In 1989, Chouinard Equipment was facing a liability lawsuit. Chouinard had to separate the liability of Chouinard Equipment from the deep pockets of Patagonia, which he had founded in 1973. Chouinard Equipment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect the firm's assets. The lawsuit ultimately went nowhere. Peter Metcalf, Maria Cranor and former Chouinard Equipment employees purchased the company assets in 1989, formed Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., and moved the firm to Salt Lake City Utah.

Initially Black Diamond continued using the "C-inside-a-diamond" logo inherited from Chouinard Equipment. Over time, this logo evolved into the current "cut diamond" design. The exact year of this transition isn't precisely documented, discussions among climbers suggest that the new logo was introduced around the year 2000. Archived web pages show that the cut diamond was in use by the beginning of 2000, but the 2000 summer catalog still contains the older logo.

Snow Flukes

↑ 211: Black Diamond Deadman

• Made in USA [1997].
• Weight: 269 g.
• Effective size: 215x139 mm.
• 2024–T4 Aluminum Alloy.
• Stamped with the Black Diamond 〈C〉 over/between "B" and "D" logo and "U.S.A." on the convex side.
• Successor to Chouinard snow fluke (see #622).