Black Diamond’s Spot headtorch was highly recommended by Chris Townsend praising its long battery life and ease of use


I’ve also used the Spot quite a lot and also found it a good torch. The ReVolt is pretty much the same with one key difference: you can charge it through a USB cable as well as let it run off batteries. It works by charging rechargeable NiMH AAA batteries it comes with. This has several advantages. If you’re careful, the batteries nearly need not be used making it cheaper and greener, plus fewer batteries need to be carried. If you are taking some kind of solar powered charger, it can recharged through this too.

The maximum burn time on the rechargeable batteries is 12 hours on high, as opposed to 70 hours with regular alkaline batteries.

It has a red night vision mode, useful for reading maps, and a strobe, as well as a distance mode with three strengths (top lighting range is 70m), and wide range LEDs (the same as the SpoT). A three-level power meter lets you see roughly how much charge is left.

There’s just one button and once I’d learnt the routine, I found it pretty easy to flick through what I needed. It’s easy to do with gloves on.

The light itself can be angled down (although the bracket on my Spot has broken and needs replacing). I’ve found it comfortable and lightweight (100g with batteries).

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