Gear question...Hollis or apeks?..or neither?

[beukesr1]

I would go for the Hollis regs....great breathers at depth.

[ucfdiver]

Haven't, no, only been diving for 5ish. Agree that this is an investment and am not looking at replacing the next time some shiny new material is used in a regulator. My thinking was that while Hollis may not have been around as long and have the history that SP does, they're part of Oceanic / Aeris group which appear to be pretty ubiquitous in the places I've been in the short time I've been diving. My first reg setup (Oceanic Delta IV / FDX10) was around for years prior to my purchase and remains their flagship reg, albeit they're now at Delta 4.2. Couple that with the fact that I picked up two DC1 - 212 Hollis regs and hoses for about what a single MK25/G250 would have cost and I'm not losing any sleep.

MK25/G250 can he had pretty cheap. I bought 15 G250's for $75ea on the deco stop.

[tstormdiver]

I'm not sure if you're talking only regulators or the whole kit. For the whole kit I use a conglomerate. What works, feels & fits best. 7 Scubapro MK25/ S600's for back gas & stages, Hollis 210- H O2 for O2, Dive Rite Wings, Apeks backplate, Dive Rite Harness, DUI Drysuit, Worthington cylinders with XS Scuba manifolds & highland bands, Hollis & Scubapro fins, Dive Rite Reels, Light Monkey can light, Shearwater Predator computers, Hollis scooter. That pretty well sums it all up.

[PfcAJ]

So which SP regs do you guys prefer? I could go all out and get the M25/A700 but I just wasn't sure if it was wise to spend that much on two since I would need them for doubles. Would going with M25/S600 or M17/A700 be better for the money or is it just better off to spend that extra and do the M25/A700?

If you're serious about cave/technical diving, I suggest steering away from the A700. Its a sweet reg, but the fact that the faceplate can't be removed without tools is a show stopper, imo. I've been on more than a few dives where the faceplate/diaphragm had to be removed to clear debris from the reg. Its a real thing. G250 or S600 are better options.

[elan]

Im not a fan of the oceanic gear so for me would be Apeks. It has a proven record and a very simple .
I would also consider SP MK25/G250
In terms of breathing I could never tell a difference between the SP and an Apeks reg but MK25 routes better on doubles.

[sealsix14]

well it was sort of a question about overall configurations, but regs were a big part of the question. and thanks for the suggestions everyone, I was planning on mixing and matching but Just wasn't sure on everything. I was looking at the hollis bp/w set up with solo harness, ss backplate, and a c45 wing but then I got to thinking about going with the apeks harness and ss backplate and wing but I mean I guess they are all "similar" so it's just personal preference. but I do like the m25/G250 regs but haven't really given them much consideration but I'll definitely give them a serious consideration.

and on a side note...sort of , how long before you all bought your own cylinders? I'm considering getting my own set of doubles(and stage or deco bottles eventually) at the end of the summer If things go the way I want with training and the amount of dives I get in but I didn't know if that was rushing into things. I kind of figured I would need my own set If I was serious about getting into tech and cave specifically.

[PfcAJ]

Not sure if this is still a problem, but the Apeks plate I've seen had webbing slots that were big enough to allow a triglide (which stops the webbing from slipping) to pop out of the webbing slot. Silly. This may or may not have been fixed. I'm also not a fan of how Apeks attaches d-ring to the wing. This too is silly.

I think buying tanks is important. Its less of a hassle and cheaper in the long run than renting. 104s can be had for like 450-550 bucks.

[Randy43068]

I had no clue either what the poll was designed to do either, so I picked Apeks.

I'm not sure if you're talking only regulators or the whole kit. For the whole kit I use a conglomerate. What works, feels & fits best. 7 Scubapro MK25/ S600's for back gas & stages, Hollis 210- H O2 for O2, Dive Rite Wings, Apeks backplate, Dive Rite Harness, DUI Drysuit, Worthington cylinders with XS Scuba manifolds & highland bands, Hollis & Scubapro fins, Dive Rite Reels, Light Monkey can light, Shearwater Predator computers, Hollis scooter. That pretty well sums it all up.

[Teller]

So I've been doing gear research and I want to get into cave diving later this year after a lot of self practice and training and was wondering if anyone has a preference or opinion on Apeks vs Hollis? I have been looking at doing a full hollis setup since it is cheaper then the Apeks brand but something tells me that even though its more expensive I should just go for it. Does anyone have a preference? manly I'm asking because I'm not sure if hollis would be better since they seem to have a more cave friendly appeal to their retail...but what do I know I'm still pretty new to this.

Thanks everyone!

If I had to choose I would say Apeks but I would recommend that you just go with HOG. I have some buddies that are technicians and claim that the HOG D1 first stage is identical to an Apeks first stage. I am not a tech so I cant verify that but i know HOG goes for half the price of most decent regs and they have a good reputation. I have six of them I have been very pleased with their quality and performance. I wont buy anything else.

[sealsix14]

I should of been more clear on the poll lol but I just wanted to see what people preferred company wise..as in overall. But I know that can very depending on which piece of equipment. and I've been hearing that a lot about HOG.

and thanks for the input on the apeks plate and wings. I was pretty set in stone on getting a hollis solo harness, ss backplate and hollis wing...or an oxycheq wing but it's up in the air right now. So I'm just having a hard time figuring out what regs and tank setup to go with.

and I keep changing gear topics but tstormdiver, do you like the predator? When looking at computers I am between the x1 from Liquivision and the predator but they seem very similar, but I'm thinking that the predator might be better for when I go rebreather eventually.