- One Triple Power LED, two Single Power white LEDs and two Single Power red LEDs emit up to 130 lumens (max setting with alkaline batteries)
- Red night vision mode has proximity and strobe settings, and activates without cycling through the white mode
- Sleek, low-profile design uses three Black Diamond AAA Rechargeable Batteries or standard alkaline or lithium batteries
- Three-level power meter shows remaining battery life for three seconds after switching on headlamp
- Water resistant; Protected against splashing or sprayed water from any angle (IPX 4)
The Black Diamond Revolt is a powerful, versatile, rechargeable headlamp for climbing, hiking, camping or any other time you may find yourself out after dark. With 130 lumens of power, the Revolt easily spots anchors while you rappel in the dark; proximity lighting gives you a large area of light for hiking down the trail; and a dimming feature lets you choose just the right amount of light for the task at hand. A three-level power meter keeps you from ever being surprised by dead batteries and the Revolt can run on standard AAA batteries in addition to the included rechargeable batteries.
By GB
I'm a longtime fan of Black Diamond's other headlamps, the waterproof 'Storm' and the water-resistant (but not fully waterproof) 'Spot'. So when this model came out, with the ability to USB-charge any rechargeable AAA batteries, I had to try it.
I waited until it went on sale, bought one, loved it, and I just bought my second. Here's why:
1. Black Diamond makes quality headlamps. Some other companies do too, but I have found BD to be just consistently better. Good workmanship, good build quality (remember we're talking about plastic here) and very good performance specs on brightness, length of beam and battery life.
2. The ability to recharge your AAA batteries in a remote situation is great. So you can plug this BD ReVolt via USB cable into any portable USB battery, or a solar charger's USB port, or both, and not only recharge your ReVolt headlamp, but recharge additional AAA batteries that can then be used in other devices, or stored. Nice.
3. This ReVolt unit ships with both a set of alkaline batteries AND an included set of rechargeable batteries. Plus a charging USB cable. You can use that included USB cable with any wall charger or car 12V DC charger that you own(the charger itself is not included, just the USB cable).
4. There's a green LED light that comes on for 2 seconds when you first activate the headlamp to inform you that the batteries are sufficiently charged. When green changes to yellow or red, it's time to recharge.
5. Like the Storm and the Spot models, the ReVolt has a full dimmer range for both its spotlight and its area-flood settings. Hold the button down and the light will recycle from dimmest to brightest; just release when it hits the light level you want.
6. The stated spec's on this headlamp are reasonably accurate. All headlamp makers seem to exaggerate their claims to battery life, but BD does this much less than most, and BD headlamps come closer to actually delivering their promised performance spec's than most.
With any headlamp, you'll always get MUCH better performance (brightness, range and battery life) from an alkaline battery than from ANY rechargeable--that's just the tradeoff in being able to reuse a rechargeable. The difference can vary from 20% to 40%, in my experience. By the same token, you'll get much better performance with an expensive Lithium battery than either an alkaline or a rechargeable.
There's a little rubbery flap cover over the recharging port ( that hockey-stick-shaped grey piece to the left side in the Amazon photo). That prevents the ReVolt from being certified truly 'waterproof' like the Storm. I haven't had my ReVolt out in the rain yet.
If I knew I had a good chance of getting really wet, I would reach for the Storm first, and then the 'water-resistant' Spot, and I would try not to bring the ReVolt out in the rain, or out into water sports.
Thought: I would put some Scotch tape (or duct tape?) over that charging port flap to help secure it from both water and possible dust.
SUMMARY: Another great BD headlamp, with a recharge-your-AAA's option. When on sale for a few extra dollars more than a Spot, I think this is a solid buy. The ability to charge your AAA's in the ReVolt, then remove them for use in a different device, is really handy--much more versatile than only being able to recharge a built-in nonremovable battery that only powers a headlamp.
So if you are expecting to go off-grid for awhile, or want a prepping option for an extended power outage, the ReVolt has a lot to offer.
And now that the USB battery recharging option is available at this pricepoint, I expect to see it start appearing with other battery powered outdoors devices...weather radios and GPS, for instance. Should be interesting.
I haven't had these long enough to report on durability. But BD has a good reputation for honoring their warranty, and all my other BD headlamps have performed flawlessly for years. I do expect the charger to hold up, so we'll see.
I hope this review is helpful. I like my first ReVolt so much I bought a second (on sale). Money well spent. I'm satisfied, and no complaints. Happy trails, everybody.
I waited until it went on sale, bought one, loved it, and I just bought my second. Here's why:
1. Black Diamond makes quality headlamps. Some other companies do too, but I have found BD to be just consistently better. Good workmanship, good build quality (remember we're talking about plastic here) and very good performance specs on brightness, length of beam and battery life.
