Hollis & Dive-Rite vs. Scubapro & Aqualung

[mike12v]

Curious to know why "most" (not all) tech divers use Dive-Rite or Hollis regulators over Scubapro or Aqualung.
Is this just because the cost, brand preference, certain features some brands offer over another.

I come from the recreational diving world and was interested in a pony bottle that I will wear slung. I guess some call this a stage setup.
Im planning on deeper dives and want to carry another air source

Thanks
Mike

 

[runsongas]

dive rite is popular in cave country because they are a florida company with strong dealer support in the area and they are a better value at msrp than the big brands due to lower prices. also historically liberal with parts sales to end users. i haven't personally seen many doing technical diving on hollis regs.

scubapro/apeks(which is part of aqualung aimed more at tech divers) are far more popular worldwide than US because of a larger dealer network and more flexible pricing especially in EU. parts are also easier to get in countries other than the US.

with how many issues are occurring because of the huish takeover, not sure i would buy oceanic/hollis right now. atomic/zeagle would be better choices.

 

[tbone1004]

basically what @runsongas said, but you don't see Hollis much for the same reason since they don't allow end users to buy parts.

Dive Rite was the first "big" brand I know of in recent years that sold parts to their customers. No formal training, but they'd at least sell you parts and still do. HOG, Poseidon, and now Deep6 all not only allow end users to buy kits and parts, but also do formal training.

Scubapro, Aqualung/Apeks, Hollis/Oceanic all specifically forbid the selling of parts and kits to end-users. You can only purchase them if you are factory trained AND associated with an authorized dealer. I.e. I am factory trained by Apeks, but since I am not a dealer, I can't purchase anything from them. Dealers have lost dealership status when caught selling parts so they don't like to do it unless you are buddy buddy with the owner and trustworthy. Most of us have that type of relationship so have access to parts if we want to use the other brands. I just bought upgrade kits, parts kits, and a new piston for a bunch of Scubapro regulators that I have, but it definitely is under the table cash deals.
That is a major turnoff for tech divers who largely rebuild their own stuff so when combined with paying top of the line prices for those brands, they just don't make sense *Hollis is a run-of-the-mill regulator who charges top-tier pricing, and has HORRID customer service and parts availability so the only tech divers you see diving Hollis regs are either sponsored or work for a Hollis shop*

 

[mike12v]

basically what @runsongas said, but you don't see Hollis much for the same reason since they don't allow end users to buy parts.

Dive Rite was the first "big" brand I know of in recent years that sold parts to their customers. No formal training, but they'd at least sell you parts and still do. HOG, Poseidon, and now Deep6 all not only allow end users to buy kits and parts, but also do formal training.

Scubapro, Aqualung/Apeks, Hollis/Oceanic all specifically forbid the selling of parts and kits to end-users. You can only purchase them if you are factory trained AND associated with an authorized dealer. I.e. I am factory trained by Apeks, but since I am not a dealer, I can't purchase anything from them. Dealers have lost dealership status when caught selling parts so they don't like to do it unless you are buddy buddy with the owner and trustworthy. Most of us have that type of relationship so have access to parts if we want to use the other brands. I just bought upgrade kits, parts kits, and a new piston for a bunch of Scubapro regulators that I have, but it definitely is under the table cash deals.
That is a major turnoff for tech divers who largely rebuild their own stuff so when combined with paying top of the line prices for those brands, they just don't make sense *Hollis is a run-of-the-mill regulator who charges top-tier pricing, and has HORRID customer service and parts availability so the only tech divers you see diving Hollis regs are either sponsored or work for a Hollis shop*

Other than being able to buy parts for self service, is there much of a performance difference between the above?

 

[tbone1004]

Other than being able to buy parts for self service, is there much of a performance difference between the above?

no, but it is all about how the companies treat divers that aren't part of their "LDS" model. Hollis/Oceanic, Scubapro, Aqualung/Apeks all ostracize those divers and specifically go out of their way to make their lives difficult. As such, they don't get a lot of love from us. I have a mountain of scubapro first stages because I got them for near nothing and they're good regs. I have a hookup where I can get parts at cost, so it doesn't bother me, but they are nowhere near a "top recommendation" to normal divers because of that. Nothing against the regs, everything against the company.

 

[bamafan]

A lot of it boils down to what type of reg you want. I prefer piston regs so I buy Scubapro. A mk10/G250 is a really hard reg to beat in warm water. They are cheap to at around $100 to $150.

 

[Caveeagle]

Dive Rite's popularity in the cave/tech diving community goes well beyond just being a Florida, local company.

Pre 1990's there were really not many options for purchasing Dive gear well suited for cave, deep or advanced wreck diving. Many divers modified rec gear or made do with hardware store home built gear. Dive Rite pretty much created the space for retail cave/wreck dive gear when most of the big manufacturers were pretty much turning a blind eye to the "niche" market that would "never have enough volume to support broad sales". When "tech" diving bacame popular, and more open water divers adopted new gear configurations, most of the big gear manufacturers jumped on board, to one degree or another.

In addition to making top of the line gear with great customer service, Dive Rite still owns a lot of brand equity for their continued role as innovators in this space.

 

[Marie13]

Curious to know why "most" (not all) tech divers use Dive-Rite or Hollis regulators over Scubapro or Aqualung.
Is this just because the cost, brand preference, certain features some brands offer over another.

I come from the recreational diving world and was interested in a pony bottle that I will wear slung. I guess some call this a stage setup.
Im planning on deeper dives and want to carry another air source

Thanks
Mike

Most? I see a lot of Apeks (owned by AquaLung) up here. I do Apeks myself for SM. Lots of SP, too.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I will tell you why I use Dive Rite over scubapro. After using owning a few brands, I have come to realize that performance wise there is not much difference between most sealed diaphragms. You can buy a scubapro MK-17 for almost twice the price as a Dive Rite but in water they both tend to give similar performance. The same scubapro is also sold by TUSA for the same price as Dive Rite but it will have a TUSA label instead of Dive Rite. The cost must justify itself beyond "brand name" and in this case it does not. Add the fact that I have reached Dive Rites customer service a few times and spoken directly to the owners. While the product is in your hand they own it like it is their baby! This type of customer support is very rare.

When you take a solid regulator that performs up there with the best , lower the price and then you add A grade customer service then it is a pretty unbeatable combo. People who do technical diving have been in it long enough to not fall for deceptive marketing which is aimed at the newly certified looking for "the best." That is the crowd that is most vulnerable to purchasing over priced crap. Technical crowd needs a real reason why they should buy a 750 USD sealed diaphragm instead of a 450 USD one

 

[Oldbear]

Curious to know why "most" (not all) tech divers use Dive-Rite or Hollis regulators over Scubapro or Aqualung...

Thanks
Mike

In the circles I have dived in all, except one, have dove with ScubaPro. Either this MK25/S600 or the MK17/G260. But if you want to know what regulator to put on a stage/sling tank for deep diving I wouldn’t focus so much on brand as much as design, I.e. Balanced 1st & 2nd Stage.