When buying a headlamp, many people think all they need/want is a light that turns on and off with maybe a few light settings.  As technology is changing our lives with facebook, iPods, smartphones, etc; it’s also changing how we play outdoors.  I’ve been testing out the Black Diamond Spot Headlamp and while it might look basic from the outside, it is anything but.

The Black Diamond Spot Headlamp is full of innovative features that some people might have never thought of, but will definitely use.  For starters, the BD Spot comes with a dimmer switch that allows the user to pick the exact lighting preference they want.  This comes in useful if you are doing a little reading and don’t need the full 75 lumens allowing you to save some battery life.  For regular lighting, there are two options to choose from.  You can choose from one large white LED located in the center of the Spot headlamp or you can choose from using the two white LED’s on the outer part of the headlamp.  The outer lights don’t shine as far, but they save on battery life.  There is another option to use red LED’s which help prevent you from getting night blindness.

For emergency situation or if you want to throw a party in your tent, there is a strobe light feature by pressing the button 3 times. This strobe can be used with both the red and white LED’s.  One feature that I haven’t seen on other headlamps is the locking feature.  By pressing down the on/off button for 6 seconds, you can lock the headlamps, so you won’t accidently turn it on.  To unlock it, you just need to hold down the button for another 6 seconds.  If you’re headed out for a trip and not sure if your batteries are charged enough for your adventure, there is a battery indicator which tells you how much juice you have with different light indicators.  It is also neat to see that you will get one light color when using the large center LED and another color when using the two outer LED’s.  The headband on the BD Spot has a number of fun color and design options for those that want to add a little flair.  5 years ago, you would pay $80-$100 dollars for a headlamp with fewer features, today the retail price for the Black Diamond Spot is $40.  Not too shabby…  For more information on the BD Spot Headlamp, please visit BlackDiamondEquipment.com

LED Type : 1 DoublePower, 4 SinglePower (2 white, 2 red)
Lumens : 75
Max Distances : 70 m (DoublePower LED); 15 m (2 SinglePower LEDs)
Max Burn Time : 200 H (DoublePower LED); 250 H (2 SinglePower LEDs)
Batteries : 3 AAA included
Weight Without Batteries : 54 g (1.9 oz)

Whether you’re out backpacking, car camping, hiking, or doing a 24 hour running stage race, a good quality headlamp can sometimes make your break your adventure.  I’ve recently been testing out the Mammut S-Lite headlamp for my own adventures and have been very pleased so far.  Compared to traditional headlamps, the Mammut S-Lite is lighter, more compact, but still packs a punch for lighting. Typically when you shave weight and size, it is easy to compromise the integrity of the product, but I have found no signs of that with the S-Lite.

The Mammut S-Lite has 3 LED’s that work in a number of lighting options.  You can use 1, 2, or 3 lights at one time depending on your needs.  Sometimes if you are reading in the tent, all you need is 1 light.  There are also times where 1 light just won’t cut it.  Giving you the option to choose your light strength allows you to save on battery life.  Speaking of that, the Mammut S-Lite only takes 1 AA battery while many other headlamps often take 2-3 AA’s.  The 1 AA provides plenty of life contrary to what you might expect.  On high, it provides 10 hours of light, on medium, it provides 30 hours of light, and on low, it provides 60 hours of light.  With 3 LED’s working at the same time(high), you get 18 meters of light, and 15 and 10 meters respectively for 2 and 1 LED/s being used.

What I like most about the Mammut S-Lite is the size.  It’s great to throw in your daypack in case you get stuck overnight, it’s super light for using while running at night, it’s light and compact for backpacking, and it works just fine for car camping.  The Mammut S-Lite retails for $19.95 which I feel is a nice price point for a quality headlamp.  If you are in the market for a new headlamp or looking to reduce weight and size of your current headlamp, it’s worth taking a look at the Mammut S-Lite.  For more information, please visit Mammut.ch

Whether you’re enjoying a good book or a game of cards in your tent or hanging out with friends around the campsite, it’s nice to have a good light.  For camping, there are different lights for different uses. There are headlamps that work nicely on your forehead when you want direct light on an object or area.  For lighting larger areas with less direct light, lanterns are very useful.