2. The ability to recharge your AAA batteries in a remote situation is great. So you can plug this BD ReVolt via USB cable into any portable USB battery, or a solar charger's USB port, or both, and not only recharge your ReVolt headlamp, but recharge additional AAA batteries that can then be used in other devices, or stored. Nice.
3. This ReVolt unit ships with both a set of alkaline batteries AND an included set of rechargeable batteries. Plus a charging USB cable. You can use that included USB cable with any wall charger or car 12V DC charger that you own(the charger itself is not included, just the USB cable).
4. There's a green LED light that comes on for 2 seconds when you first activate the headlamp to inform you that the batteries are sufficiently charged. When green changes to yellow or red, it's time to recharge.
5. Like the Storm and the Spot models, the ReVolt has a full dimmer range for both its spotlight and its area-flood settings. Hold the button down and the light will recycle from dimmest to brightest; just release when it hits the light level you want.
6. The stated spec's on this headlamp are reasonably accurate. All headlamp makers seem to exaggerate their claims to battery life, but BD does this much less than most, and BD headlamps come closer to actually delivering their promised performance spec's than most.
With any headlamp, you'll always get MUCH better performance (brightness, range and battery life) from an alkaline battery than from ANY rechargeable--that's just the tradeoff in being able to reuse a rechargeable. The difference can vary from 20% to 40%, in my experience. By the same token, you'll get much better performance with an expensive Lithium battery than either an alkaline or a rechargeable.
There's a little rubbery flap cover over the recharging port ( that hockey-stick-shaped grey piece to the left side in the Amazon photo). That prevents the ReVolt from being certified truly 'waterproof' like the Storm. I haven't had my ReVolt out in the rain yet.
If I knew I had a good chance of getting really wet, I would reach for the Storm first, and then the 'water-resistant' Spot, and I would try not to bring the ReVolt out in the rain, or out into water sports.
Thought: I would put some Scotch tape (or duct tape?) over that charging port flap to help secure it from both water and possible dust.
SUMMARY: Another great BD headlamp, with a recharge-your-AAA's option. When on sale for a few extra dollars more than a Spot, I think this is a solid buy. The ability to charge your AAA's in the ReVolt, then remove them for use in a different device, is really handy--much more versatile than only being able to recharge a built-in nonremovable battery that only powers a headlamp.
So if you are expecting to go off-grid for awhile, or want a prepping option for an extended power outage, the ReVolt has a lot to offer.
And now that the USB battery recharging option is available at this pricepoint, I expect to see it start appearing with other battery powered outdoors devices...weather radios and GPS, for instance. Should be interesting.
I haven't had these long enough to report on durability. But BD has a good reputation for honoring their warranty, and all my other BD headlamps have performed flawlessly for years. I do expect the charger to hold up, so we'll see.
I hope this review is helpful. I like my first ReVolt so much I bought a second (on sale). Money well spent. I'm satisfied, and no complaints. Happy trails, everybody.
By Ken
I won't repeat Voiceover Guy's review which covers all the bases well, I'll just add some more details and thoughts.
I agree this is a great light with useful features and good implementation. I personally like the USB recharging because it means I can recharge the light with a 5V solar panel when out in the wild. And you can charge at the start of your trip instead of tossing probably half full alkalines to put in fresh ones every time you go on a trip.
As to replacement rechargeables read reviews on the older versions of the Revolt for specific guidance. In order to protect consumers from themselves BD uses slightly different battery terminals on their rechargeables to prevent the light from attempting to charge non-rechargeable batteries. You can use generic rechargeables (i.e. don't have to buy from BD) if you just modify the tops of the batteries a little.
Be aware in the spot mode that the central region of the spot has an odd yellow color to it. This seems to be true of all the similarly designed BD headlamps. I haven't used the light enough for this to annoy me yet, but the color non-uniformity is definitely there and according to BD is a limitation of the higher power nature of the LED used. I suspect for hiking uses it is a non issue, but if using the dimmed spot mode to look at things like maps or books this could be annoying. For me a week of typical use on a trip and I really didn't notice the yellow spot unless I went out of my way to look for it, but on a uniform white page it is more easily noticeable.
Also check the battery life for flood mode. This is not particularly efficient in run time in flood mode. This is to be expected to a degree - the flood mode is very much a FLOOD mode. The beam width is extremely wide. The spot mode has a lens that focuses the light to a much tighter beam and is thus more efficient. One benefit of the very wide flood mode is it seems like this would work great as a top of the tent lantern. Also provides uniform illumination when looking at close objects like reading a book. So, great wide uniform flood mode but just be aware the flood mode uses up a lot more battery life than the spot for a given illumination level.
