ItвЂ™s small and light enough to be forgotten about, but bright enough to be able to ski and navigate by. ItвЂ™s the one I have been keeping in my pack for emergencies or late days. For reading, the smaller diffused bulb shines an even, low power light across the page. The Cosmo spot is bright and sufficient for skiing. I find the вЂњspotвЂќ type lamps most useful for skiing, as they are able to shine the furthest and brightest. One minor gripe is the Cosmo doesnвЂ™t have a rechargeable battery option. That said, the battery life has been excellent. I havenвЂ™t gotten involved in any all-night epics since I got the lamp, so havenвЂ™t used it for any prolonged periods. A nice feature, since IвЂ™ve found that thatвЂ™s one of the first things to break on many headlamps.

The battery door functions with a burly hinge. I keep mine in my pack for most activities, so it gets smashed and banged quite a bit. Note : I have found the lamp to easily turn on in a pack or pocket if it isnвЂ™t locked. The controls are simple, intuitive, and work well. Reverse the procedure to unlock the lamp. The headlamp also features a lock mode that can be easily turned on by pressing and holding the button when the lamp is off, whereby the red light blinks, and the headlamp is locked. By pressing and holding, the lights can be dimmed or brightened. Further clicks simply cycle through the two. Bravo! The lamp takes one click to turn on, and then the next click to turn on the small diffused light. The main point here is that the Cosmo uses a nice, big, solid button. вЂњInnovationвЂќ for innovations sake, isnвЂ™t really innovative. IвЂ™ve never had the displeasure of using touch control headlamps in the mountains, but it doesnвЂ™t sound like it would be a great time. During a relatively mellow, dry sport like jogging, a bit of sweat on the hands or thin gloves renders the controls useless. Even in the warm, dry, controlled environment of a gear shop these things often take a few tries by the clerk to get them to turn on. ItвЂ™s incredible that anyone can think that a $50 headlamp could do any better. Even $400+ smartphone screens only work when dry, and only with bare skin. Why this seems like good idea is beyond me (anyone who has any ideas, please comment). Unfortunately in the past few years almost every major headlamp company has insisted on equipping their high-end head lamps with вЂњtouchвЂќ capacitive controls, rather than a traditional button.ДЄt first I thought the touch controls might be a brief experiment, but itвЂ™s continued and expanded to many new models. This shouldnвЂ™t even be a feature, it should simply be the way it is. One major feature of the Cosmo is the simple, physical button located on the top of the case. However, at 160 lumens itвЂ™s provides an adequate beam while while still being small, fairly inexpensive, and practical. The Cosmo isnвЂ™t Black DiamondвЂ™s most expensive or brightest headlamp. With 3 alkaline batteries (lithiums are lighter), it weighs 86 grams. The headlamp weighs in at 51 grams (1.8 oz) without the 3 batteries. The lamp takes 3 AAA batteries, and is operated by a single button on top. ThereвЂ™s a smaller bulb off to the side that throws out a lower power, more diffused beam (perfect for reading). It utilizes one large, bright вЂњspotвЂќ lamp, which can be dimmed. The unit is quite small, and itвЂ™s squeezed into a nice rectangular case which makes for compact packing. One constant in headlamps is that they seem to be getting brighter and smaller. The dimmer, wide led is the smaller of the ones on the left.

Black diamond storm headlamp alpine