Never mind, see the next response.
Yep, banned:
Yeah, 77 Outdoors sent PMs to forum members to people that are influential in this forum.
A sleazy tactic IMO. Still remember that Folomov problematic.
There’s no problem with mentioning the spammer’s company name here. That way this complaint will appear in Google search results to warn potential buyers. Just don’t link to the company’s website so that it doesn’t get promoted in Google’s rankings.
I got in touch with them for a review via my Sofirn rep. They sent me a generic D25 headlamp with an included Sofirn cell. The headlamp was crap for multiple reasons. As per their request, I wrote an Amazon review. It wasn’t a good review. The 77 Outdoor rep then proceeded to ask me to delete my review, as it would bring down the average score, and she didn’t want her boss to get upset with her. I was fine with the company up until that point. Asking reviewers to delete negative reviews is no good.
I got one too but it was a decent light for the price. My only complaint that it didnt have a magnet at the bottom .
I’ll be honest… I’m kinda confused about 77 Outdoors and their business model. Their rep told me they are “a new company supported by Sofirn.” Having had good experiences with Sofirn, I figured they were worth a shot.
At first they wanted me to review the D25 headlamp… a mediocre yet decent for the money, widely available model under several brands. Seemed odd, but whatever.
And now they asked me to review the Sofirn C8A. That just seems weird. It’s not branded with their name, not even white label… Just them selling an existing Sofirn product. Having never tried the C8A, I went along with it… Review isn’t up yet, but I will hold up my end of the bargain.
Also… I was upfront with refusing to leave an Amazon review so as to honor Amazon’s review policy. They were fine with that. Which is good, because I don’t like companies being shady.
But I didn’t realize they were spamming members. Not cool.
I got a PM from Sofirn on behalf of 77 Outdoors last night, advertising some new diving light on Amazon, and offering me a discount coupon. It looks like that PM has since been deleted.
Off topic:
The single led version is the Boruit D10 and it is hugely popular. I guess the D25 is a big step down?
The UI is strange, but the 5 levels are really well spaced. I like it.
Even their generic CW led is not too bad, although lots of folks swap it for a more NW tint. I’ve got 2 D10’s and modded them with 60° TIR lenses and 5000K leds.
The threads are sloppy and the driver is extremely basic (FET driven current limiting resistors), but for the $12 or so that these things go for, they seem like a decent deal. I swapped the MCU on mine and now it’s running RampingIOS… so a great UI and thermal regulation.
Do you mean you reflowed a new MCU on the stock driver?
Yup, linky
Used the new Attiny412 as it shares the same footprint (PIC-style?). Pre-flashed MCUs available if desired.
Apologies for the off-topic chatter. We can move this headlamp party if desired.
That’s what I remember from when I reviewed the D25 (which I actually liked; weird UI, but in a way it made sense and I got used to it).
So anyone know what’s the deal? Are they just 3rd-party resellers of Sofirn lights?
I found the UI to be completely unusable. The emitters in mine were knockoff XM-L2s.
Here’s what the rep I talked to had to say.
Granted, this isn’t really enlightening information.
Hopefully, Sofirn is wise enough to not break the BLF rules. It would be quite a loss if they were banned, too. 
Completely different people/companies.