The red mode is not nearly as nice as the white modes. First be aware that it is a spot, not a flood. The beam width is quite narrow. Second be aware that the beam pattern and uniformity is quite poor. You essentially get bright rings at the periphery of the beam and a dimmer center. As noted in other reviews it has a very useful feature in which you don't have to cycle through white to get into the red mode. And once in the red mode you also can't accidentally end up in white mode unless you hold down the button for three seconds. This makes the red mode much more useful than on many lights where you are forced to blind yourself or those around you cycling through white to get to red. All in all using the red mode in a dark environment for a number of nights I found it very useful and the non-uniform beam pattern was not an issue in practical use.
Now to my one disappointment, which is probably nitpicking and not going to be an issue for the vast majority of users. You can not dim the red light mode, despite the fact that the manual is written implying you can (See UPDATES at end of review with regard to this issue, it appears current versions do now dim red mode). I went back and forth with Black Diamond customer service on this and after some checking on their end they determined that manual is not correct and the Revolt does not dim on red mode. Note that the Spot and Storm head lamps do have a dimming red mode so if this is important to you then give those lamps a look.
In practical use the red is about as dim as you would want already for walking and distant work. And most people probably want it at the brightness it is for close work. But for some niche applications like looking at star charts or detailed maps when working with fully dark adapted eyes the one setting for red is a bit too bright when viewing close up charts and maps.
Otherwise dimming in the white mode is quite good because it does dim down to quite low light levels. Many other dimming lights don't seem to get very dim. If you are trying to work in moonlight and maintain some dark adaption having really dim settings is very useful. I found that for distant work like walking with the dimmed spot mode or scanning an area for items left behind with the dimmed flood mode that the minimum white brightness was a good level to see clearly without compromising dark adapted eyes too much.
I've discovered one great feature of the dimming mode as well. It blinks the light at the dimmest setting. With dark adapted eyes this means you can reliably set to dimmest level without having to directly view the bright level. With your eyes closed you can still perceive when the light blinks at its dimmest setting. So, close your eyes and turn on light (comes on at 75%) then hold down button with eyes still closed and it will go to 100% and then slowly dim. At the dimmest it will pause and blink and even with my eyes closed in a dark environment I can perceive the blink and release the button. Then open my eyes to a nice dim light without ever having viewed to bright setting. As for anyone around you, well too bad for them unless they close their eyes while you adjust your lamp.
Also there is the question of price. These things are quite expensive compared to a more basic three battery head lamp. It is a very feature rich lamp, but if you just want basic light there are less expensive options. Fortunately they go on sale pretty frequently. I feel that the collection of features, especially the recharging and dimming, it is definitely worth the on sale prices. At something like two Andrew Jackson's or so this is a great feature set for the price. But honestly, if you want all these features and the excellent recharging feature then this is the light for you and most any price.
If you don't need the recharging feature then get the BD Spot instead. Same feature set (and red dimming actually works to boot) but for a lower price. The Spot also has a cute feature where tapping the light sets it to full brightness and tapping again sets it back to your dimmed level. The Revolt doesn't have this feature and instead has the USB charging port where the tap sensor is in the Spot.
UPDATE 12/11/14 - I've edited the review to reflect information from Black Diamond customer support regarding the manual for the Revolt incorrectly indicating that dimming works in the red mode. It does not in fact dim in red mode. BD customer support was extremely helpful in sorting that out for me and went out of their way to make sure I ended up with a BD light I was happy with. Seems like a great company making excellent products.
UPDATE 4/7/16 - Another reviewer has commented that the light they've just received does now successfully dim the red mode. It appears BD has updated the firmware along the way at some point to support red dimming like most of their other models.
I agree this is a great light with useful features and good implementation. I personally like the USB recharging because it means I can recharge the light with a 5V solar panel when out in the wild. And you can charge at the start of your trip instead of tossing probably half full alkalines to put in fresh ones every time you go on a trip.
As to replacement rechargeables read reviews on the older versions of the Revolt for specific guidance. In order to protect consumers from themselves BD uses slightly different battery terminals on their rechargeables to prevent the light from attempting to charge non-rechargeable batteries. You can use generic rechargeables (i.e. don't have to buy from BD) if you just modify the tops of the batteries a little.
