Dive Rite XT vs Hog d3 zenith... Cold water.

[cliffoco]

similar pricing also there is an atomic that the guy at the shop recommended and is the same price but I forget the model. The hog is a little cheaper.
The Rep said that the Hogs don't breath as well and freeze up where as the dive rites did not freeze up on the same dive. Anyone else have any input with cold water experience?
I am not talking ice diving just great Lake diving and want to trust my gear at the cold depths of around 100 ft.

 

[mdb]

similar pricing also there is an atomic that the guy at the shop recommended and is the same price but I forget the model. The hog is a little cheaper.
The Rep said that the Hogs don't breath as well and freeze up where as the dive rites did not freeze up on the same dive. Anyone else have any input with cold water experience?
I am not talking ice diving just great Lake diving and want to trust my gear at the cold depths of around 100 ft.

You came to the right place. You will get some good input. I have just recently moved to the Great Lakes region.Very good diving with lots of well trained and good divers. For myself I prefer diaphragm 1st stages for cold water diving.

 

[victorzamora]

The Hog D3/Zeniths breathe very well at all depths I've taken them to (max on air ~135ft). Dive Rite XTs are really nice in sidemount as the HP port is straight out instead of at an angle, but they breathe about the same. If you get the sealed diaphragm version, neither will freeze. The Atomic regs are all piston regs, and when diving cold water you'll need the sealed ones. The way the pistons are sealed is they pack a bunch of a very expensive lube in the chamber. Repairs get messy and gross, even for minor things. With the diaphragm regs, they're sealed by a piece of rubber that's pretty much good forever. Even for ice diving, any sealed diaphragm reg should be pretty unlikely to freeze.

One more reg to add to your list is the Deep6 stuff. They're very high quality and breathe great. I wouldn't buy Atomics as I hate piston regs, but that's a personal preference thing. Hog, Deep6, and Dive Rite all sell parts kits to the public, and Hog actually has an official factory class for Reg Repair Technician to train you how to do it.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Atomics is higher quality, but needs to be sealed if you are diving colder water.

Between the Dive Rite vs HOG, would choose the Dive Rite. More established company, parts kits readily available, larger dealer/service center network.

And like mdb, I prefer sealed diaphragm regs for cold water and dive all Apeks.

 

[tbone1004]

what are you basing Atomics quality standard on against Hog and Dive Rite?

 

[cliffoco]

So the Dive Rite is 499 (+ tax) (CAD) and the HOG is 405 + Tax (CAD) I didn't want the 100$ to really effect the choice. I am looking for a reg that will be reliable, right now I have a set of sealed cheapy regs from Sea Elite and to be honest I have not gotten a free flow once, they breath easy and have lasted me over 6.5 years (and still work fine) It is just I am getting to the point where I am starting to get a little leery of the equipment at depth where its colder. A lot of the current dives are warm water (st. lawrence river ) and I feel confident with these regs under those conditions.
For me I am buying new ones for reliability in cold water. I would be getting both sealed, I am just wondering if its worth the extra 100 or would it better spent somewhere else. I have heard ONLY good things about HOG until I called the guy who sells them :S

 

[mdb]

So the Dive Rite is 499 (+ tax) (CAD) and the HOG is 405 + Tax (CAD) I didn't want the 100$ to really effect the choice. I am looking for a reg that will be reliable, right now I have a set of sealed cheapy regs from Sea Elite and to be honest I have not gotten a free flow once, they breath easy and have lasted me over 6.5 years (and still work fine) It is just I am getting to the point where I am starting to get a little leery of the equipment at depth where its colder. A lot of the current dives are warm water (st. lawrence river ) and I feel confident with these regs under those conditions.
For me I am buying new ones for reliability in cold water. I would be getting both sealed, I am just wondering if its worth the extra 100 or would it better spent somewhere else. I have heard ONLY good things about HOG until I called the guy who sells them :S

I think you are good to go with what you have. Sea Elite is, most likely, manufactured by a reliable OEM that provides regs to the other brands you are considering-spend your hard earned dollars on more training.

 

[victorzamora]

right now I have a set of sealed cheapy regs from Sea Elite and to be honest I have not gotten a free flow once, they breath easy and have lasted me over 6.5 years (and still work fine) It is just I am getting to the point where I am starting to get a little leery of the equipment at depth where its colder. A lot of the current dives are warm water (st. lawrence river ) and I feel confident with these regs under those conditions

Well...if it ain't baroque, don't fix it.

For me I am buying new ones for reliability in cold water. I would be getting both sealed, I am just wondering if its worth the extra 100 or would it better spent somewhere else.

I had my Hog D3/Zeniths in ~130ft of water at ~48F a couple weeks ago. Zero issues whatsoever. The only two complaints I have are they tend to spit-out the DIN o-rings (the ones for sealing) so keep an eye on them. Mine also chew up the o-ring just inside the DIN turret....I'm averaging about 3 o-rings per year, but they take a minute to replace so I'm not worried. That's all the bad I can say about the D3/Zenith regs, besides the angle of the HP port. Friends with D3/Zeniths don't have the O-ring problems I do, so I might have to give HOG a call.

The Dive Rite XTs have their HP port at a better angle, and I had considered buying a set for sidemount for myself before the Deep6 regs came to market officially. I have nothing but good to say about Dive Rite XT or Deep6 regs, but I have a lot less dives on those than my Hogs (like, a couple dives each on the other two).

I don't think you can go wrong, but I'm not sure the price difference would be worth it to me.

 

[BoltSnap]

The Atomic M1 is Atomic's regulator for technical and very cold water. It has all of the enhancements for very cold water. It is in a class by itself above DR and HOG.

 

[scubajoe123]

Well...if it ain't baroque, don't fix it.


I had my Hog D3/Zeniths in ~130ft of water at ~48F a couple weeks ago. Zero issues whatsoever. The only two complaints I have are they tend to spit-out the DIN o-rings (the ones for sealing) so keep an eye on them. Mine also chew up the o-ring just inside the DIN turret....I'm averaging about 3 o-rings per year, but they take a minute to replace so I'm not worried. That's all the bad I can say about the D3/Zenith regs, besides the angle of the HP port. Friends with D3/Zeniths don't have the O-ring problems I do, so I might have to give HOG a call.

The DIN o-rings on my D3 1st stages are always coming off as well