Black diamond storm 500 r

Hi there, i was looking at the bd storm 500 r, seemed like a super nice head lamp on paper mainly for the 7 hour run time at full power, but i heard some people say that bd head lamps are garbage and that they stop working without a cause.

I recently have tried the new petzl  (i had always  trusted these head lamps and all the lamps i have are still functioning even if abused) tikka and was very disappointed by the super low run time at high power(around 300 lumens). The battery was fully charged and lasted only around 1 hour before going in reserve mode, in the middle of a the ski descent from a climb i had don that day.

If you have any experience with the storm 500 r  or any suggestions for a similar lamp i would like to hear your thoughts.

Look at the Fenix headlamps.  They are better built than anything by Black Diamond.

ettore maupoil wrote:

Hi there, i was looking at the bd storm 500 r, seemed like a super nice head lamp on paper mainly for the 7 hour run time at full power, but i heard some people say that bd head lamps are garbage and that they stop working without a cause.

I recently have tried the new petzl  (i had always  trusted these head lamps and all the lamps i have are still functioning even if abused) tikka and was very disappointed by the super low run time at high power(around 300 lumens). The battery was fully charged and lasted only around 1 hour before going in reserve mode, in the middle of a the ski descent from a climb i had don that day.

If you have any experience with the storm 500 r  or any suggestions for a similar lamp i would like to hear your thoughts.

FWIW I really like mine. Haven't had any problems with it. My only complaint is that the battery status lights are on the bottom and they shine in your face when you turn it off and on, but that's pretty minor. 

I had a bd and liked it, I have a cheapo sofirn d25l and love it. I have been very unimpressed with petzl's offerings tbh. 

I have one, it is fine. Not great not bad just fine.

Seconding Andrew R. I have an HM50R and really like it. It feels more solidly constructed than the BD and Petzl lamps I've messed with. 

Cheap BD/petzl headlamps are fine, mostly because they come with quality elastic bands unlike every other cheap headlamp.

If you’re spending more than $25 there are much better options. Fenix is great, I’ve used and abused HM61R for about four years and it’s still going strong. Sofirn makes good cheap lights, but add $10 for a quality elastic band since they come with crappy ones.