Black Diamond ReVolt

Our take “So much power in such a small package,” our tester says. The ReVolt’s housing is about the size of a film canister, but its 300 lumens shine brighter than other lamps in its weight class. It’s also programmable: One button controls a proximity mode, a distance mode, and a red light, each of which can be brightened or dimmed to your liking and then “saved.” Caveat: You’ll need the included cheat sheet for the button patterns.

Features The ReVolt runs on nickel-metal hydride batteries that charge in the headlamp via USB, or standard AAAs. We liked the flexibility: You don’t ever have to remove the batteries, but if a power source isn’t available for recharging, regular alkalines will do. Cool: It’s waterproof. 

Trail cred “I liked being able to just tap the unit to toggle between one white light and two without cycling through all the modes,” our tester says.