Apeks Egress vs. XTX50 Octo

[adjuster-jd]

I will be purchasing a new Apeks Tungsten XTX reg and trying to decide which octo I should get with it.
Price is not a factor in consideration in this case.
The XTX50 (or XTX40) are nice breathing regs and certainly would be a first choice.
However, the Egress is much smaller and more ideal for working with students (easier to shove into someone's mouth when they spit out their own reg in a teaching situation.
Also, I am considering the Aqualung ProQD with I3 BCD. It has a nice little "octo pocket" feature which is more suited to a smaller octo such as the Egress.
I've not personnally breathed from an Egress - I do have the Oceanic swivel 180 which tends to breathe a bit wet.

Any thoughts on the Egress, especially for use in a teaching / rescue situation?

Thanks.

 

[m3830431]

I have the egress and while it is an octo it breathes fairly easy and there is no upside down.

 

[ScubaCrow]

I have thought of getting an XTX-40 for personal diving, but working with a lot of Basic Open Water Classes, I think the Egress has the advantage with no right side up and size.

 

[Ann Marie]

If you are buying the Apex at an authorized dealer, Aqualung has a special right now called "breathe free". You purchase the regulator and get the matching octo free.

I have the Egress and like that there is no right side up.

 

[MarkUK]

I've got three Apeks regs, two with ATX40s on (virtually identical to XTX40 second stages) and one with an Egress. I use the one with the Egress as my main reg, and it breathes fine – I was in Cayman two weeks ago and it breathed smooth down at 56m, so I reckon you'll be fine with it and new students.

Mark

 

[CC1020]

I got the Egress for free with my XTX-50, and have liked it fine. It breathes well at recreational depths (tried it at 105'), and I like the way it lays flat on my chest, and as m3830431 said, there is no upside down, so it's easy to hand off quickly should the need arise.

 

[hamsiss]

I am not an instructor nor (even!) advanceOW ; especially for starters I have to agree with all others; Egress will surely be perfect for panic situations (with no rightside up) but one disadvantage(?) of Egress can be its purge button, which is more solid for purging..
My Egress' purge cover is harder than my XTX primary's
Maybe you can get AquaLung ABS; they are simply identical with Egress (Egress is balanced, ABS is not), it's purge button/cover is softer than Egress'..