops out at 160 lumens (the most similar priced Petzl Tikka RXP maxes out at 215 lumens). We found the Icon to be 236.6g, Black Diamond’s stated Icon weight is 230g. At 8.35oz / 236.6g with Duracell Quantum batteries installed, the Icon is not a featherweight headlamp but it shines in situations that involve challenging route finding, high speed descents (like mountain biking and skiing), pre-dawn wake-up calls and all-night pushes. Powered by 4 AA batteries, the Icon is Black Diamond’s most powerful headlamp.