The Black Diamond Spot 400 is a lightweight, waterproof, 400-lumen headlamp that includes proximity, distance, and red light modes. It’s an affordable, high-quality and an excellent choice for backpacking, hiking, camping and hunting.
To test the Black Diamond Spot 400, I used the headlamp while camping this summer, as well as used it while elk hunting in September. I was able to use it side-by-side with some of the best headlamps of the year. The Black Diamond Spot 400 excelled with its ease-of-use, comfort, and super clean light output.
Let’s take a closer look:
Black Diamond Spot 400 Review
The new Black Diamond Spot 400 is lighter and more powerful than Black Diamond’s previous ‘Spot’ headlamp versions.Black Diamond has manufactured its ‘Spot’ line of headlamps for years, and I’ve tested multiple previous generations, all of which have been very good. This year’s new Spot 400 delivers a welcome 50-lumen boost in power vs the previous generation Spot 350. In addition, the new Spot 400 has a slightly trimmer, slightly lighter design.
It retains the same competitive IPX8 waterproof rating, which means it has been tested to operate for at least 30 minutes under 1.1 meters of water. If you’re looking for a headlamp to use in wet and rainy conditions, the Black Diamond Spot 400 will be hard to beat.
Buttons & Controls
We appreciate the Spot 400’s dual-button design. The buttons are easy to press — and easy to feel the differences when the Spot 400 is on your head!While some competing headlamps have gone to single-button designs, Black Diamond uses two buttons at the top. While it seems as if two buttons might be more complicated than a single button, in actual use they are easy to learn. The larger textured rectangular button turns on the Spot 400 while the smaller round button cycles between three key lighting modes: a narrow spotlight beam for distance use, a wide beam for close-up proximity work, and a red light mode to protect your night vision and to avoid spooking animals at night.
By using the BD 1500 rechargeable battery accessory, you can drop the Spot 400’s weight down to just 2.54 ounces.
If you want to adjust the power output, all you do is press and hold the primary rectangular button. The Spot 400 will remember your last setting when you turn it on.
One of the most critical features for backpackers is the lock mode: Just press and hold both buttons for two seconds to lock or unlock the headlamp. Locking the headlamp helps ensure that it doesn’t accidentally receive a button press inside your backpack . . . and then deplete your battery by running all day long inside your pack.
We appreciate the battery life indicator on the side of the Spot 400. It has just three lights, but a blinking light fine-tunes the indicator: For instance, here the 2 of 3 blue lights indicate the battery is 40-60% full. If the top light were blinking, you’d have 60-80%. If all three lights were solid lit, you’d head out knowing your battery was 80-100% full.Shop the award-winning Black Diamond Spot 400 at REI!
Optical Quality
At 400 lumens of max output, the Black Diamond Spot 400 isn’t the most powerful headlamp available — but lumen power ratings are only a single indicator of performance. Optical quality is important, too. The Black Diamond Spot 400 optical quality is very good. The white proximity light is crisp, clean and consistent, as is the distance mode.
This means that the Black Diamond Spot 400 can seem brighter and more usable than cheaper headlamps that might come with technically higher lumen ratings. In our testing, we could easily pick our way through off-trail forested areas with the Spot 400.
Can you use both the proximity and distance modes at the same time?
Yes! However, turning on both proximity and distance modes at the same time is not an obvious function. Several of Black Diamond headlamps have a ‘Power Tap’ function, which is built into the Spot 400. Power Tap lets you tap the right side of the headlamp to turn on both white light options at the same time. There is no button, you just thump the headlamp with your finger to engage both lights. The drawback is that you consume more energy in this mode — but the Power Tap function lets you quickly use more power when you need to navigate a tricky spot in the dark . . . or try to figure out what wild animal is rustling in the bushes.
Specifications
Key Black Diamond Spot 400 Specs:
Max Beam Distance: 100 meters
Run Time: 2.5 hours on high; 5 hours on medium; 200 hours on low
Batteries: 3 AAA or BD 1500 Li-ion rechargeable battery
Weight: 2.73 oz (2.54 oz with the BD 1500 battery pack)
The ‘Dual-Fuel’ Power Option Explained
The BD 1500 rechargeable battery (an available accessory) delivers longer runtimes compared to standard alkaline AAA batteries — which the Spot 400 can also use.Black Diamond has a ‘Dual-Fuel’ power option available for some of its headlamps. Basically, you can use the Spot 400 with three AAA alkaline batteries (which are included in the box) or you can use Black Diamond’s BD 1500 rechargeable battery.
The BD 1500 has a 1500 mAH capacity, but get this: The Black Diamond Spot 400 gets better performance from the BD 1500 than it gets from three AAA batteries. When you use standard alkaline batteries, you get 2.5 hours of burn time on maximum output. With the BD 1500, on the other hand, you get 4 hours on maximum output.
Better yet, the rechargeable battery pack is lighter than 3 typical AAA batteries, which brings the total Spot 400 weight down to a svelte 2.54 oz.
There is a drawback to the BD 1500 rechargeable battery — it’s only sold as an accessory at an extra cost. You also need to use a proprietary Black Diamond charger, which is sold in a kit called the BD 1500 Battery & Charger.
