Any biped that has peed outside during the night knows that the surest way to contract poison ivy or sprain an ankle is to travel without a flashlight. A headlamp improves upon the flashlight by keeping both hands free for clutching, poking, picking up objects, putting down objects, or doing any of the other crazy actions that we humans do which make up this performance that we call life.
For traveling, the two most important aspects to selecting a flashlight are weight and durability. In any situation, the other important aspects are light (no shit?) and duration. With that in mind, I picked up the “Black Diamond” Icon Headlamp. This bad boy uses LED light for maximum duration and has two settings – spotlight and a more diluted but spread out close-range lighting. It’s also super light in weight and batteries can last up to 160 hours. And you know its “extreme” because it comes in a toxic green finish with some sweet decals on the elastic headband. You’ll make tons of friends sporting this flashy contraption along with the matching Black Diamond fanny pack and electric blue colostomy bag.
Here are the full features:
- LED spotlight plus 4 close distance LEDs emit 100 lumens (max setting) for brilliant long- and close-range lighting
- Max distance of 100m for the spotlight, 23m for the close distance LEDs
- 145 hour burn time for the spotlight, 164 hour for the close distance LEDs
- Powered by 3 AA batteries
- Faceted reflector to maximize the beam
- Water protection