Be aware in the spot mode that the central region of the spot has an odd yellow color to it. This seems to be true of all the similarly designed BD headlamps. I haven't used the light enough for this to annoy me yet, but the color non-uniformity is definitely there and according to BD is a limitation of the higher power nature of the LED used. I suspect for hiking uses it is a non issue, but if using the dimmed spot mode to look at things like maps or books this could be annoying. For me a week of typical use on a trip and I really didn't notice the yellow spot unless I went out of my way to look for it, but on a uniform white page it is more easily noticeable.
Also check the battery life for flood mode. This is not particularly efficient in run time in flood mode. This is to be expected to a degree - the flood mode is very much a FLOOD mode. The beam width is extremely wide. The spot mode has a lens that focuses the light to a much tighter beam and is thus more efficient. One benefit of the very wide flood mode is it seems like this would work great as a top of the tent lantern. Also provides uniform illumination when looking at close objects like reading a book. So, great wide uniform flood mode but just be aware the flood mode uses up a lot more battery life than the spot for a given illumination level.
The red mode is not nearly as nice as the white modes. First be aware that it is a spot, not a flood. The beam width is quite narrow. Second be aware that the beam pattern and uniformity is quite poor. You essentially get bright rings at the periphery of the beam and a dimmer center. As noted in other reviews it has a very useful feature in which you don't have to cycle through white to get into the red mode. And once in the red mode you also can't accidentally end up in white mode unless you hold down the button for three seconds. This makes the red mode much more useful than on many lights where you are forced to blind yourself or those around you cycling through white to get to red. All in all using the red mode in a dark environment for a number of nights I found it very useful and the non-uniform beam pattern was not an issue in practical use.
Now to my one disappointment, which is probably nitpicking and not going to be an issue for the vast majority of users. You can not dim the red light mode, despite the fact that the manual is written implying you can (See UPDATES at end of review with regard to this issue, it appears current versions do now dim red mode). I went back and forth with Black Diamond customer service on this and after some checking on their end they determined that manual is not correct and the Revolt does not dim on red mode. Note that the Spot and Storm head lamps do have a dimming red mode so if this is important to you then give those lamps a look.
In practical use the red is about as dim as you would want already for walking and distant work. And most people probably want it at the brightness it is for close work. But for some niche applications like looking at star charts or detailed maps when working with fully dark adapted eyes the one setting for red is a bit too bright when viewing close up charts and maps.
Otherwise dimming in the white mode is quite good because it does dim down to quite low light levels. Many other dimming lights don't seem to get very dim. If you are trying to work in moonlight and maintain some dark adaption having really dim settings is very useful. I found that for distant work like walking with the dimmed spot mode or scanning an area for items left behind with the dimmed flood mode that the minimum white brightness was a good level to see clearly without compromising dark adapted eyes too much.
I've discovered one great feature of the dimming mode as well. It blinks the light at the dimmest setting. With dark adapted eyes this means you can reliably set to dimmest level without having to directly view the bright level. With your eyes closed you can still perceive when the light blinks at its dimmest setting. So, close your eyes and turn on light (comes on at 75%) then hold down button with eyes still closed and it will go to 100% and then slowly dim. At the dimmest it will pause and blink and even with my eyes closed in a dark environment I can perceive the blink and release the button. Then open my eyes to a nice dim light without ever having viewed to bright setting. As for anyone around you, well too bad for them unless they close their eyes while you adjust your lamp.
Also there is the question of price. These things are quite expensive compared to a more basic three battery head lamp. It is a very feature rich lamp, but if you just want basic light there are less expensive options. Fortunately they go on sale pretty frequently. I feel that the collection of features, especially the recharging and dimming, it is definitely worth the on sale prices. At something like two Andrew Jackson's or so this is a great feature set for the price. But honestly, if you want all these features and the excellent recharging feature then this is the light for you and most any price.
If you don't need the recharging feature then get the BD Spot instead. Same feature set (and red dimming actually works to boot) but for a lower price. The Spot also has a cute feature where tapping the light sets it to full brightness and tapping again sets it back to your dimmed level. The Revolt doesn't have this feature and instead has the USB charging port where the tap sensor is in the Spot.
UPDATE 12/11/14 - I've edited the review to reflect information from Black Diamond customer support regarding the manual for the Revolt incorrectly indicating that dimming works in the red mode. It does not in fact dim in red mode. BD customer support was extremely helpful in sorting that out for me and went out of their way to make sure I ended up with a BD light I was happy with. Seems like a great company making excellent products.
UPDATE 4/7/16 - Another reviewer has commented that the light they've just received does now successfully dim the red mode. It appears BD has updated the firmware along the way at some point to support red dimming like most of their other models.
By Froggy
This is a great head lamp and at a great price too. I really like that it can take alkiline batteries, rechargable batteries and the main reason for buying this is that the batteries can be charged inside the light with a standard micro usb cord. Which means I can charge it in my truck, with my portable battery or with a standard usb charger brick.