On the plus side, the BD charger is lightweight and packable — but it’s not as packable as Petzl’s CORE rechargeable battery system, which have 1250 mAh add-on accessory battery packs that have bulit-in micro-USB charging ports. Of course, if you’re paying attention to the math, the Petzl CORE rechargeable batteries are 1250 mAh, which means they have about 83% of the capacity of the 1500 mAh BD 1500 batteries.
The Black Diamond BD 1500 Battery and Charger add-on accessory lets you gain rechargeable awesomenes while retaining the ability to use standard AAA batteries in emergencies.So, you might be asking yourself: Should I buy the BD 1500 Rechargeable Battery system?
Here is what I recommend: If you only need to use your headlamp for short periods of time while hiking, backpacking, or around camp, it will take you a while to gain back the cost of the BD 1500. On the other hand, if you’re going to use your headlamp for more frequent bursts or on longer trips, the BD 1500 Battery & Charger will save you money — and give you better performance. For me personally, I like the ability to ‘top off’ my headlamp battery before heading out in the dark. Over the years I’ve thrown away traditional AAA batteries with 20 or 30% life left in them because I couldn’t trust them to get me through a trip. You don’t have to worry about this sort of waste with a rechargeable battery.
Black Diamond Spot 400 vs Spot 400-R
You might be wondering why the Black Diamond Spot 400-R costs more than the Spot 400? Basically, the Spot 400-R delivers almost exactly the same output specifications but it does it with a built-in, non-removable rechargable battery. This also means that the Spot 400-R is not a ‘Dual-Fuel’ headlamp and can’t use AAA batteries in an emergency.
The built-in battery is a 1500 mAH Li-on battery, so it’s essentially the same as the BD 1500.
The key benefit of the Spot 400-R over the Spot 400 is that its rechargeable battery system is built-in. The drawback is the loss of a Dual-Fuel option. The Spot 400-R has a very slightly less capable waterproof rating of IP67, but most people won’t notice a difference.
Competitive Alternatives & Options
The Black Diamond Storm 450 Headlamp (shown above) is slightly more powerful than the Spot 400 — but it weighs more and has a shorter run time on max power.If you’re looking for a relatively lightweight, high-quality headlamp, there are other headlamp manufacturers that produce competitive options. If red light modes are of particular interest to you, our guide to 10 of the best headlamps for hunting includes the Spot 400 (as well as a new headlamp with the most powerful red light mode we’ve ever tested). Meanwhile, here are a few alternative headlamps that you might consider if you’re not yet sure the Black Diamond Spot 400 is right for you:
Black Diamond Storm 450 — The Black Diamond Storm 450 delivers 50 more lumens of output compared to the Spot 400, which seems like it should be automatically better . . . but is it really? This is a tough question because it has to do with finding the right balance of power, weight, runtime, and cost for you. The Storm 450 runs on the same dual-fuel three AAA batteries or BD 1500 rechargeable battery as the Spot 400, but it has a reduced runtime of 2 hours on high (with AAAs) or 3 hours (with the BD 1500). The Storm 450 costs about 20% more than the Spot 400 and it weighs a bit more — 3.25 oz compared to the Spot’s 2.73 oz (with AAA batteries). The Storm 450 IP67 waterproof rating is close to the Spot 400’s IP68. So which is better? Choose the Storm 450 — or the slightly more powerful rechargeable Storm 500-R — if you want a more powerful beam. If you don’t need the extra lumens — and most people won’t — we think the Spot 400 is the better buy due to its excellent price-to-value ratio.
Petzl Tactikka +RGB — Like the Spot 400, the Petzl Tactikka +RGB produces very clean and usable light. The 350-lumen output is a bit lower than the Spot 400, but in the field the differences aren’t far apart. The biggest benefit to the Petzl Tactikka +RGB over the Spot 400 is the multi-color low-light modes — you can choose from red, green, or blue modes to save your night vision. Why three color options? Some people see better with blue or green light. Like the Spot 400, the Tactikka +RGB can run on a rechargeable battery pack, which in turn has pros and cons. The pro is that the Petzl CORE rechargeable packs have built-in charging ports but the con is the reduced capacity of 1250 mAh.
Princeton Tec Vizz — The biggest benefit to the newly updated Princeton Tech Vizz is its powerful 550-lumen output and relatively strong red-light output. The drawback is the slightly heavier weight and size — it’s a bit bigger than the Spot 400 and weighs in at 3.2 oz. One more benefit: The Princeton Tech Vizz is made in the USA!
BioLite HeadLamp 325 — The BioLite HeadLamp 325 produces less lumens than the Spot 400, but the output is astoundingly clear and crisp. BioLite takes great pride in its quality of light, and it shows. Because it’s so good, we like to cook at camp with the BioLite HeadLamp 325. The HeadLamp 325 is also ultralight — it weighs just 1.75 oz and it has the most comfortable headband we’ve ever tested. The rechargeable battery is just 700 mAh, but it delivers 3 hours on high. Choose the BioLite HeadLamp 325 if comfort is your most important criteria.
The Bottom Line
All-in-all, the Black Diamond Spot 400 is one of my favorite headlamps. I take it camping, backpacking, and even hunting. Because it’s relatively lightweight and easy to use, I often give it to friends and family members in situations where their nighttime experience is important. The built-in battery indicator is handy, and performance of the BD 1500 rechargeable batteries offers a nice performance boost. Very highly recommended.
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