I’ve been testing out the Hozuki Lantern by Snow Peak on the past few camping trips and absolutely loved it.  When I first saw the light, I thought it was a good idea, but I thought the price tag was way off.  $89 for a light is pretty spendy, especially when you can get a headlamp or lantern for $30-$50.  And while the Hozuki Lantern is much more expensive, don’t let that completely deter you.

With old school lanterns, you typically need some sort of fuel source where you have to light a match and hope that it connects with the fuel in the lanterns lamp.  These lanterns are a little dated, but there are many still in use today and definitely still have their place.  The Hozuki Lantern is a battery powered lantern with the option to plug it in with a USB cord if you run out of batteries or don’t want to use batteries.  The USB is a nice touch as more and more products are starting to use USB cords, so as odd as it seems, I have a feeling USB cords and their power sources will become more popular as the years go on. And while the USB is a nice touch, it’s not what sets this light apart.

The Snow Peak Hozuki Lantern has a silicone shell that is similar to that of a Chinese paper lantern.  The light emitted is not a piercing light, but more of a soothing light.  This does not mean that it doesn’t produce a good amount of light, because with the Hozuki pumping out 100 lumens you get plenty of light. What I liked best about this light is the dimmer switch.  While many electric lanterns have 2-3 different light options, the Hozuki light has a dimmer switch that allows the lantern to provide the specific amount of lighting you want.  Around the campsite this isn’t as much as an issue, but in the tent when you typically want a little less light, you can adjust as needed.  Another feature that sets the Hozuki Lantern apart from others is its candle mode.  All you need to do is push the on button twice and it starts to flicker just like candle does.  For me, I thought it was really cool, but I personally prefer a steady stream of light versus flickering.

When I first saw this light online, I thought that it would be perfect for backpacking.  I first picked up the light and I was a little disappointed as it is somewhat heavy for a light its size.  If you like to keep your pack light, it might be better to stick with a headlamp.  If weight isn’t a big issue while backpacking, I think it would be worth throwing in your pack.  All in all, I really enjoyed the Snow Peak Hozuki Lantern, but I would like to see the price go down about $20.  For more information, please visit SnowPeak.com

One of my favorite camping products of the season so far is the Kelty Lumapivot Lantern.  With exception to a full moon, there is not a whole lot else on the market that can pack as much light as the Kelty Lumapivot Lantern.  I recently went camping up in Golden Gate State Park for my first camping trip of the season and the Lumapivot was one of the products I was testing.  This lantern provides a TON of light all while being compact, nimble and lightweight.  As you can see in the pictures, the LED bulbs are connected to two plate like surfaces that rotate in any direction you can think of, 360 degrees.  One of the things I liked about the pivoting arms was that I could have one side directing light at the ground while walking and one side directing light in front of me, perfect for those late night trips to the bathroom.  This also works really well around the campsite.  When cleaning up or cooking, I like to have enough light to move around the campground and that typically means I need a couple sources of light, i.e. two lanterns or headlamps.  With the Kelty Lumapivot lantern, I could eliminate one lighting source.

With 6 AA batteries, you can get 6 hours with the lantern on high and 12 hours with the lantern on low.  I thought this was ok, but I would really like to see the light use a rechargeable battery.  And while there are rechargeable AA’s you can get almost anywhere, I would have liked to see a rechargeable battery come with the Kelty Lumapivot Lantern.  6 AA batteries seems wasteful to me and I cringe every time I have to get rid of non-rechargeable batteries.

While in the low setting, the Lumapivot gives off 60 lumens and while on the high setting, you can get 110 lumens out of the lantern.  This provides a fairly good source of light up to 20 feet and it starts to disperse and gets dimmer after that distance.  I found the distance of light provided to be plenty around the campground.

At a steal of a deal at $49.99, I think the Kelty Lumapivot Lantern should be on everyone’s camping equipment list.  For more information, please visitKelty.com

Whether you’re car camping or backpacking, having a reliable light source is definitely something you want to put on your list of gear to bring.  I’ve been testing out the Energizer Solar Carabiner Crank LED Light for a number of camping trips where I was far away from civilization and buying a set of batteries was not really an option.  Since this light does not require batteries, I didn’t have to worry about running out of batteries or whether my batteries had enough juice.

