New Black Diamond Ion headlamp

Digging this old thread up for a quick PSA.

BD has released a new 2016 version of the Ion. I first saw the Ion mentioned above with the touch controls in a brick and mortar last year. I really liked the headlamp but the touch controls drove me mad just futzing with it in the store. I had to pass on it. Turned out it was probably the number one complaint.

I came across the new release on BD’s web sight and I have to at least give BD cudos for actually paying attention to customer complaints and revamping it . I picked a couple of these up for the wife to try it out on a few short trips to see if it will make it into my bag on a regular basis.

The improvements start with a bump to 100 lumens and a water proof rating. It also now has a single top switch for all functions. The lamp functions on a progressive number of switch clicks. First click gives a nice general lighting beam. Click again and hold and you get an infinite adjust with the  lamp brightness from hi to lo until letting off the switch. Additional functions give you the same in a very usable (IMO) red lamp mode and if your thing is a strobe, it has one too. Also has a lock mode for keeping safe the batteries while in the pack. Actual weight is 54g with supplies headband, which could be replaced with something lighter. It still take 2 AAA bats. and weight above includes them.

For those that may have the new BD spot its function switch will be very familiar. It is much like a little brother/sister to that lamp.

Great info.

Longtime Petzl fanboy here, however the BD Spot has become my fave this year due to the switch arrangement and its water resistance. Ion does indeed sound like the perfect little brother.

I started out with Petzl, but started looking elsewhere for units that would take lithium batteries and had power regulation. I moved to and always liked the hardware from BD, but found the UI on their headlamps to be maddening.  The UI on the PrinctonTec Vizz, my current choice, is excellent and the hardware is good too. The power regulation really works as I discovered on night 3 of a 4 night trip :)

I rarely hear anyone on BPL mention the Vizz while quite a few BD headlamps are often mentioned. Has anyone tried and rejected the Vizz and if so, why?  I’m not terribly anxious to replace my headlamp, but always on the lookout for significant improvements.

I  started with Petzl too and up until recently I didn’t realize at its 36 lumens it was a bit underpowered compared to todays offerings :). I just need a camp lamp so it worked fine for years. I was looking around for something a bit lighter, more compact and water proof and stumbled across this one. Time will tell.

I will attest to Bobs new spot version as being a great lamp as well. That thing will light up a runway at night. In fact I was so impressed I picked up a pair on sale and cut the weight a bit with MYOG headbands using grosgrain and a small section of elastic.

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Can you attach the Spot or Ion to your belt somehow?  Around camp my e-lite works great, but for a after sunset bailout hike I would prefer something much brighter and waist level.

Paul, Im sure something could be fabricated easily with a MYOG project to adapt either lamp for that but they don’t come ready out of the box.

You can easily remove either stock headband and using a little light weight webbing or gross grain and some Velcro, rig a belt or belt loop set up. I have been getting around just fine with the Ion, in fact its going to be with me on a regular basis. I wont say yet that it is sufficient for long distances night hiking as I haven’t yet with this lamp and don’t usually do that sort of thing. For what it is, its working great.

The Spot on the other hand is pretty powerful for its size and I think in the many options for beam shape and brightness it would do very well for night hiking. It has a nice feature of a single touch control that will toggle you between the bright spot light and general beam that would work really well for picking up forward blazes or finding your way through sketchy parts of trail. But as stated above I don’t often move at night. I will not hesitate to throw this one in my pack on certain trips. Always having the wife along allows me the luxury of taking one of each. The weight of the Spot with my MYOG band is 80g so that saved a little (10g). Save a little more possibly with a waist mounted set up.

Hope that helps a bit.

I picked up one of the new ions after reading this and the interface is so much better than all the silly swipes of the previous one.

I ended up getting the Spot headlamp and to my surprise the headband expands long enough to squeeze it over my torso and I’m not a small guy either.  I think this would be very secure for hiking.  My (very) old Petzl headband was much too short for this, unless you are very petite.