Adventurers who spend half the year squinting at camp stoves after dark have two new solid options. Australian Geographic's tester put Black Diamond's Storm+ and Storm headlamps through multi-day packrafting on the Snowy River and four days of tropical hiking on Hinchinbrook Island's Thorsborne Trail — and came away impressed, with only minor gripes.
The flagship Storm+ punches out 750 lumens with a beam reaching 149 metres, weighs 114g and packs a 2200mAh battery. The smaller Storm delivers 550 lumens, 137 metres of throw and a 1800mAh battery at 102g. Both include spot and flood beams, plus red, green and blue night-vision modes, three preset brightness levels, a digital lockout, mode memory and a tilting housing. They're IP67 rated, meaning they survived immersion to a metre for half an hour — reassuring if you're paddling or caught in a tropics downpour.
Battery life is the headline for travellers: across eight nights of actual trips, neither lamp needed a recharge. Claimed runtimes run from about 4.5 hours at full burn up to 80 hours on low for the Storm+. Charging is via USB-C, which the tester hailed as the best feature — the same lead as your phone or power bank, no proprietary cable hunting in a hostel at midnight. The trade-off is no AAA backup option, a compromise he accepted given he carries a power bank anyway.
The quirks are minor. The housing is so symmetrical that the reviewer repeatedly donned it upside down, learning to locate the buttons by feel. And forgetting the digital lockout once meant the lamp quietly switched itself on inside his pack — a mistake worth avoiding if you want a charged headlamp at your destination.
Priced at $159.99 for the Storm+ and $139.99 for the Storm in Australia, both sit against stiff competition from Petzl, Nitecore, Fenix and Ledlenser. The verdict: few rivals match the balance of power, durability and price, and the Storm+ is a compelling $20 and 12-gram step up for an extra 200 lumens, longer reach and a bigger battery.
Why does a torch review matter to holidaymakers? Because a reliable headlamp quietly saves trips — night hikes, cave visits, campsite cooking, power cuts in remote stays. This pair is bright enough for serious trekking, tough enough for kayaking, and simple enough to operate half-asleep. If your next trip involves multi-day hiking, camping or anything on water, these are worth a look. One more practical tip borrowed from the testing: pack a spare light source regardless. A phone torch works in a pinch, but a dedicated backup headlamp or clip light weighs little and can rescue a night walk.
