climbing gear reviews

The Black Diamond Spot 400.

Review: Black Diamond Spot 400 Headlamp

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Ultralight Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot 400
$50, 2.5 oz./70.9g
blackdiamondequipment.com

How do you choose a headlamp for the backcountry? If you’re looking for a range of modes that’s both basic and versatile, good brightness and dimming capability, and smart features that make it more useful while maintaining a design simplicity that doesn’t require an advanced science degree to operate it, Black Diamond’s Spot 400 is hard to beat. On evenings in camp on a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range, I found this latest update sustains and improves on the legacy of BD’s popular Spot line as an excellent value in an ultralight headlamp.

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Black Diamond Spot 400-R headlamp.

Review: Black Diamond Spot 400-R Headlamp

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Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot 400-R
$65, 2.6 oz./73.7g
blackdiamondequipment.com

Using Black Diamond’s Spot 400-R on various outings, from nights in camp in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, and on a nine-day hike of nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail, and pre-dawn starts on a seven-day, nearly 70-mile walk in September in Glacier National Park and a six-day hike on the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route in April, to dawn patrol backcountry skiing in Idaho’s Boulder Mountains, backpacking on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River in the first days of April, and trekking hut-to-hut on New Zealand’s Routeburn and Milford tracks in late spring, I found this latest update continues the legacy of functionality and versatility that has made BD’s long-popular Spot line arguably the best value in an ultralight headlamp—while also demonstrating the strong value proposition of choosing this rechargeable model over a battery-powered headlamp.

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Black Diamond Technician hiking-approach shoes.

Review: Black Diamond Technician Hiking-Approach Shoes

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Hiking/Approach Shoes
Black Diamond Technician
$135, 1 lb. 4 oz. (US men’s 10/Euro 43)
Sizes: US men’s 6-14, women’s 5.5-11
backcountry.com

My summer goal was to bag all the 11ers in my home range, Utah’s Wasatch, and the Technicians accompanied me on almost every summit—including technical climbing up the North Ridge of the Pfeifferhorn, a mixed day of scrambling and hiking over 17 miles and 7,000 feet of vertical on the Thunder Traverse, and various moderate rock climbs at the crag (up to 5.10a). In these situations, the Technicians performed exceptionally on rock, but left some things to be desired on long days of hiking.

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The Petzl IKO Core rechargeable headlamp.

Review: Petzl IKO Core Headlamp

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Ultralight Rechargeable Headlamp
Petzl IKO Core
$105, 2.8 oz./79.4g
backcountry.com

As we skied back to our backcountry yurt through falling snow on a dark night at the end of a full day of touring in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, my IKO Core brightly illuminated our route through meadows and conifer and aspen forest. But brightness and low weight are just two of the measurable ways in which few ultralight headlamps match Petzl’s rechargeable IKO Core, which has unique design features that would appeal to backpackers, dayhikers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers.

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Deuter Freescape 40+ ski touring and freeriding pack.

Review: Deuter Freescape 40+ and Freescape Pro 38+ SL Ski Packs

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Ski Touring-Alpine Pack
Deuter Freescape 40+
$220, 40L/2,441 c.i., 3 lb. 5 oz. (men’s)
One size
backcountry.com

Deuter Freescape Pro 38+ SL
$220, 38L/2,319 c.i., 3 lb. 5 oz. (women’s)
One size
backcountry.com

There are days skiing or riding backcountry snow or on multi-day yurt trips where you need a pack with extra space for gear, layers, food, etc., and a feature set that lets you push your adventures to another level. That’s exactly what you get with the men’s Freescape 40+ and women’s Freescape Pro 38+ SL. On numerous days of backcountry ski touring, including four days at a yurt in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, I found the Freescape offers a degree of versatility for objectives in the mountains that smaller, skiing- and riding-specific packs do not.

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