BLACK DIAMOND ZENIX HEADLAMP
INITIAL REPORT
Report Date: February 13, 2004
Reviewer Information
Name: Edward Ripley-Duggan
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Height : 6' 1" (1.85 m)
Weight: 215 pounds (98 kg)
erd@wilsey.net
Catskills, New York State
Reviewer Background
I hike regularly year-round in the Catskills, with occasional excursions to the Adirondacks and elsewhere. A hiker since my teens, I was born and grew up in rural Hertfordshire in England, moving to the US at age 19. Given the harsh winters of the region where I make my home (and the need to keep active or perish of boredom) I make frequent ascents of local peaks on snowshoes and crampons, with an occasional foray on cross-country skis. Nothing could be further removed from the landscape of my childhood.
I enjoy walking in all its manifold forms, from a simple stroll in the woods to multi-day backpack excursions. I through-hiked the Northville-Placid trail over ten days in 2003. Though by no means an extreme ultralight enthusiast, from spring to fall my preference is to carry a packweight of 12 pounds (5.5 kg), more or less. In recent years, I've rapidly moved to a philosophy of "lighter is better," within the constraints of budget and common sense.
Product Information
Year of manufacture: 2004
Manufacturer website: http://www.bdel.com/
MSRP: $44.50
Listed weight: without batteries 3.3 oz (93 g), with standard AAA batteries 4.5 oz (128 g)
Advertised battery life: 100 Hours (SuperBright LED), 15 Hours (HyperBright LED)
Actual weight: without batteries, *3.7 oz (104 g), with batteries, 4.9 oz (139 g)
Waterproofing: Conforms to "IPX-4 standard", i.e. "…It will continue to function when subjected to water spray at any angle. This does not include salt spray or high-alkalinity fluids. It is normal for water to enter the lamp and battery housings. Battery life will be diminished, however, the lamp will function…"
Estimated weight with AAA Lithium batteries: 4.5 oz (128 g)
Manufacturer estimated burn time:
With 2 Superbright LEDs, 100 hours
With 1 Hyperbright LED, 15 hours
Manufacturer estimated useful beam:
With 2 Superbright LEDs, 15 m (49 feet)**
With 1 Hyperbright LED, 35 m (115 feet)**
Batteries: 3 AAA cells
* these weights were taken on a tared USPS scale.
** criteria for these figures not stated by manufacturer
Preliminary information
Delivery date: February 11 2004
The Fedex mailing bag contained the manufacturer's standard retail blister pack, housing the headlamp and other materials. In addition to the Zenix lamp, there were three Energizer AAA cells, a cardboard insert with sales information and a multilingual instruction sheet. Everything was in immaculate condition.
I inserted the headlamp and adjusted the headbands without reference to the instructional literature. How to open the battery pack was obvious; battery orientation was marked with positive and negative symbols cast into the interior plastic (though this was apparent in any case from the configuration of the battery contacts).
Description of product:
Lamp: this is made of cast plastic of a violet hue. The Hyperbright LED, substantially larger in diameter to those I have previously seen, is in a central cavity, mounted in front of a parabolic reflector. The LED is protected behind a plastic lens. The result is a highly focused beam. The Superbright LEDs are inset at either side and have neither lens nor reflector. The upper surface of the lamp bears Black Diamond's logo and name; the underside has a slightly recessed pushbutton switch beneath a protective rubber gasket. As stated in the literature, the switch cycles as follows: [Off], Hyperbright on, [Off], Superbrights on, [Off] i.e. four pushes of the button are needed to move through the entire cycle back to the initial lighting mode.
There are two small Philips screws flanking the switch, which presumably give access to the interior, but no mention of these is made in the instructions. It is unclear to me whether the LEDs are replaceable by detaching the lower section of the lamp, and I don't think I will try to find out. Practically speaking, given their long life, it seems unlikely that an LED will fail. The lamp casing is on a swivel (the tension of which is controlled by a screw) and can be moved from the horizontal position down through about eighty degrees. The wire from the battery casing comes in from the right (seen from the front).
Battery casing: this is of similar cast plastic to the lamp. The upper surface, which bears the Black Diamond nameplate, has a recessed plastic screw; the edges of this are grooved for ease of tightening, and there is additionally a slot across the head into which a coin could be placed (though no tool really seems to be needed). The screw cannot be detached from its mounting (and so cannot be dropped); nor can the top of the lamp be easily detached from the headlamp strap through which is passes. This more or less guarantees that no critical components will be dropped during a battery change. The batteries fit into the lower section of the case (that which rests against the head in use). The underside is cushioned with a soft rubber-like plastic. The wire to the lamp, which is heavily sheathed, passes through the side of the lower section of the compartment. There is no gasket between the two sections of the battery case.
