Black Diamond Storm - review => Waterproof 100 lumens

[gcbryan]

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I think the LED blinked once it reached the highest and lowest levels. Is there a way to jump to these modes?
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I'm not sure I understand your questions. Are you asking if it has lighting level memory? The answer to that is no. Jumping to spot or flood is easy. Turn it on and it's in spot mode. Turn it off and back on and it's now in flood mode (it toggles between the two).

Jumping to red led mode only requires pressing and holding the button for 3 seconds.

 

[Woods Walker]

I'm not sure I understand your questions. Are you asking if it has lighting level memory? The answer to that is no.

So the main XP-E has no preset modes just the ramping?

 

[gcbryan]

So the main XP-E has no preset modes just the ramping?

That's correct. It comes on at max output and you hold the button down until it's at the level you want.

High is often more than I need so I just hold the button until it dims down a bit. To me that's easier and more accurate than clicking through high, medium, low.

 

[Chongker]

Got my Storm today, and I quite like it! It does quite a lot of things right, the UI is not perfect but better than quite a few I've seen before. The only thing I don't like is the abysmal efficiency of the flood SMDs, does it seem possible to swap them for something else? I've so far only swapped emitters already mounted on stars, which is straightforward and easy to do, but I do in principle know how to swap bare emitters, and I have a heat gun, so I guess this is my next project! Will use the light for awhile before touching it, and will probably practice on my Eos before giving it a go on the storm. HI CRI XPG ready and waiting for as spot LED =)

 

[Szemhazai]

Chongker, I dint test that, but I think that you can use 2 Cree MX6 Q5 leds to get 100+ lumens of flood light

 

[gcbryan]

I think I just improved the Storm for my uses. I just put a piece of translucent tape over the plastic covering over the spot led. Now the beam looks much better. It still throws further than the flood leds (and more efficiently) and yet it has no annoying artifacts or halo bouncing around when I'm trying to locate something.

I can't put a small beam of light on a tree 200 feet away but I don't usually need to do that. If I'm climbing with steep drop offs at night I'll bring along a flashlight that will put out more light than the headlamp anyway.

 

[Chongker]

Szemhazai, ordered some warm Q2 binned MX6's from DX today, will be some weeks before I get them. I'll update on here what I manage to do with them once I get them though =)

gcbryan, if you're willing to tinker with your headlamp, looks like swapping to an XPG like Szemhazai did made the beam profile more floody, with a much larger hotspot (sounds like what you'd want) and also looks less artifact-y (as far as I can tell from the picture). You might even be able to put in an XML in there and have a really floody 'spot' mode, and it should be pretty efficient at those drive levels.

 

[gcbryan]

Szemhazai, ordered some warm Q2 binned MX6's from DX today, will be some weeks before I get them. I'll update on here what I manage to do with them once I get them though =)

gcbryan, if you're willing to tinker with your headlamp, looks like swapping to an XPG like Szemhazai did made the beam profile more floody, with a much larger hotspot (sounds like what you'd want) and also looks less artifact-y (as far as I can tell from the picture). You might even be able to put in an XML in there and have a really floody 'spot' mode, and it should be pretty efficient at those drive levels.

I'm willing but not able (don't have the skills for it) Putting in a XPG would result in a larger hotspot but it wouldn't do much regarding the artifacts in this case I don't think since the plastic optic and the plastic six sided cover would be the same.

Replacing the flood emitters with something more efficient would be nice however putting a piece of tape over the optic did a great job of diffusing the output (even more so than a XPG would do) and was a simple solution (for me).

 

[gcbryan]

Just for the sake of keeping all posts on the Storm to one common thread and now that I've used and thought about the features more I thought I'd list the changes I'd make to this light if I had the ability to make this the ideal light.

There is nothing really wrong with it the way it is but here are the changes I would make.

More efficient flood emitters (equal to the spot if possible) and a bit brighter (50 lumens rather than 25).
Better spot beam pattern. Lightly frost the front plastic cover if necessary.
Change round battery compartment screw to flat thumb screw to make it easier for cold fingers to operate.
Use two CR123 batteries and have reverse polarity protection.
Start spot and flood mode in low rather than high.
Have mode memory for spot and flood and trigger between the two with 2 quick clicks (make strobe mode 4 quick clicks).
Incorporate some type of tiny glare guard below the lens area.
Make the button more distinctive to the touch.
Just to be consistent allow the red emitter to ramp (I think the BD Spot did this).
For a redesign BD could actually just use one emitter for flood and put the spot and flood emitters vertically (one above the other) in the center of the housing.

