Gear Review

Black Diamond Ion

teeny-tiny
great emergency/backup light
limited output

The Black Diamond Ion is a groovy little ultralight headlamp that provides all the light you'll need to find your gear or the bathroom in the dark.

I hardly ever use a headlamp, even in camp (I just see well in the dark, I guess), so my primary concern is weight. At 1.0 ounces, battery included, the Ion certainly fits the bill. It's light enough to carry as an emergency source, or a backup to your primary headlamp.

If I'm going to be climbing before the sun comes up, it's either going to be on a trail or skinning up a moderate slope with no major features. For either use, the Ion is acceptable. Hardcore dark-climbers will need a more substantial light source.

Black Diamond claims the Ion will go 15 continous hours on a single battery, but other sources put the figure lower. The Ion is therefore probably not the best choice for people who need a lot of light for long hours. As for water resistance, BD doesn't list any info on its website. We can presume that means the Ion isn't waterproof.

My biggest complaint is that the Ion uses a non-standard 6V battery. These are harder to find and don't tend to last as long, though they do reduce the unit's size and weight. Personally, I'd prefer something like Gerber's CMG headlamp, which ran on a single AAA lithium cell. That headlamp, unfortunately, has been discontinued.

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