Regulators for Christmas £300ish

[GiantMoray]

Hi,

As it's approaching Christmas I'm thinking about getting a set of Regs (think it makes sense to get Regs before BCD?).

I need to get a set of regs with gauges, I will also need to connect my dry suit hose and at some point a pressure transmitter for my dive computer.

I want to be able to use them both here in the UK for cold water and abroad in Egypt.

What should I be looking for around £300/is it a realistic cost, can't really afford to go any higher?

Thanks
James

 

[Mantra]

A lot of people on Scubaboard here will recommend HOG regulators to you. And for good reason. They will suit your budget and their performance and feature set equal regs that sell for much more. HOG is a great choice especially for a cold water diver like yourself.


Here in Australia we are in the same boat as you in the UK in that we don't have any local HOG agent for sales and servicing. That's fine. Buy the regs online from someone like Jim Lapenta here on Scubaboard, or from Dive Right In Scuba and get them shipped. You can get them serviced at a few local places, without doubt. There is a thread here: HOG Regulator servicing in the UK [Archive] - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network about the ins and out of servicing these in the UK.


Unfortunately you have just missed some amazing Black Friday specials on these regs, but don't sweat it. Even at their regular price, they are very impressive value.


HOG seems to be really getting a good reputation among enthusiasts. I dove with another diver today for the first time, a local instructor, and he was diving HOG too. Given that it's purely word of mouth here in Australia the fact that you're seeing them out and about these days even over here speaks volumes.


A SPG can be picked up quite inexpensively. I just have a little mini cressi SPG as an analog backup for my computer and it was a minor expense compared to the rest of the regulator rig. You may also need to factor in the cost of some hoses.


300 GBP is about $480 USD. You can get a singles reg package for about $499 (so not much difference, but not including postage) like this: HOG Gear D1 Singles Regulator Package w/ SPG | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL . Jim L might be able to suggest a good kit too.


You might need a din to yoke converter also if you are diving yoke tanks.

I know you have a budget in mind, but I suggest this because it's good kit and not too far off your price point.

 

[west0ne]

For that sort of money you should be able to pick up some Apeks ATX40 regs with SPG. May not be the best looking regs and don't have the bells and whistles of some of the more expensive regs but they work well and seem to be well supported by dive shops in the UK for servicing.

Not seen the HOG regs in the UK so service may be an issue.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[steveharriss]

Apeks DS4 with ATX40 primary, octopus and SPG with free ports to add your transmitter and the dry suit hose comes in at £354 at Dive Equipment, Plymouth Diving & Courses - Aquanauts - Dive Equipment, Plymouth Diving & Courses - Aquanauts. Try Divers Warehouse, Dive Life, Aquanauts and apeks-online.co.uk and see who will cut you the best deal. These regs are bomb proof, parts are readily available and every tech in the UK can service them (or you can do it yourself if you have some mechanical aptitude). Great for cold water and not too heavy for traveling either.

I'd advise steering away from regs that aren't readily available in the UK. Regs are a better purchase than a BCD at this stage IMHO.

 

[diversteve]

Plus Apeks is completely manufactured in Blackburn so any issues could be resolved somewhat locally. Not that there should be any, they're bulletproof. In the U.S. they're frequently the choice of cave/tech divers. And they're partnered with Aqualung so service worldwide shouldn't be an issue if needed.

The other good deal on the Aquanauts site might be the ScubaPro MK17/S600 combo for L358. You'd have to add gauges but that could be a sweet breathing, all temperature setup also serviceable worldwide.

 

[Druid]

The only thing to be aware of if you decide on Apeks DS4s is that there is only 1 HP port so you could have a transmitter OR an SPG but not both. Apeks DSTs have 2 HP ports but are a bit more expensive.

 

[elan]

Apeks DST / XTX50 if you cannot get new buy second hand, they are outstanding regs and last forever.

 

[SangP]

Hi,

As it's approaching Christmas I'm thinking about getting a set of Regs (think it makes sense to get Regs before BCD?).

I need to get a set of regs with gauges, I will also need to connect my dry suit hose and at some point a pressure transmitter for my dive computer.

I want to be able to use them both here in the UK for cold water and abroad in Egypt.

What should I be looking for around £300/is it a realistic cost, can't really afford to go any higher?

Thanks
James

I would say the deals from scuba store is pretty decent.
ATX 40 DS4 + ATX 40 Octopus 208.65 £
Titan LX ACD Supreme Yoke 259.79 £
or MK17 G250V 311.39 £

If you want to, the Hog regs are really good too.