Buying a New Regulator

[Deep South Divers]

If the HOG regs are "virtual clones" of the Apeks ATX regs, then do the HOG reg second stage kits work for overhauling Apeks second stages? I'm curious about the first stage kits, too. You realize why I'm asking, right?

This could be the best thing that ever happened to Apeks reg DIYers...

Yep, I know EXACTLY why you're asking. I, too, have my own ultrasonic cleaner permenantly in place in my garage/dive shop... And it's not 'cause it's cleaning jewlery.

Based on what I've seen, it wouldn't suprise me in the least if the parts kits were interchangable... But I don't know for sure. Contact HOG - the guy's name is Chris. TGreene knows him really well.

I suspect that Edge/HOG is gonna set the regulator world on it's ear by encouraging owners to service their own regs and make both courses and parts kits readily available. What a refreshing change in the market...

I'd love to see someone wrench the industry out of Aqualung's and ScubaPro's grubby, cheating, lying hands.

 

[TGreene]

Contact HOG - the guy's name is Chris. TGreene knows him really well.

Not even, but I'm working on it!!!

I called him when I had a ton of questions, and then again with a ton more, then again and again and again to the point that he's probably ready to get an unlisted number!

I'm pretty OCD when it comes to researching things, as SeaJay knows because he was helping and advising me in regards to a set of replacement regs (XTX50 was top contender) when I discovered HOG. I dug and dug to get every available bit of info that I could about them since they are so new to the industry. The product that is, not the actual players themselves.

I love my HOG's and will be adding another set as soon as I can.

-Tim

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Yep, I know EXACTLY why you're asking. I, too, have my own ultrasonic cleaner permenantly in place in my garage/dive shop... And it's not 'cause it's cleaning jewlery.

Based on what I've seen, it wouldn't suprise me in the least if the parts kits were interchangable... But I don't know for sure. Contact HOG - the guy's name is Chris. TGreene knows him really well.

I suspect that Edge/HOG is gonna set the regulator world on it's ear by encouraging owners to service their own regs and make both courses and parts kits readily available. What a refreshing change in the market...

I'd love to see someone wrench the industry out of Aqualung's and ScubaPro's grubby, cheating, lying hands.

My sentiments...exactly! I really hate this price-fixing minimum MSRP crap that Aqualung and ScubaPro pull. Then they won't acknowledge that some consumers would like to do their own reg repairs. Unfortunately, both companies make great regs. I do hope the HOG regs catch on...

 

[Bubbletrubble]

.
I love my HOG's and will be adding another set as soon as I can.

Tim, please keep SB posted with how the HOG regs are performing. I'll be really interested in finding out how they are working after the first overhaul...

 

[TGreene]

I do hope the HOG regs catch on...

They will, with your support!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

They will, with your support!

Unfortunately, at this time I'm not in the market to buy any new regs. But if it turns out their service kits work for Apeks regs...I'll probably be buying a few of those.

 

[TGreene]

Tim, please keep SB posted with how the HOG regs are performing. I'll be really interested in finding out how they are working after the first overhaul...

One part of me wants to say that I would be the wrong person to do that, because I'm simply too new of a diver to be able to really know the difference and I certainly don't know enough to be able to tweak or work on anything yet. I can tell you however that my other regs were Cressi Ellipse Titaniums which are known to be one of the best breathers out there, and the HOG's blow em away!

I'm really wanting to get one of mine over to SeaJay to get a complete assessment from him, being that he's been my mentor and his opinion is the only one that should matter from that standpoint.

-Tim

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I can tell you however that my other regs were Cressi Ellipse Titaniums which are known to be one of the best breathers out there, and the HOG's blow em away!

That's interesting. I've never heard that about the Cressi Ellipse Titaniums. Is it possible that the Cressi could have been tuned better to "compete" with the HOG reg?

I make this point because sometimes divers base their opinions of dive gear (let's say regs in this case) on their experiences with rental gear. As we all know, rental gear sees heavy use and probably isn't maintained as well as it should. Before judging reg performance, it might be prudent to ensure that both first and second stages are tuned properly. Along these same lines, if a reg tech doesn't know what he's doing, he can tune a very good reg so that it breathes pretty crappy. Now I know that you maintained your reg better than a dive shop would care for a rental reg...but it's possible that the performance of the Cressi could be enhanced by a little tuning. You never know. Perhaps you should let SeaJay take a look at your Cressi Ellipse reg, too.

You should consider taking the tech repair course offered by HOG. It will probably be useful even if you never do the overhaul yourself.

 

[TGreene]

I had bought the Cressi's new, same as the HOG's. When I was being certified I had an opportunity to try a couple of regs that my instructors used, they too commented on how well mine breathed compared to theirs. As I recall, they were both diving AL Legends and some low-grade Octos.

I sold the Cressi's due to the fact that being Titanium they won't suffice for my intended diving goals (which I didn't know at the time that I bought them), but I sure did love how lightweight they are. I did keep one of them to use as a hookah'd work reg though.

I've never used a rental anything.

SeaJay has breathed my Cressi Ellipse reg a couple of times while working.

I have absolutely every intention of taking the HOG repair class, and I will be maintaining my own equipment.


* I knew while writing my last post that I was likely opening up a can of worms for myself, but I certainly wanted to be as honest as I could in regards to my own findings, which is why I posted what I did.

-Tim

 

[shogan]

15 Regulators on test - Divernet

...they tested both the Aqualung Titan LX and the Scubapro MK 17 and a bunch of other regs side-byside.

I went to the review posted above and found many of their reviews to sound in contrast to what I've read. Specifically the Oasis which upon reading many many prior reviews indicated it was a decent breather and no flooding and to read the review above you would think I'd be better off breathing through a straw. What gives?