There are two ways in which you can provide energy for lighting; first, you can allow the solar panel to collect enough energy from the sun and second, you can use the crank handle to generate energy for the flashlight to run off.  The solar panel is my first option as it is pretty convenient to lay the flashlight on a rock or picnic table that is in direct sunlight and head out for a hike or whatever your activity is.  There have been times where I left it out while away and it was really cloudy, so it really depends on the weather.  The crank is nice because it folds into the flashlight.  This way it won’t get snagged on other objects which could break the handle.  While turning the crank, I found the motion to be fairly easy.  It is not something I would not want to do for more than a few minutes though.  If you’re hanging around the campfire, you can crank it from time to time to give your hands a rest.  If you have kids on the other hand, you can always keep them entertained and give them a task.

The carabiner is not climbing strength certified as you can imagine, but it comes in handy to hang on a pack if you are hiking or backpacking.  I didn’t like the way it felt when hanging it on my belt as it felt a little cumbersome.   A few of the features I liked about this light include the weight or lack thereof, the size as it fits in the palm of your hand, and the amount of light put off.  Since there are no batteries, the light doesn’t weigh as much as your standard flashlight.  Since the light is fairly compact, it can fit into most small compartments while not taking up too much room.  The flashlight comes with 3 LED’s that provided plenty of light around the campsite.  The Engergizer Solar Carabiner Crank LED Light can be found at a number of different stores including Home Depot, Amazon, Sears, and many others.

• Dual Energy Source:
  • Rechargeable batteries powered by solar panel or cranking
• LED technology – Bulb never needs replacing
• Carabiner Clip to hang light where needed
• 5 Hours of full sun powers light for ~2 Hours (solar charging)
• 1 minute of cranking powers light for ~10 minutes

When looking for a headlamp, a few things come to mind that are important me when finding the right one.  I want it to be easy to use, lightweight, at least 3-4 LED’s to provide good lighting, and with the new Mammut TR1 with ambient light set, I might just have to add a new criteria to my list.  During our camping trips, we often bring a deck of cards with us and spend at least an hour playing cards.  With the ambient light set, we’re able to hang the Mammut TR1 from the top of the tent and it provides plenty of light for us, keeping us from having to use two headlamps.

At a high of 28 lumens, the headlamp isn’t going to light up the night as it is on the low end of lumens compared to other headlamps on the market.  For the most part, we didn’t have any issues with the low lumens as we typically use our headlamps for around the campsite.  If you are hiking, running, or cycling at night, 28 lumens don’t really cut it in our mind.  We usually like to be able to see far ahead on the trail or road.  The TR1 uses 3AAA batteries and has a light life of 25 hours on high and 60 hours on low.  Again, compared to some others on the market, the TR1 is on the lower end of light life for one set of batteries.

Even though the Mammut TR1 doesn’t stand up to other headlamps on the market with some features, we found the ambient light set add-on to easily offset those features.

The Petzl Tikka Plus2 is a great headlamp option whether you are looking to use it for hiking, backpacking, camping, running, cycling, or all your other active adventures.  The Tikka Plus2 delivers a powerful 50 lumens of white light and can reach out to 35 meters at its high output level and last for 55 hours.  In its economic or low light mode, it reaches out 13 meters and has a battery life of up to 140 hours.  As you can see, there are advantages to the high and low outputs; we preferred to use the high output mode.  The headlamp is adjustable which is nice for spotting roots in the ground or cracks in the cement to help prevent you from tripping and adding to your battle wounds.  The Tikka Plus2 also comes in a flashing or strobe mode, which is nice in case of emergencies in the backcountry or making sure your seen while riding your bike in traffic.  The Tikka Plus2 comes with a smaller red light to help prevent you from loosing your night vision and that comes in a continuous and a strobe light mode.  Another feature that comes with the Tikka Plus2 is a battery charge indicator light that tells you when you need to change batteries and gives you a 5 minute warning before it turns off.  As for you city dwellers, the Tikka Plus2 is great for night running, cycling, grilling, and handy work around the house.  For more information on the Petzl Tikka Plus2, please visit Petzl.com