Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp Review – 200 Lumens

This Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp review is about the latest version of the very popular lamp, with 200 lumens it is far brighter than its previous version.

 Key benefits

Black Diamond Sprinter – description

The Sprinter headlamp has been available for many years. This what you have here is an improved version with more brightness, 200 instead of 130 in the previous 2015 version. But the overall style of the headlamp has not much changed in all these years, so it may look a bit old-fashioned. However, such a design is fully functional and it is there on purpose, as explained below.

The Sprinter is a versatile tool, but some of its features make it a perfect tool for trail runners and climbers. This is seen from its disperse light and the structure of the headband and housing. You will notice that you have straps on the sides and also over the top of the head.

The straps are very comfortable and they provide a large range of sizes, so you can use this headlamp directly on the head as well as on a climbing helmet or on a bike helmet. The cable which you see in the pictures is designed to accommodate for such different sizes.

An interesting feature is its red taillight strobe with on/off programmability for visibility in urban areas. The taillight has three different settings, two blinking with different frequencies, and one constant red light. This is something useful for street running as well as for bike riding. The setting can be regulated independently from the front light.

This rear light is the part of the rear housing where the battery is stored. Clearly, this saves you from having a heavy lamp bouncing up and down on the front. So this feature is introduced here in particular for trail runners. The weight is evenly distributed both on the back and on the front. A great feature.

The top strap is there to contribute to the proper weight balance, but note that you can remove it as well.

The front housing is really small, and the front lamp has PowerTap, dimming, and strobe features. The first acts like short and long light in the car, it allows you to have an instant change in brightness if you need it. The dimming function allows for fine regulation of the brightness, and the strobe is a blinking function. All this is regulated with one button on the top and one side button.

Light & Batteries

With 50 meters maximum beam distance, the Sprinter is in the mid-range among the Black Diamond headlamps. You can compare this with 80 meters of their Spot and Storm headlamps and 70 meters of the Cosmo headlamp. They also have several other models with considerably shorter beam distances.

As for the brightness, with 200 lumens, the Sprinter is the same as the Cosmo 2017 version but it is well below the Storm 2017 version with its 350 lumens and the new Spot 2017 headlamp with 300 lumens. This all just to know if the brightness is an important factor for you.

The batteries are lithium polymer rechargeable, with 5-hour USB charge time, so this is an economical and ecological solution. You can use your computer and charge it through the USB (included), or simply do this from the wall, or in the car. The USB port is on the rear housing.

Waterproofness

The Black Diamond Sprinter headlamp is tested to withstand rain and sleet from any angle. Its rating is IPX4, which makes it weather-resistant, but this is not a waterproof tool. To see more about the rating, please check here.

Here is a short video by Black Diamond, with the features of the Sprinter headlamp explained:

Specification

• Lumens: 200.
• Weight with batteries: 105 g (3.7 oz).
• Max distances:
  – High: 50 m.
  – Low: 2 m.
• Max burn time:
  – Low: 42 H.
  – Average: 24 H.
  – High: 4 H.
• IP rating: IPX4.
• LED type: 1 TriplePower.
• Batteries: rechargeable lithium polymer.
• 5-hour USB charge time.

Summary & rating

This headlamp has a constant lighting, and this is what makes it different from some other Black Diamond headlamps mentioned above, with classic batteries.

But this headlamp also has a battery power indicator on the rear housing, so you can always have some idea about the status of your battery. The indicator becomes red when you are below 25% of the full battery charge. This is definitely a nice feature that you need with batteries of this type, and it can save you from trouble.

The relatively short burn time is fine for trail running, but this is not the best option for outdoor tours. It is doable if you have a solar charger, or a wood-burning stove with charging features like the incredible BioLite stove. Otherwise, you should have an alternative source, and speaking about this, you can hardly find anything more suitable for such a role than the ultra-lightweight Petzl e+Lite headlamp.

One minor objection: there is no red light on the front. Such a feature is available on many headlamps and it has its purpose. So this is something missing here. But perhaps they expect the users just to turn the rear housing to the front and then you have it. In principle, this is easily done. See how I rate it:

Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp

8.5

Weight

8.4/10

Features & design

8.6/10

Ease of use

8.4/10

Pros

• Rechargeable.
• Lightweight.
• Economical and ecological.
• Lock mode.
• Battery power indicator.
• Taillight strobe and full red light.

Cons

• Not so great burn time.
• No red light on the front.
• Long charging time.

Check on Amazon

Check at REI

You might want to check the other models from the same brand mentioned above, or various models by Petzl. Many of them are reviewed in the site so please have a look here.

Thank you for reading. In the case of questions or comments, please use the comment box below. I wish you a pleasant day.