Best regulator for parts availability and diy rebuild

[Hoyden]

I know that Sherwood is not a ScubaBoard favorite, but it is pretty hard to beat the Sherwood Brut for ease of service/parts availability. The old version was even tankier and easy to service. We use them hard daily here at work. Alternatively, the Scubapro Mk2/R195 sets are also bulletproof and easy to service. Acquiring parts for Scubapro is a little harder.

YMMV

 

[tbone1004]

I bought HOGs pretty early on and have been very happy ever since, but this post makes me wonder what I'm missing... could I convince you to elaborate?

Which company you want to support. The regs are fine, but it's not a brand I can support

Diverite as well....
_R

only sort of. You can buy parts and kits for them, but you can't get the manuals or take a service course

 

[-JD-]

Which company you want to support. The regs are fine, but it's not a brand I can support

I [happily] use products from, and have referred others to, both vendors, with no axe to grind either way. But I am always trying to refine choices for both. [Understanding that there is a fine line in these things and very carefully dipping a toe in ...]

Would you feel comfortable to elaborate just a bit more in general terms for us to understand the "why" - does this pertain to:
- "internal" business dealings?
- market positioning/strategy and/or product line?
- customer support issues?

And silence or "Said enough already" is certainly fair. Everyone is entitled to their own reasons without the requirement to justify.

 

[tbone1004]

I [happily] use products from, and have referred others to, both vendors, with no axe to grind either way. But I am always trying to refine choices for both. [Understanding that there is a fine line in these things and very carefully dipping a toe in ...]

Would you feel comfortable to elaborate just a bit more in general terms for us to understand the "why" - does this pertain to:
- "internal" business dealings?
- market positioning/strategy and/or product line?
- customer support issues?

And silence or "Said enough already" is certainly fair. Everyone is entitled to their own reasons without the requirement to justify.

the strategy of the business as a whole and how they treat their dealers is the main one. Customer support isn't really great either, but the biggest one is how they are positioning themselves as a brand

 

[-JD-]

the strategy of the business as a whole and how they treat their dealers is the main one. Customer support isn't really great either, but the biggest one is how they are positioning themselves as a brand

Appreciated, thank you.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I've been a HOG dealer since 2011. Support has been excellent and they have bent over backward for some of my customers. Even when issues were clearly user error. One time I had an issue getting service kits when they got a run on them, but when that happened they air freighted them in from overseas.
I don't agree with all the decisions they make but none have affected me in a negative way. In fact, some of them that looked weird to me ended up giving me more options and more sales.
I just had to look at it from another angle. Most of my customers are tech-oriented and when they started putting more focus on the Edge side I was skeptical. Turned out it was a good move for me as well. I had more options for my students and customers and didn't have to go to other sources for some items.
Customer support is usually handled through the dealer. Not the company unless it's a warranty issue that needs to be dealt with. And then, I've always been taken care of. Being a dealer as long as I have, I understand the issues that sometimes come up with supply, shipping, etc.
When that happens I've simply been honest with my customers and it's been fine. Especially in the last year with all the craziness in the world.

 

[Bigbella]

technically Poseidon vs Deep 6 and HOG since it gives you access to a bunch of old regulators that they still make parts for and are still in production.

I have dozens of Poseidons, but I did admittedly just buy 5 sets of Deep 6 Signatures and highly recommend those over HOG for a myriad of reasons

One more vote for Poseidon, in terms of parts availability and support, having just rebuilt a great regulator, which dated from the Carter Administration . . .

 

[ScubaJCBS]

I know that Sherwood is not a ScubaBoard favorite, but it is pretty hard to beat the Sherwood Brut for ease of service/parts availability. The old version was even tankier and easy to service. We use them hard daily here at work. Alternatively, the Scubapro Mk2/R195 sets are also bulletproof and easy to service. Acquiring parts for Scubapro is a little harder.

YMMV

I have used Sherwood for years but parts availability sucks as far as I've found maybe that's the fix help me find part for my Sherwood's.

 

[Geo7]

One aspect to this question is the time frame of availability. Hog, Deep6 and Poseidon have a business model that serves tech divers very well (they sell parts and offer courses), and at the moment they would likely be your solution. But big companies are likely to have parts made and stocked for decades (which by now has become EU law). If the reg is well priced and you dive a lot, you'd replace it anyway though.

If you add "anywhere in the world" to your question, then things change. If you break a rare part somewhere remote, Scubapro and Aqualung parts might be easier/quicker to find.

So depending on your situation, you might actually still prefer the big companies with business models to supply parts to repair shops only (Scubapro, Apeks, Aqualung), and rely on the grey market. For me it matters most that parts for my reg models are available in the future and I have many part sources available over a wide geographic area.

 

[tbone1004]

Poseidon still supports regulators going back to the 50's, so that's moot
Rare parts breaking somewhere remote=use backup regulator or rental, not do a rush job service