Black Diamond Icon

Multi-functional mountain headlamp

At the beginning of last year, my headlamp was destroyed during a skiing trip. After that I used the tiny lamp of my bike. To go to the toilets when it?s dark or to check something in my backpack no problem. But to walk on a glacier at night, the range is a bit short. With such a lamp or even with an ultra-light headlamp with a LED you can?t see far enough.

For me a headlamp must be a good compromise between:

• weight,
• battery autonomy,
• lighting power,
• Multi-functionality.

Last summer I could test Black Diamond Icon. Here are my impressions.

The first half of July I was in the Dolomites. For local ascensions ? mostly at this time of the year ? it isn?t useful to start in the dark. Where to test this headlamp then? In the Dolomites there still are prints of World War one among witch "Stollen" (= corridors in mountains): an ideal place to test a headlamp. During world War one, the Italians and Austrian-Hungarians fought and stayed on their positions. The first line of battle grew bigger from the Ortler above the Dolomites up to Carniques and Juliques Alps. Many "Klettersteigen" (Via Ferrata) appeared everywhere in the area. Some of them go through tunnels more then a hundred meters long. Walking in these "Stollen" without a helmet and a headlamp would be suicide ? at least if you?re 1,70 m tall.

Black Diamond?s Icon did a good job. This headlamp is made of one central LED of 3 Watt that lights up to 80 meters, and of 4 super LED for a closer view (in total the lamp has got 7 positions: 3 for the central LED, 3 economic for the others and 1 ?blinking?).
The headlamp is turned on and off with only one button under the lamp. The transition from one position to the other is also by this button witch is easy to use with gloves. And the button is positioned in a way that you will rarely find your headlamp light on in your backpack. It happened to me with other lamps, and the uses the battery really quickly.

At home I used the headlamp will jogging or on my bike coming back from work. After having an accident in March it was even more important for me to upgrade mu security as cyclist while ridding. I was in my right but that does not help when you?re at the hospital ;-)
The double sling (around and above the head) makes the lamp very steady. Important while running, walking or biking. For the people interested, the Icon can be adapted - depending on your preferences - under or above a helmet. The lamp can also easily be adjusted up and down.

A negative point is the weight. This because of the batteries on the back, the Icon is heavier (180 grams) than the light and ultra-light models available. But Black Diamond really tried to make it the smallest and the lightest possible. For that some material used aren?t really resistant. In other words, don?t let the headlamp fall on a stone hard ground. The part holding the battery seams quite fragile.

Technical details

+/++	Weight
++/+++	Battery?s autonomy
+++	Lighting power
+++	Multi-functionality
Autonomy	One 3-Watt LED (3 positions: 70h / 88h / 104h) Four 5mm LED's (3 positions: 90h / 108h / 164h) Battery-indicator (red-yellow-green)
Lighting distance	Max 80 meters
Weight	180 grams
Public advised price	59,90 EUR
Info	www.bdel.com

Peter Vanhoof

 

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