Dive gear express double braided hoses? Impressions?

[rsingler]

Deep 6 could be considered knock-off. The regs are made in Taiwan, and with the exception of cosmetic differences only, come with many brand names, some widely known, some obscure.

Don't want to derail a hose thread, but this is so wrong in so many ways! It sounds as though you had a bad experience with Deep6! Heck, I've had more than one bad experience with Scubapro. But that doesn't mean their regs are garbage!
Deep6, like many companies, uses one of a very few OEM's (including in Taiwan) that have the CNC machinery necessary to create reg bodies with precision. But holy cow! The only similarity between a Deep6 Signature and an Apeks, or HOG, or, or...is that they're all cylindrical!
VERY FEW have a balancing system like the Deep 6 Signature. Not HOG, not Apeks. Scubapro's and Apeks environmental seals on their diaphragm regs are demonstrably inferior to Deep6's product.
Who else has a Teflon impregnated HP oring to improve performance? Who else has NO IP RISE with falling tank pressures? Few to zero.
There are very few things you can do with a high pressure pipe and a seat to seal it. So calling Deep6 a knockoff over superficial similarities to other regs is just, well...ignorant.
Hate to jump on you, but this is a bad belief to promulgate. Show me ANY customer service from Huish, Aqualung or Scubapro that matches Deep6. Have they had rollout glitches? Show me a new company that hasn't! But they respond! Add to that their unique regulator design features, and I just wish they had a bigger advertising budget.

Rant over.

 

[Rose Robinson]

Don't want to derail a hose thread, but this is so wrong in so many ways! It sounds as though you had a bad experience with Deep6! Heck, I've had more than one bad experience with Scubapro. But that doesn't mean their regs are garbage!
Deep6, like many companies, uses one of a very few OEM's (including in Taiwan) that have the CNC machinery necessary to create reg bodies with precision. But holy cow! The only similarity between a Deep6 Signature and an Apeks, or HOG, or, or...is that they're all cylindrical!
VERY FEW have a balancing system like the Deep 6 Signature. Not HOG, not Apeks. Scubapro's and Apeks environmental seals on their diaphragm regs are demonstrably inferior to Deep6's product.
Who else has a Teflon impregnated HP oring to improve performance? Who else has NO IP RISE with falling tank pressures? Few to zero.
There are very few things you can do with a high pressure pipe and a seat to seal it. So calling Deep6 a knockoff over superficial similarities to other regs is just, well...ignorant.
Hate to jump on you, but this is a bad belief to promulgate. Show me ANY customer service from Huish, Aqualung or Scubapro that matches Deep6. Have they had rollout glitches? Show me a new company that hasn't! But they respond! Add to that their unique regulator design features, and I just wish they had a bigger advertising budget.

Rant over.

Hello rs,

Take a deep breath.

My concern was with the term knock-off, in my opinion, unfairly given to a hose because it did not have the brand name Myflex.

Deep 6 is simply a Taiwan made generic, nothing more, nothing less.

They are typical of their breed, $100. second stages, $150. range first stages.

Deep 6, DRIS, HOG, DGX, Dive Rite, all originating from the same Taiwan factory, all with their own slight differences, but all very much the same, being economical is their main selling point, with brand likes/dislikes being personal preference.

Do you like Uncle Ben's Basmati rice, or Publix House brand, Publix house brand is likely cheaper, no other real difference.

So your argument is that one is not a copy of the other, and in my opinion, there are more similarity's than there are differences.

I would buy Publix rice, but I wouldn't buy any regs of the brands I've listed above, nor would I buy anything under the Huish umbrella, don't care for SP either, as far as I know, there is nothing particularly wrong with any of them, I just wouldn't buy them.

We all have an opinion.

Rose.

 

[Couv]

...and she has a much more interesting avatar than you!

 

[jgttrey]

Except that is not a matter of opinion, and demonstrably untrue, that Deep 6 is just a generic like any other with only "cosmetic" differences. Rob nailed many of those differences and, believe me, he'd know. I'd add to the list the unique round poppet on the second stage. Whether you prefer it or not is up to you (opinion), but it is a fact that it (along with other design tweaks) is unique. Personally, it seems like a great idea, if only for the fact that it is impossible to screw up aligning it with the lever legs.

Your larger point about Taiwan generics is not off base - I just wouldn't include Deep 6 in that category. That is unfair to a company that is actually doing interesting and unique things.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I do have a few rubber hoses that are older than 5 years, still working fine. That manufacturer no longer makes hoses, and any new rubber or braided hoses, I am replacing within 5 years.

I had an o2 supply line fail on my rebreather, discovered while setting up for a dive, thankfully not underwater. Hose was 6 years old. Went through them all, replaced anything older than 1 year, and in the process I got the routing significantly more customized.

It's not worth blowing a $100 boat dive trip over a $30 hose, or a $75 sensor, a $30 wrist seal, a $50 reg overhaul...maintain your gear and replace it before it breaks, if it's demonstrably on it's way to failure. Of course, apply common sense: if your hoses tend to break at 5 years, no need to replace them at 2, but if you do it at year 4, that's probably not insane.

DGX hoses are great, I use them on a lot of my gear, and trust them with my life from years 0-4.5