Hog Regulator Combo or get something better ???

[cerich]

Or send it to any of my dealers to have it serviced.

For HOG D1 1st & 2nd?? I have to ask who is the seller. Last year's Black Friday deal from DRIS can't get this low.



I found this is untrue. All LDSs in my region, who is NOT HOG dealer, won't service HOG regulators. Not because they can't do it, it is all about liability. It is not specifically to HOG, LDS just won't service anything that that are not officially authorized to do. And I tent to believe this is the most likely case inside United States.

I am still trying to figure out what to do when service interval comes up on my HOG. LDS isn't likely. Most likely DIY if I can catch one of their course in time

---------- Post Merged at 06:36 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:35 PM ----------

What? They opened only a few weeks ago and placed an order with me this Tues. PM me and I'll et you their contact info

Quite a lively thread alot of knowledge out there.. NO the MARES was not a rental made a rookie mistake and purchased befor getting wet.. The Aqua Lung Legend is good,, i know that with shopping around and research i can get similar performance without the cost.. I contacted dive right in scuba,, they advise that the HOG second stage will work fine with the mares 1st stage,, so i may try that after my open water sunday.. My only question is can I get a DIve shop tech to service a hybrid set up., I will ask Dive right in if they would if I mail it in for service.. A HOG 2nd is less than $200 and it seems i would have a good set up, the dealer in Stuart listed by HOG not in business. Thanks.

 

[chrpai]

I found this is untrue. All LDSs in my region, who is NOT HOG dealer, won't service HOG regulators. Not because they can't do it, it is all about liability. It is not specifically to HOG, LDS just won't service anything that that are not officially authorized to do. And I tent to believe this is the most likely case inside United States.

Well, I did say "should". There's no liability issue. That's just a smokescreen for "we want you to buy the stuff we push". The LDS business model is sleazy at times. For me there is one LDS that has said they will service and another that probably will. There are also several technical divers I should be able to hit up for assistance. Othewise I could send it off to ScubaToys or DRIS. There's also the possibility I end up in Key Largo and NetDoc shows me how it's done.

Then again, I could just dive the crap out of it for several years and then sell it and upgrade to a new one. Prices are good enough to do that. I certainly do it with automobiles.

 

[beaverdivers]

Your misinformed. Subgear is NOT Scubapro. Subgear was a separate brand/company in Europe. They were purchased by the parent company of Scubapro and now sell re-branded Scubapro products..

Johnsons Outdoors owns both Scubapro & SubGear.

To Clarify:
SEEMANN becomes SUBGEAR

SEEMANN SUB has had a highly successful life in Germany since 1979, due to a focus on quality dive equipment at reasonable prices. The brand has continued to grow by creating feature-rich products, using high-quality manufacturing processes and implementing competitive pricing in the market.
SEEMANN has evolved into one of the worldwide leaders in the manufacturing of diving equipment, including gear for kids, gear for lifestyle diving and specialized products for female divers. Breakthrough innovations such as Body Map System, I-Grip (wrist instrument holder), the Rebel children's BC (grows with your child) and a modular valve system are a few examples. SEEMANN products have received numerous awards and the focus on exceptional service has established a solid base of loyal dealers and customers.
In April 2007 the SEEMANN brand was acquired by Johnson Outdoors Inc., a leader in outdoor equipment. SEEMANN products were launched in the rest of Europe in the summer of 2008 and have enjoyed significant success in the last year and a half as a diving gear brand focused on good quality equipment at reasonable prices.
SEEMANN will become SUB GEAR for a fresh beginning and a worldwide market. Upcoming worldwide coverage translates to clear benefits for customers: warranty, maintenance and repairs will be offered all over the globe from an established and trained worldwide network of dealers and shops.
The name-change transition will happen over the next year in Germany and relatively soon in other European countries. Spring 2010 envisions an even broader worldwide launch.
Although the brand name has changed, the people in the team remain the same - those with successful experience creating and marketing innovative, high-quality dive equipment.
The brand philosophy also remains the same: Experience the difference.

 

[ams511]

The press release you posted only confirms what I said. Subgear is not Scubapro, they are brother-sister companies owned by the same holding company. The relationship is the same as Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile. Get my meaning? Johnson Outdoors can discontinue the Subgear line and support anytime they want. If Subgear eats into Scubapro sales they will.

I am interested what happened to the existing Seemann product line after they were purchased and became Subgear?