A light like that would be my ideal light. The Storm is close in practical terms.

 

[Chongker]

gbcryan, I agree with most of what you suggest, just a few small little changes here and there, but otherwise not crucial.

Still waiting on my emitters to do the swap (as always, DX will take weeks) so that ticks no.1 off the list.

As for a more even flood, the scotch tape idea is a nice temporary fix. I'd taken a step further before by using glass frosting spray to frost some lenses of some lights (my old Eos had that done to it). Again, not a permanent solution as the layer is not quite so durable and needs reapplication every now and again. Right now, my Storm has a diffuser lens from a Spark XML headlamp taped in front of it (mostly because I only had clear, but not translucent tape on hand) and that works reasonably well as well. These are by no means the most efficient methods, however. The most ideal situation would probably to replace the optics with something else. I've seen the beam of an XPE behind a Carclo narrow frosted 10mm lens before, and the results were quite pleasing. Smooth, but quite narrow and throwy, not quite fully flood. It might fit into the Storm, but I'm not too bothered to change that aspect myself just yet (maybe some day).

As for UI, my favourite so far for a single electronic switch is Zebralight's. If possible, a SF Saint style dial would be nice too (of course with adaptations for spot/flood/red), but these wishes are probably gonna be fruitless

I guess without going custom, it's gonna be almost impossible to find the perfect light of any form (handheld, headlamp) from commercial companies like BD. We can only really go for the closest thing, and so far I'm liking the storm for what it is =)

 

[Chongker]

On a side note, just found a distributor in the UK that can get me some MX6's at reasonable prices. Might just get those and figure something else our for the ones coming from DX

EDIT: Ohh, I also opened mine up to have a quick look inside, the optics are part of the front lens which makes up part of the body of the light, so swapping it out likely isn't an option. Might frost the inside of the optics, depending on how much I like the XPG beam pattern

 

[Chongker]

Just an update, I've received my MX6's. Q2 flux binned, 4300K tint, 80+ CRI :thumbsup:

Taken apart the Storm so far and removed the old SMDs. Gotta get some flux so I can reflow solder on the new emitters, and I think I'll have some high CRI XPGs coming on monday as well, so one of those will likely take the XPE's place as well. Will update if I see success :twothumbs

If I don't end up posting here though, might mean that I messed up

 

[gcbryan]

I made another minor change. There is some glare just above your nose due to the semi-translucent nature of the plastic body. I used some black electricians tape and covered the area of the body from just below the clear plastic covering over the lens down to the beginning of the battery compartment on the front of the housing.

Not exactly ugly looking but not pretty either but it works and it's removable. I suppose you could take the unit apart and do this same mod from the inside.

Please post when anyone switching out the flood emitters for something more efficient.

 

[robostudent5000]

I made another minor change. There is some glare just above your nose due to the semi-translucent nature of the plastic body. I used some black electricians tape and covered the area of the body from just below the clear plastic covering over the lens down to the beginning of the battery compartment on the front of the housing.

Not exactly ugly looking but not pretty either but it works and it's removable. I suppose you could take the unit apart and do this same mod from the inside.

Please post when anyone switching out the flood emitters for something more efficient.

it seems like you're having to make a lot of changes to be happy with the lamp. maybe you should just get a different lamp.

 

[gcbryan]

it seems like you're having to make a lot of changes to be happy with the lamp. maybe you should just get a different lamp.

Maybe you can suggest one that has all of the positive features of the Storm and has incorporated the changes I've made? I'm picky.

As far as I can tell there isn't such a light.

 

[robostudent5000]

Maybe you can suggest one that has all of the positive features of the Storm and has incorporated the changes I've made? I'm picky.

