Brand · Fire & Lighting
Black Diamond headlamp families run from small AAA lamps like the Astro and Cosmo through the Spot and Storm to the Icon and Distance at the top, and the brand also makes camp lanterns, from the palm-size Moji to the Orbiter. Real talk: inside one brand, the choice is the same as anywhere else. Power source first, then output, then red light and controls. (Renee says I read headlamp model numbers like box scores. That's because they are box scores.)
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Black Diamond is a climbing company first. Its about page says it grew out of Chouinard Equipment, took the Black Diamond name in 1989 and moved to Salt Lake City. On this site, though, it's here for two things:
That climbing background shows up in the features. The maker's headlamp pages talk about lockouts for a pack, waterproof ratings and lamps that run on more than one kind of battery. Those are the same things that matter on a 5 a.m. walk to a stand in November rain.
The grid above shows what's listed on Amazon right now, filtered by type. It changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the families and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Most specs come from the Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Blank means the listing doesn't say.
Black Diamond names its headlamps with a word and a number. The number is the maximum output in lumens (light output, the total amount of light the lamp puts out). The word is the family. Here's how the families in the grid line up, from small to big.
The Astro 300 and Cosmo 350 list AAA power. The Cosmo lists a red light; the Astro's listing doesn't. The maker's Astro 300 page describes a dual-fuel design that takes alkaline AAA cells or a rechargeable BD 1500 pack, a digital lockout, Brightness Memory and an IPX4 rating, which the maker says means it stands up to rain and sleet from any angle.
These are the lamps for the glovebox, the spare in the blind bag and the kid at camp who needs a light of his own. Basic and plenty.
The Spot is the family most people mean when they search "Black Diamond Spot." The grid has three versions:
The maker's current Spot 400 page lists the features the family is known for. PowerTap lets you tap the side of the lamp to jump between full and dimmed output. Brightness Memory turns the lamp back on at the level you left it. A digital lockout stops it switching on in a pocket. The page adds a battery meter and red night vision that comes on without cycling through white first.
That last one matters more than it sounds. Any lamp that flashes full white before it gets to red has just lit up the whole hollow you were trying to sneak into.
The Storm sits a step above the Spot:
The maker's Storm page describes red, green and blue light modes, a digital lockout, a battery power indicator and an IP67 rating, which it says means sealed against dust and able to handle immersion in a meter of water for 30 minutes. If you hunt where it rains sideways, that's the line to look at first.
Three lamps sit above the Storm:
The Distance is built for people who move fast in the dark. Most of us at deer camp walk in at the speed of a 63-year-old with a bad knee and a thermos, which is to say Walt's speed. A lamp in the middle of the range covers that. The top end is for long drags, big woods and searching.
The Wiz Kid lists a built-in rechargeable battery and low output, 40 lumens. It's a kid's lamp, sized for a kid's head and a kid's tent. Low output isn't a flaw here. A youth lamp that blinds the whole camp at dinner gets confiscated by dessert.
The Moji family is palm-size. In the grid:
A Moji hangs from a tent loop or sits in the middle of the table. It lights the cards, not the county.
The Apollo comes in two versions in the grid. One lists AA power, 80 lumens and a long runtime of 60 hours; the other lists a rechargeable battery and 250 lumens. The Voyager comes in two outputs, 75 and 140 lumens, with power sources not listed. These are table-and-tent lanterns, a step up from the Moji.
The Orbiter 450 and 650 list rechargeable batteries; the 450 lists adjustable brightness. The maker's Orbiter 650 page describes a 5,200 mAh lithium-ion battery, USB-C charging in and out plus a USB-A charge-out port, an IPX4 rating, folding legs, a double-hook hang loop and a campfire light mode. Charge-out means the lantern can top up a phone or a headlamp.
The Zip lanterns appear in two colors, and the Volt is listed too, both without specs in their listings, so the grid shows dashes for them.
Lantern types are on the camping lantern page, the rechargeable lantern page and the battery operated lantern page.
