Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

Trail running is perilous in its own right. So it stands to reason that Active Junkies do it in the dark. It's just more of a rush – rocks and roots pop up out of the ground to trip you up, trailside cliff drops yawn into blackness on either side of you, and low-hanging branches threaten to clothesline you at every turn. Needless to say, a good headlamp is key, and our favorite has been Black Diamond’s Storm headlamp. Weighing just 4 ounces, the headlamp cranks out a max of 160 lumens, has IPX 7 water resistant properties (which means it can survive heavy rain and a meter of submersion for half an hour), and houses a QuadPower LED, two SinglePower white LEDs and two SinglePower red LEDs. The headlamp has been slightly revamped for 2014 with a new feature called PowerTap, which allows you to transition from full brightness to dim settings just by tapping the side of the headlamp. We took the headlamp out for a series of terrifying evening runs (there were reported mountain lion sightings in the area), and the Storm provided a soothing amount of light in full-power mode. The trail lit up for a good 20 feet ahead, throwing any potential obstacles into vivid relief. With the 160 lumens blasting, we were able to run with confidence, even when sprinting our way back to the car. The Storm is killer for overnight races, as the 4AAA batteries are easily replaceable on the trail if you burn through the 125 hour burn time (on the brightest setting), and the touch-sensitive PowerTap feature makes it simple to dim the light when you need to read your map.