I guess with a product lineup as vast as Black Diamond’s, they’re bound to pinch a stinker once in a while. They have done so with their Wiz headlamp, designed – so they say – to be kid-friendly somehow.
Claims: it’s smaller, less bright, more durable and has a "tiltable housing." There are plenty of other lamps, including many by BD, that match these specs, so I’m calling bulls**t. The only truly useful feature is that it supposedly shuts off after one hour to save battery life; I haven’t bothered to leave it on that long, but if true I’ll give them a point.
Then I’ll take away ten for the crappy on/off switch that requires you to press hard and hold it down for longer than the average kid has patience for. Once it’s on, pressing briefly on the switch in a normal way turns it to strobe and back. You have to hold it down to make it go out, which is surprisingly difficult for the kids I watched try to figure it out. Back to the drawing board, BD. I recommend finding an ACTUAL CHILD to test it this time. And no, prolonged adolescence in your "extreme athletes" doesn’t qualify them for the job.