Spot 400 Headlamp

The Black Diamond Spot 400 is a small, bright head torch built around one smart idea: it will run on whatever power you have. Load it with three AAA batteries from any servo, or fit Black Diamond's rechargeable BD 1500 and stop buying batteries. Either way you get 400 lumens, a red night-vision mode and a housing rated IPX8.

Who it's for

Bushwalkers, climbers and trail runners who want one torch for every trip, and especially anyone heading out for longer than a battery charge lasts. On a week on the Larapinta or a remote Tasmanian walk there is nowhere to plug in, and a spare set of AAAs weighs almost nothing. For weekend trips closer to home, the BD 1500 saves you buying batteries at all.

Brightness and runtime together

On its highest setting the Spot 400 puts out 400 lumens. With alkaline AAAs that lasts 2.5 hours, followed by a long 32 hour reserve so you are never left walking out in the dark. Dimmed right down, alkalines run for 200 hours.

With the BD 1500 fitted you get 4 hours at full brightness plus 2.5 hours of reserve, and 225 hours on the lowest setting. Most nights you will sit somewhere in between, and Brightness Memory brings the torch back on at the level you last chose rather than blasting you with full power.

PowerTap switches between full output and your dimmed setting with a tap on the side of the housing, which is exactly what you want when you need to check a track marker and then get back to cooking. A built-in battery gauge on the side shows how much power is left, so you know when to swap.

Beam shape

A distance mode reaches 100 m on the highest setting for picking out the track ahead or scanning a creek crossing, and a proximity mode spreads the light for camp jobs, map reading and packing up in the tent. On the lowest setting the beam reaches 12 m. A multifaceted lens keeps the light even.

The red night-vision LED dims and strobes, and comes on without flashing white first, so you can check on the rest of the hut at 3 am without waking anyone or losing your own night vision. A white strobe is there for signalling, and a digital lock stops the torch switching itself on in your pack.

Charging and battery

The Spot 400 comes with three alkaline AAA batteries. The BD 1500 lithium-ion battery is sold separately and fits the same compartment, so you can carry both and use whichever suits the trip.

Weather resistance

The Spot 400 is rated IPX8 and tested to keep working at least 1.1 m underwater for 30 minutes. If it takes a dunking, water can get into the battery compartment while the torch keeps running, so open it up and dry it out completely once you are back under cover.