Every lamp in the grid lists one of three setups:
My one opinion on this page: a rechargeable headlamp is great until the night you forgot to charge it. Pack one that takes spare batteries, or carry the spares for the one you have. Several of the maker's AAA lamps also take a BD 1500 rechargeable pack, per its product pages, which is a nice middle road. The rechargeable headlamp page covers the trade across brands.
The number in the name is the max. You'll use the max for a few minutes at a time, for blood-trailing, finding the trail at a fork, or checking whether that shape is a stump. The rest of the night you're on a low setting. Exhibit A: I've never once tied a boot on full power, and I've tried. Buy for the low setting you'll live on, and enough top end for the few minutes you need it.
The maker calls its red mode night vision, and it's easier on everyone else in the blind than white. Most lamps in the grid list one. The Storm 400 lists green as well. What matters as much as having red is getting to it without white first, and the maker's Spot page says its red comes on without cycling through white. Check the manual for the lamp you buy. Red-light picks across brands are on the red light headlamp page.
A lockout keeps the lamp off in your pack, so the battery is still full when you reach the truck. The maker describes a digital lockout on its Astro, Spot and Storm pages. For weather, its pages list IPX4 on the Astro (rain from any angle), IPX8 on the Spot 400 and IP67 on the Storm. More on reading those ratings is on the headlamps page.
Follow the manual here. Charge rechargeable lamps with the cable type the maker specifies. If a lamp takes AAA cells or a rechargeable pack, don't mix old and new cells in the same lamp.
For a week at camp, the routine that works is simple: one lamp on your head, one spare in the pack, and the lantern charging from the truck during the drive. Check the battery meter before the lamps go in the closet for the winter, and again before opening day.
Keep a lit lantern on a stable table or hook, away from the tent walls and the stove. An LED lantern is the right light inside a tent. A fuel lantern is not.
These two come up in the same searches because they share a background: both make climbing gear as well as headlamps. On this site the differences are in the mix:
Black Diamond's about page says it took its name in 1989 and moved to Salt Lake City. Petzl's 2025 pro catalog says the company introduced its first headlamp in 1973 and lists its production sites in Crolles, Eybens and Rotherens in France and Rawang in Malaysia. If you want a lantern from the same brand as your headlamp, that's Black Diamond's side of the grid. For headlamps, compare the power source, red light and lockout of the exact models. The Petzl brand page has its lineup.
Here's what I could verify from the maker and its parent company:
Lockout on, spares in the pack, red light for the last hundred yards. The stand will still be there. So will the deer, with any luck.
What's checkable is the feature list. Many lamps in the grid list a red light, and the maker's Spot and Storm pages describe red night vision, a digital lockout and waterproof ratings. Whether one suits you depends on the walk in: how long, how dark, and whether you want AAA cells or a built-in battery. Pick the power source first, then compare output and red light.
Yes. Its listing names a built-in rechargeable battery, 400 lumens max and a red light. The Spot 350 in the grid runs on AAA cells instead. The maker's current Spot 400 page describes a dual-fuel design that takes alkaline cells or a separate rechargeable BD 1500 pack, so read the exact listing to see which version you're buying.
On this site the Storm 400 lists AAA power, 400 lumens and both red and green light, while the Spot 350 lists AAA power, 350 lumens and red light. The Storm+ 750 adds a built-in rechargeable battery and a higher top output. The maker's Storm page describes red, green and blue modes and an IP67 rating.
The Moji is the smallest lantern family in the lineup. In the grid the Moji lists dimming and a hanging hook, the Moji+ lists 200 lumens, and the Moji R+ lists 200 lumens, dimming and a built-in rechargeable battery. They're sized for a tent ceiling or the middle of a camp table, not for lighting a whole cabin.
The maker's product pages say all Black Diamond lighting products are covered by a three-year warranty policy. Read the current terms on the maker's site before you count on coverage, and keep your proof of purchase with the manual.
The product grid on this page links to Black Diamond headlamp and lantern listings on Amazon US, with filters by type. The maker also sells on its own site. Check that the listing names the exact model and power source you want, since some lamps come in AAA and rechargeable versions with similar names.
