New 2013 BD helmet claimed to be lightest, most comfortable and most well ventilated climbing helmet ever made'
It's just approaching that odd time of year when outdoors journos everywhere are packed into a Back to the Future virtual Delorean and catapulted into spring 2013 as the major outdoors brands announce their newest, latest kit for next year.
We'll be off to Friedrichshafen next month for the full bewildering experience, but we just snagged this early image of Black Diamond's new for 2013 Vapor Helmet, a lid BD says is 'the lightest, most comfortable and most well ventilated climbing helmet ever made, while still offering the specialised high performance protection which the brand is renowned for'.
Interesting stuff looking at the pic, huge vents at the sides like a bike helmet, but a smooth, hard-shelled front section presumably to provide maximum protection where it's really needed. Light years away from BD's original Half Dome and a good example of the way a lot of outdoor kit these days seems to be about evolution rather than revolution - tweaking rather than upsetting the apple cart and watching the apples cascade onto the floor, erm, or something like that.
Also new next year is the Magnetron - a carabiner with magnetic locking gate, we think - and the ReVolt Headlamp, an LED light which can be powered either by rechargeable power by USB or, if needed, use traditional alklaine batteries. Of course Petzl's TIKKA range can do that too with the addition of the rechargeable CORE battery, but the ReVolt looks like a single package affair.
What else? A new X4 Camalot camming device with 'an ultra-narrow head' and flexible cable stem plus the Ultra pole. We don't know much about those, but we'll report back after Friedrichshafen, if we can return to the past that is...
