James Roddie highly recommends the Black Diamond Distance LT 1000. Find out why.

The Black Diamond Distance LT 1100 is a robust and durable high performer that will cope well with regular use in the mountains.

James Roddie highly recommends

It’s feature-packed, durable and highly recommended for outdoor professionals and people navigating serious mountain terrain in the dark.
Pros
  • numerous lighting modes
  • excellent battery life
Cons
  • price
  • operation feels complex at first
Quick Specs
RRP: €110 | £100 (available from Go Outdoors and Cotswold Outdoor)
Weight: 110g
Output: Up to 1100 Lumens
Power source: 2200 mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery
Features: SOS mode. ‘Power tap’ mode for 1100 Lumens. Submersible IP67 rating.
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The ‘submersible’ IP67 rating is a major advantage for use in the wettest conditions. The strap is comfortable and easy to adjust. When you adjust the beam angle, only the lamp housing pivots and the battery remains in place against your forehead, so everything feels well-balanced despite almost all the weight being at the front.

Battery life is excellent. On lowest brightness (7 lumens) you can get up to 120 hours of burn from a full charge. Standard maximum brightness is 600 lumens, allowing approximately 4 hours of burn time. It’s very bright with a multitude of different lighting options, including spot, flood, red, green, blue and SOS modes. Both the spot and flood lights give quite a warm light with a pleasing ‘falloff’ at the edges, proving useful for peripheral vision. Brightness can be precisely customised with the dimming function. A ‘Power Tap’ mode gives you 1100 lumens for 10 seconds before dimming. This lights up a huge amount of ground in front of you as the beam length is approximately 100 metres.

Overall, this unit has the most lighting options of any in my test, and operation did feel a little complex and it maybe overkill for more occasional users. The ‘Power Tap’ button has to be tapped in precisely the right way or it doesn’t function. Conversely, it’s feature-packed, durable and highly recommended for outdoor professionals and people navigating serious mountain terrain in the dark.

How we tested 

James tested these headtorches in a variety of conditions during winter, spring and summer in the Scottish Highlands, mostly on short backpacking trips and night-time ascents of Munros, with occasional testing whilst running and cycling. 

This review was first published in the January 2026 issue of The Great Outdoors. Compare it with other models in our head torches buyer’s guide.