I used a Black Diamond Revolt for several years and really liked it. It’s bright enough, a full charge lasts an entire 7-day trip, it has red light, and it dims. I picked up the Petzl Actik Core 450 Headlamp not to replace the Revolt, but mostly just because it’s brighter and because I can’t keep track of headlamps so I need to have several. I have since lost the Revolt so the Actik Core is now my only headlamp. My comparison of these two tells me that:
- The charges last about the same amount of time
- Actik Core is MUCH brighter
- Actik Core has several brightness settings but doesn’t dim as low as the Revolt (I like the low setting for saving battery)
- Actik Core doesn’t seem very waterproof, Revolt seems a bit more waterproof
- Actik Core headband seems more durable or like the stretchiness is stiffer or something
On a recent 5-day trip I used my headlamp for only about 15 min a night, and by the end of the trip the charge was still almost completely full. So it’s hard to say if that lower setting on the Revolt is really that much better for saving battery.
The Actik Core is ridiculously bright, so if you actually need to do some nighttime route-finding or something similar, I would definitely choose it over the Revolt.
