Long Term Report

Black Diamond Cosmo Headlamp
Long Term Report – September 26, 2006

Tester Information:
Name: David Heyting
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Height: 6’ 0”, 1.83 m
Weight: 205 lb, 93 kg
Email: deheyting@yahoo.com
City, State, Country: Snoqualmie, Washington, USA

Backpacking Background:
I have been hiking and backpacking for over 15 years. A great deal of the backpacking that I do is related to mountaineering and rock climbing in the Pacific Northwest. When not climbing, I’m a hiker that tries to go light to be able to push more miles. My main areas of exploration are the Washington Central and North Cascades. However I have also done lots of hiking in the British Columbia Coastal Range as well as the Oregon Cascades. I am also an avid adventure racer and compete in several races each year ranging from 2 hours up to 24 hours in duration.

Product Information
Manufacturer: Black Diamond
Model: Cosmo
URL: www.bdel.com
Listed Weight: 2.8 oz/ 80 g with batteries 1.6 oz/ 44 g without batteries
Tested Weight: 2.9 oz/ 82 g with batteries 1.7 oz/ 48 g without batteries
MSRP: $29.95 US
Country of Manufacturer: USA
Date Received: 05 17 06

Product Description:
The Cosmo is a compact and lightweight headlamp that features four SuperBright LEDs that provide bright close range lighting. It features multiple light settings. For more information please see my Initial report and my Field report.

Traveling through Ape Cave

Field Conditions:
In addition to my previously stated trips with the Cosmo, (Orienteering in Eastern Oregon, summit climb of Mt. Rainier, Climb of Mt. Zirkel, and typical trips into the Central Cascades) I was able to take the Cosmo with me on several new trips. Probably the best test for the Cosmo occurred around Mt. St. Helens, in Southwestern Washington, where I went through Ape Cave, which is a 3 mile lava tube (complete darkness!) and took the Cosmo with me on the Loowit trail, which circumnavigates the mountain. The trail is 30 miles and we actually biked six miles in to the trail and started the loop in the dark, which meant several hours with the Cosmo leading the way. I was also able to use the Cosmo on a couple of different adventures races in the Central Cascades, in which I used it as my sole light during several hours of night navigation.

Rainer Shadow.jpg

Rainer Summit Shadow at Sunrise

Summary:
The Cosmo has performed wonderfully and has been able to provide a steady lightweight source of light. The Cosmo features a great wide angle lighting path. It has a comfortable headband and features a very easy to use on/off button. It also has three different lighting settings.

Long Term Results:
During my time testing period, I was able to spend a lot of time using the Cosmo to navigate in the dark. From climbing Rainier to completing a nighttime orienteering course, I was also able to use the headlamp on varying terrain. The LED lights reflected great off of glaciers and provided adequate light in thicker woods as well. During my trip to Ape Cave, I used the Cosmo as my only light source and it did a great job of lighting a path for me to follow. Inside the Cave there is complete darkness, so unlike just being outside in the dark, there are not any other light sources such as the moon.

I really liked the wide angle lighting path of the headlamp, it was great for night trail running and I felt like it really illuminated my tent very well. At times during some nighttime navigation I would have liked the beam to have had the ability to give me a little bit more light straight ahead, however this was only a small percentage of the time. When looking at an LED headlamp that is the size and weight of the Cosmo and offers a burn time of 75 hours, I think it performed great for nighttime navigation and travel.

I have to admit that I really only used the Cosmo in the high-beam mode and didn’t find much use for the lower lighting setting. Maybe while reading in a tent, however other then that with the extended burn time, I don’t see any reason to go with the decreased light. I used the Cosmo during active nighttime activity for just over 45 hours and didn’t notice any decreased lighting, however I realize that I am still many hours short of the 75 hours that the manufacturer lists as the battery output. Overall I felt it was a great lightweight LED headlamp that will find a permanent place in my backpack.

Improvements:
Nothing of note.

Test Plan:

For my test plan I outlined five main factors to review, here are some further additions to my responses from my Field report

Here are the five factors and the results:

1. Visibility – How much light does the light actually put out?
The Cosmo provided great wide angle lighting. The output seemed wonderful for a headlamp of that size and weight.

2. Best intended use – Under what conditions does the Cosmo excel?
I felt the Cosmo excelled in all conditions that I was in as well as in each activity that I performed. I used the Cosmo for camp life, glacier climbing, trail running, and orienteering. I felt the Cosmo functioned well for each discipline and is a very well rounded headlamp.

3. Burn Time – How long do the batteries last?
I am now up to 45 hours and have seen no noticeable loss of lighting power.

4. Ease of use – Is the headlamp easy to use in all conditions?
The single switch button was great – easy to use and worked will with gloves on, which is critical!

5. Comfort – Is the headlamp comfortable over a long period?
No matter from Helmet to baseball cap to warm hat to bare forehead the Cosmo was very comfortable and stayed in place quite nicely.

I still was not able to take the Cosmo into extremely cold conditions to see if that would affect performance. However it did great in each of the different test conditions that I was able to test it in. I felt that it performed well during nighttime navigation and was fantastic as a camp light source. The button (only one!) was easy to push with our without gloves, making it easy to operate. All in all a great light.

Thanks to Black Diamond and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to test the Cosmo.

Read more reviews of Black Diamond gear
Read more gear reviews by David Heyting

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