Perun (pronounced pay-roon) is the God of thunder, lightning and storms in Slavic mythology. Like the Norse god Thor, but OLight probably didn’t want to use that name and fight Marvel/Disney for trademark infringement. The Perun 3 is the latest iteration of the Perun headlamp/right angle utility flashlight. It is a tube-style flashlight with a fixed 90º bend at the bell, and a detachable metal belt clip. It can be snapped onto the included headband turning it into a bright headlamp. It can tail-stand and has a magnetic base.
Power comes from a proprietary 5,000 mAh 21700 cell. Magnetic charging via OLights MCC3 puck-to-USB cable. Battery capacity is displayed as a color LED above the activation button. Unfortunately, OLight discontinued the smaller Perun 1 which used the more common 18650 cell.
The larger 21700 cell allows the Perun 3 longer battery life and output. 3000 lumens of turbo lasts roughly two minutes before stepping down to a still-useful 800 lumens for a few hours, then 600 lumens for a handful of minutes. Real-world testing puts output higher than 3000 lumens but a runtime shorter than 3 hours. The beam is a soft, usable flood with a broad hotspot—great for close work on low but less ideal if you’re trying to ID a coyote at 300 yards.
The unit has and old-school multi-tap control using a single button at the top of the unit. Tapping the button turns the unit on to the last brightness mode. Holding the button down activates moonlight brightness mode (5 lumens). Double tapping while off activates a red light mode. Double tapping while white mode is on, activates Turbo (3000 lumens) Tripple tapping activates an S-O-S signal mode on high. Pressing the button while on, cycles through the brightness setting: low-medium-high.
An unusual feature is a proximity sensor which steps down or deactivates the light if the flashlight face is too close to an object when in high or turbo mode. This will help prevent melting a hole into a tent or burning your pocket. It can be manually deactivated.
It’s not perfect. Proprietary battery means you’re locked into a whole new battery ecosystem. The single button makes changing modes somewhat tedius and requires some memorization. But if you’re looking for a tank of a headlamp that’s got OLights warranty protection, it or it’s smaller brother the Perun 3 mini a good option.
SHOP
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SPECS
Olight Perun 3
- Max output: 3,000 lumens (Turbo)
- Beam distance: 160 m / 524 ft
- Peak intensity: 6,400 cd
- White modes: Turbo 3000→800→600 lm (2 + 180 + 30 min); High 600→120 lm (300 + 30 min); Med 120 lm (25 h); Low 30 lm (89 h); Moon 5 lm (20 days)
- Red modes: High 60 lm (14 h); Low 15 lm (70 h)
- Battery: Customized 3.6 V 5,000 mAh 21700 (included)
- Charging: MCC3 magnetic
- Body: 6061-T6 aluminum
- Size: 116.8 mm L × 28 mm head × 26.6 mm body
- Weight: 150 g / 5.29 oz (with battery)
- Waterproof: IP68
- Extras: Proximity sensor, magnetic tail, two-way clip, SOS/beacon, headband