 

[jonnythan]

The press release you posted only confirms what I said. Subgear is not Scubapro, they are brother-sister companies owned by the same holding company. The relationship is the same as Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile. Get my meaning? Johnson Outdoors can discontinue the Subgear line and support anytime they want. If Subgear eats into Scubapro sales they will.

I am interested what happened to the existing Seemann product line after they were purchased and became Subgear?

Is it that sort of relationship? The parts for my Pontiac Grand Am will also fit an Oldsmobile Achieva and Buick Skylark. Is it that way with Subgear and Scubapro? Same parts, different looks?

 

[beaverdivers]

Is it that sort of relationship? The parts for my Pontiac Grand Am will also fit an Oldsmobile Achieva and Buick Skylark. Is it that way with Subgear and Scubapro? Same parts, different looks?

Yes, the SubGear regs take the same parts as the Scubapro.

 

[idive2]

I and my wife are just taking our open water this weekend.. We both had MARES mv12 regs.. My wife felt it was a little hard to breath tried our instructors Aqua Lung legend,, felt much better so she now has one.. There is no comparisions bewteen the two Legend much better but unfair comparisionn as you get what you pay for.

I had a chance to demo the aqualung legend and found it to breathe every bit as well as my SP G250V. It actually felt a bit lighter than my g250v
but I have not seen the weight specs. I like staying with well established brand names for warranty and service but would consider a less popular
brand name that had favorable reviews and maybe trying one out. The price on my mk17/g250v was not all that bad three years ago but seems
prices have increased a lot since then. If buying again and money was not tight I would be looking closer at the aqualung regulator line and comparing to scubapro. If budget was tighter I would be taking a closer look at these edge regulators.

 

[chrpai]

Yes, the SubGear regs take the same parts as the Scubapro.

Who wants to bet that if SubGear was discountinued that the ScubaPro reps would tell the dealers that they aren't allowed to do that and to `encourage` customers to upgrade that "old" life support equipment to "new" Scubapro regs?

 

[ams511]

Is it that sort of relationship? The parts for my Pontiac Grand Am will also fit an Oldsmobile Achieva and Buick Skylark. Is it that way with Subgear and Scubapro? Same parts, different looks?

I guess I did not articulate my point well enough. Out of Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile, only Chevrolet is still in business, GM shut down the other two divisions, both of which were much older than Scubapro. You can still get your Pontiac serviced because there are aftermarket parts available and GM will sell you the parts that aren't. There are also federal regulations requiring manufacturers to stock parts for a certain length of time. None of this is true for the scuba market.

Johnson Outdoors can shut down Subgear whenever it wants to the same way as GM shut down Pontiac, Oldmobile, Hummer, etc. They can also stop selling Subgear parts if they so desire because there is no legal requirement for them to do so. You are correct that Subgear sells rebranded Scubapro products that take the same parts as their Scubapro counterparts. However, dealers can refuse to put Scubapro parts in a Subgear regulator by citing "liability" issues. Especially if Scubapro makes this an issue with dealers.

My point is buying Subgear products carries much of the same risk (maybe more) than buying HOG products, especially for people that rely on "authorized" dealers to service their gear. Just because Scubapro has been around for years does not mean that Subgear will be.

---------- Post Merged at 03:33 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:30 PM ----------

I had a chance to demo the aqualung legend and found it to breathe every bit as well as my SP G250V. It actually felt a bit lighter than my g250v
but I have not seen the weight specs. I like staying with well established brand names for warranty and service but would consider a less popular
brand name that had favorable reviews and maybe trying one out. The price on my mk17/g250v was not all that bad three years ago but seems
prices have increased a lot since then. If buying again and money was not tight I would be looking closer at the aqualung regulator line and comparing to scubapro. If budget was tighter I would be taking a closer look at these edge regulators.

Which regulator breaths better is highly subjective. One thing to consider is Aqualung still has parts for life on a regulator purchase. Scubapro requires a full set of gear purchase before free parts for life kicks in.

---------- Post Merged at 03:34 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:30 PM ----------

Who wants to bet that if SubGear was discountinued that the ScubaPro reps would tell the dealers that they aren't allowed to do that and to `encourage` customers to upgrade that "old" life support equipment to "new" Scubapro regs?

Not me that is my point.

 

[chrpai]

I'd argue that it's more risk because I have no expectations of free parts for life from Hog. I pay a fair price for the regulator and pay for my own parts over it's life. With ScubaPro I would pay such a premium that I'm basically prepaying for all those 'free' parts and hoping that they don't change policies down the road.