As far as I can tell there isn't such a light.

lol. i remember one of your earlier posts saying you weren't picky about headlamps, so this made me laugh a little. it's easy to fall down the headlamp rabbit hole. and i suppose that there's no turning back now.

the only other headlamp that i can think of that has a combination of throw, flood, and red light in a sub 4 oz package is the Petzl Tikka Xp2. based on your desire for a more efficient flood, the Tikka Xp2 might actually be more to your liking. but it's not as bright in spot mode, it's not totally waterproof, and it's not regulated, and a couple of people have noted that PWM is noticeable on low, so it's not perfect either.

anyway, i'm not pushing you to dump your Storm or suggesting you get a Tikka Xp2. it just seemed like you're were't really happy with your new purchase, and i was trying to be helpful.

 

[gcbryan]

lol. i remember one of your earlier posts saying you weren't picky about headlamps, so this made me laugh a little. it's easy to fall down the headlamp rabbit hole. and i suppose that there's no turning back now.

the only other headlamp that i can think of that has a combination of throw, flood, and red light in a sub 4 oz package is the Petzl Tikka Xp2. based on your desire for a more efficient flood, the Tikka Xp2 might actually be more to your liking. but it's not as bright in spot mode, it's not totally waterproof, and it's not regulated, and a couple of people have noted that PWM is noticeable on low, so it's not perfect either.

anyway, i'm not pushing you to dump your Storm or suggesting you get a Tikka Xp2. it just seemed like you're were't really happy with your new purchase, and i was trying to be helpful.

Haha...yeah, I did say that didn't I ! I actually meant that if it had one decent emitter for spot and a diffuser for flood I didn't care so much about strobes, red leds, and having two emitters. On the other hand I do care about not being waterproof, having emitters that aren't efficient and having strobes that are triggered too easily.

I either want a small headlamp with an efficient emitter and very few other features or I want it to be perfect

I don't really like any of the spot beams so that's where the tape comes in. Most people wouldn't think the Storm has a lot of glare but why put up with any if some electrical tape will eliminate it

Now that I found something close to perfection for me it's annoying that I can't fix the few remaining imperfections. Before I bought the Storm most headlamps I read about had so many imperfections that I just had to not care since I didn't think I had much of a choice in the matter.

The Tikka XP doesn't work for me at all since it's underpowered, not waterproof, and as I recall the UI is a little annoying. I do like the flip up diffuser. There should be more models with this.

Zebralight doesn't work for me. Sure it's a good flashlight and a good headlamp but want a great headlamp. I don't want to pull reflectors or wear two Zebralights at once. I don't want to have to pull a diffuser on and off either.

If I had the electronic skills I'd replace the inefficient flood emitters and change the electronics around so that it started on low instead of high. Lighting level memory would be nice. These should be basic things but no small headlamp does all of these things. Some are still using 3 5mm emitters for their main beam. Some have buttons that don't stand out from the rest of the body.

It's like being in the "dark ages" compared to current flashlight features.

Why would anyone make any headlamp that wasn't waterproof or without memory or with old school emitters?

 

[carrot]

That the Petzl Tikka 2 series "isn't waterproof" is a gross inaccuracy. The battery compartment isn't sealed, but the electronics are. This offers the distinct advantage that it is safe to put new batteries in your Petzl even when you are in water or being rained on. I would not dare do the same with headlamps with sealed battery compartments, since a compromise in water resistance of the battery compartment in such designs usually also means the electronics are flooded. Again, not the case with Petzl.

 

[gcbryan]

That the Petzl Tikka 2 series "isn't waterproof" is a gross inaccuracy. The battery compartment isn't sealed, but the electronics are. This offers the distinct advantage that it is safe to put new batteries in your Petzl even when you are in water or being rained on. I would not dare do the same with headlamps with sealed battery compartments, since a compromise in water resistance of the battery compartment in such designs usually also means the electronics are flooded. Again, not the case with Petzl.

How hard is it to do both? Are you sure that if it were subjected to the 1 meter 30 minute test that the only thing getting wet would be the batteries?

 

[carrot]

How hard is it to do both?

It's not hard at all, but in the interest of cost savings it is probably rare to expect.

Are you sure that if it were subjected to the 1 meter 30 minute test that the only thing getting wet would be the batteries?

Petzl claims only IPX4 on their Tikka 2 series. I don't recall exactly what IPX4 is, but I'm pretty sure that means "splash proof". In my testing however, it is more than happy to be immersed in water for short lengths at a time.

In any case I do not want to derail this thread which is about a fine headlamp that I would also like to check out for myself one day. We shall move the rest of this discussion to my Petzl thread.