It takes a few minutes of reading the instructions and clicking the light button to get familiar with how the light functions. But after the initial learning process it's easy to use. I like that the light can be turned off in "night mode" so the red lights come on with the first click and not have to cycle through a white light. I have a couple other headlamps but this is my favorite because of the charging capabilities and flexability to use alkaline and rechargable batteries.
One negative thing: BD claims you can only use their rechargable batteries in this light. But their batteries are only NiMh and I want to use Li-ion for longer battery life. A person can cut the battery wrapper off the tail so it makes contact with the rechargable battery contact. There's a few videos on youtube showing this, search Black Diamond Revolt. Use this info at your own risk.
It takes a few minutes of reading the instructions and clicking the light button to get familiar with how the light functions. But after the initial learning process it's easy to use. I like that the light can be turned off in "night mode" so the red lights come on with the first click and not have to cycle through a white light. I have a couple other headlamps but this is my favorite because of the charging capabilities and flexability to use alkaline and rechargable batteries.
One negative thing: BD claims you can only use their rechargable batteries in this light. But their batteries are only NiMh and I want to use Li-ion for longer battery life. A person can cut the battery wrapper off the tail so it makes contact with the rechargable battery contact. There's a few videos on youtube showing this, search Black Diamond Revolt. Use this info at your own risk.
By Tex - MJ
I bought my wife and I one for a trip to africa. I thought I would only use it once. It is unbelievable how much I use this thing, for so many more things than I thought I would. I did a lot of research too on them because I don't buy cheap crap, and I did want it to last and have plenty of functions in the off chance that I did want to use it more. Well, it paid off to get this one. I scoured thru a ton of reviews and this came out on top. The biggest thing is the battery performance. Oh my god, this thing never needs to be charged. I left one on for almost two days straight like your supposed to right when you get it. As long as you use them occasionally, and recharge the Lion battery correctly, it will last for ever. The other is how lightweight it is. I've now started running during the night (never used to during the winter until I got this bad boy!!). It's so great, I can run at night. When we were in Africa, we used the red light function when we were star gazing, and spotting animals. Un freakin real how reliable this thing is. It's not fully waterproof, but for basic rain, your fine. Just don't go diving with it. The lock feature is nice, so the light didn't turn on in our backpacks when we were not using them. The fact that it can use the rechargeable or regular batteries is just ingenious. Black Diamond hit a home run with this product
By It's Just Big S.
Don't like that the lamp ALWAYS turns on to high brightness. Other than that, it's lightweight, has a good range, the red lamps are excellent for not disturbing other people around you. It fits well. The rechargeable batteries lasted 14 hours of continuous (I turned it on in my bedroom and waited for it to die) use. I'd buy another one if I need another headlamp.
By Luke E
My new favorite headlamp. I had an old headlamp but would constantly get yelled at at night when I forgot it was on and looked at someone (old one only had white light). This new lamp is great!. I love the ability to dim the main light while also being able to switch to peripherals or a red light if needed. The ability to charge via usb is nice and the headlamp comes with an included charging cable.
By Olivia O'Herien
I bought this for my husband after he complained that a different model he had wasn't bright enough for night-hiking. He loves it & reports that illuminates the trail quite far ahead of him so he doesn't come up on any surprises. The battery life seems to be good, but he charges it in the car after every hike.
By explorer7
LOVE IT.
I have not needed to replace my batteries since I bought it 4 months ago! I just plug it in and recharge!!!!! I love that.
It's not the brightest headlamp I own.... but it's worth it to get this kind of convenience.
Good product.
I have not needed to replace my batteries since I bought it 4 months ago! I just plug it in and recharge!!!!! I love that.
It's not the brightest headlamp I own.... but it's worth it to get this kind of convenience.
Good product.
By D Cho2016
Love the headlamp. Has multiple settings and different bulbs for different uses. I am currently using the rechargeable NI-MH batteries that came with it and after a full nights charge the light is pretty bright. I've been using it every night for the past week around the house and it still hasn't needed a charge, confident it will last a while while camping as long as the bright mode isn't on all the time. It appears to be high quality and comes with detailed instructions and specs about different light to minute ratios. The head strap seems to be pretty durable and hopefully will last a long time. Also I believe it has a 3 year warranty. Very satisfied with this purchase.
By Bill
Awesome headlamp....this is my second one because I thought I lost my first one that I had for only one year and worked great. Ordered another one (this one) and found the old one the next time I went camping in my sleeping bag! Lucky me....now I have two.
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