Straps: these are graphite and black in color, felted where they rest against the head. The circumferential strap, which controls tightness of fit, is easily adjusted. The strap that passes over the top of the scalp can be similarly adjusted to determine where on the forehead the lamp rests. A comfortable, secure setting was quickly established, and it would seem unlikely that any user would find a problem with the extent of adjustability. The power wire is attached to the strap with an adjustable clip and a pull-through slider, a very neat and tidy arrangement.
Instructions: these are simple, adequate and to the point (and largely unnecessary for anyone reasonably familiar with headlamps). They do not extend to cover strap adjustment or discuss headlamp use in general. Neither of these seems a signal omission.
Testing Plan
Testing Environment
For field-testing, I will be working primarily in the Catskill Mountains, at elevations to 4000' (1200 m) and at anticipated temperatures within the testing period from 0 degrees F (-18 degrees C) to 80 degrees F (27 degrees C). For the duration, I will use the Zenix as my primary lamp on both day hikes (which quite often, especially in the winter, become night hikes) and backpacking trips, of which I plan several. In the spring, wet conditions are to be expected.
Testing
I'm interested in the issue of useful battery life under various conditions, and some of my testing (this is however subject to the anticipated loan of a sophisticated photometer from a physicist friend) will be to ascertain how the output of the headlamp varies with hours of use and ambient temperature. I have two other LED-equipped headlamps, neither of which have voltage control circuitry, and I have noted that lighting intensity falls off significantly well before the batteries are exhausted. The Zenix does not appear to use any method of voltage control. Of necessity, this testing cannot be conducted in the field, but will be backed up with field observations as noted below.
Field testing issues
How comfortable is the lamp when worn for prolonged periods?
How easily is the fit adjusted?
Can the batteries be changed wearing heavy gloves? How heavy a glove?
Can the headlamp switch be used wearing heavy gloves? How heavy a glove?
Can the headlamp switch be turned on accidentally despite "Positron" switch?
How well do the batteries last under field conditions at low temperatures?
How useful is the two-LED combination for camp tasks?
Can I read a book or a map at that level of illumination?
Is the Hyperbright LED adequate for navigating poorly blazed trails?
What is the useful range under various atmospheric conditions?
Is the Hyperbright LED acceptable for off-trail travel at night?
Can the batteries be replaced entirely in the dark in a dire emergency?
Will the lamp remain dry within during heavy rain?
Is the lamp resistant to moderate impacts?
How durable is the unit overall?
General observations and initial testing
My initial reaction to the lamp has been upbeat overall. Though the brightness of the side LEDs is comparable to that of my little BD Ion lamp, the brightness and focus of the Hypebright is quite startling. A preliminary test across the lawn from my office to the barn demonstrates a practical limit of useful illumination somewhere within the advertised range. As is usual with LED headlamps, the light has a faint bluish cast, much like the headlamps of many modern cars (in the case of LEDs, this is the result of a fluorescent coating that alters the frequency of the light emitted by the diode to something closer to white).
The Superbright LEDs are clearly intended as task lighting, but (again based on my Ion experience) I anticipate that they will be adequate for basic trail navigation.
One minor issue is the fact that the lamp will not swivel above the horizontal. In order to illuminate something above me, I must swivel my head back. Since the position of optimal comfort for me places the lamp pointing downwards a few degrees, absolutely horizontal illumination requires I tilt my head back to compensate. This is not, however, at all atypical of headlamps – my older Princeton Vor Tec has a similar mounting. The only time this is ever a bother is if I am casting around through trees for a trail blaze.
The switch is somewhat stiff, and while this means it is likely to prove difficult to turn on by accident, it is also difficult (but not impossible) to turn on when wearing heavily insulated gloves. Careful positioning of the thumb seems key, which may prove awkward if hands are somewhat numbed with cold.
The strap positioning and comfort is good – I'm delighted that the straps don't run directly over my ears, as they do with some lamps! The method of adjustment is, as has been noted, easy. The aesthetics of the lamp are quite elegant, and while I don't anticipate wearing this as an item of adornment, it seems a respectable piece of industrial design.
It's worthy of note that, while there is currently no lithium AAA battery on the market, Energizer will be bringing one to market at the end of this year (2004). In my opinion, this will be a big plus for users of this headlamp and other lamps that use AAA cells. The weight saving (based on extrapolation from AA cells, this will be approximately one-third of battery weight) is not especially significant, but what is critical is the improved cold-weather performance of lithium cells.
The performance of alkaline batteries deteriorates quickly at temperatures as low as 40 degrees F (4.5 degrees C), and below freezing the drop in voltage over time is much accelerated and the useful lifetime of the battery is significantly degraded. Lithium cells provide a longer and more stable voltage output than alkaline cells. It should be noted that the battery compartment of the Zenix is against the head, which should help warm the unit, and covering the lamp compartment under a hat should enhance this effect, thereby perhaps providing some relief to users of alkaline batteries.
I thank Black Diamond and BackpackGear Test for the opportunity to test this headlamp.
