I bought a set from DRIS back in April or so, with some loyalty points, I didn't pay much more than about $400 for the doubles package. I was previously using APEKS DST's/XTX50's. They are almost clones of each other except the 5th port on the HOG. APEKS has a 5th port option, just not in the USA; and lack of it hampers my hose routing bliss.
So, I have about 20 dives logged with them as a set of doubles and about 5 as a single (when my SP's were in for annual). Always SoCal green/cold and a mix of sandy beaches (big pebbles of Vets and fine sand of Laguna). They breath well, are easy to adjust at depth and route excellent. I most of the dives I've done with these are in the 80' - 110' range. Six of them 100'+.
One of them has a problem always losing an o-ring. I cannot tell how many times I've had to replace it but now I am more careful and don't lose it anymore. I've never had this problem with any of my other 6 regs in the past 4 years but I can live with it. Only one of the regs has experienced this issue, the other not.
I've had a right post failure on the same reg. On my ascent from 110', at about 40', bubbles started blasting and it turned out to be the inflator hose on the 5th port came loose. It's now in my regimen to tighten the hoses before each dive (and after). Again, not something I've had to do before but I suppose it can happen to any reg APEKS if it had a 5th port, but it doesn't so I don't have a definitive answer on that.
The boat crew handled my doubles recently when I instructed them not to, and the trapped the backup 2nd stage beneath a set of doubles thus busting the purge button into a free-flow that only happens at a certain depth or if I press it in a valve drill or something. I cannot blame HOG for this, it would be unfair. But, each time I've had to shut off the valve to control any failure no water has entered the 1st stage chamber so I'm happy about that.
I contacted Mike at DRIS to ask for a replacement purge button/face plate about seven days ago but HOG seems to be slow on the response. It is not a usually stocked item.
I'm happy enough that I'll continue to replace my two ScubaPro's and two APEK's with this to keep uniform gear. No one locally will service them (that I'm aware of) so I would have to service them myself or send them back to DRIS. The cost of which would be any different than what I pay to have my name brand's serviced locally.
I'm a frequent diver. In the past 10 months I've logged 140+ dives and they seem like outstanding equipment so far. I don't think any issue I've had with them is unique to them. It could happen with any gear. I'm just telling my experiences with them so far, or at least what they've been through. I'm not complaining about anything except that F##'in boat crew.
