Why We Chose The Black Diamond Spot 325: IPX8 waterproofing, variable dimming modes, slimmed down design.
Black Diamond have built up a strong reputation within the climbing and ski communities that spans thirty years. We’ve certainly tested a lot of their kit in our 20 years of operation, and more often than not, we’re impressed. One thing they’ve done well in recent years is headtorches, and this, the new Iota 325 hasn’t disappointed.
There are a few things that you want to be able to rely on your headtorch to be able to do. First and foremost, you want it to provide adequate lighting depending on your needs, you also want it to be able to survive life in the outdoors and also you need it to retain good battery life. Those may seem like pretty simple jobs to do, but we’ve been let down by various headtorches in the past – our biggest gripe being weak buttons that accidentally switch the light on whilst it’s stored in your pack, even when you’ve set it to ‘lock’ mode.
“You’ll be able to submerge it 1 metre underwater for up to 30 minutes and it’ll keep trucking on.”
The Spot was initially released in 2017 as a 200-lumen model, it then got an update to 300 lumens in 2018 before seeing a complete overhaul for 2019, becoming what we see here – the Spot 325. This overhaul hasn’t just involved an increase in power, they’ve also slimmed down the entire unit, added a new mode selector button, and updated LEDs, all with the intention of making this a more reliable unit than previous generations.
The Spot 325 is rated to IPX8 in terms of waterproofing. This means that you’ll be able to submerge it 1 metre underwater for up to 30 minutes and it’ll keep trucking on.
Just one thing to note with the waterproofing. It’s expected that the battery compartment may fill with water during submersion, therefore it’s suggested to give this a thorough drying out if you have, say, accidentally dropped it in the nearest stream or even worn it in heavy rain for a while.
