reefrat
Contributor
Most people on this forum are familiar with the story of the Hog D1 equipment and on-going debate of Hog regs vs the big boys!
I saw no reason to get involved, but recently I perceived the need for a new primary second stage to go on my spare rig which is a MK11 scubapro first with an R395 relegated to secondary.
So, out of curiosity I ordered a Hog D1 standard second stage and it arrived a few days ago. Out of the box I would have to say I was a impressed with the feel of quality, of course this has been said many times before but I share the opinion!
I hooked it up to the MK11 first stage and after a brief function check jumped in the pool to see how it went.
OK, 10 feet deep insn't exactly an "in depth" test but it is enough to get a feel for a reg and I checked it out in every position.
Overall I would have to say that this is one seriously smooth breathing second stage for the money- in fact for any money.
In the shallows and without any fine tuning other than ensuring the adjustment is turned all the way out and the venturi is "on" it breathes at least as easily as my Atomic regs and my recently sold A700 scubapro- which is to say very easily indeed. Dry in all positions, only a little harder inhalation looking up and clears easy. The mouthpiece appears to be an Atomic copy and in my opinion is even more comfortable than the original.
The only gripe I have, and it's not a big one, is that the exhaust tee reminds me of an Apeks ATX I had once and it deflects bubbles with the same inefficiency. Perhaps I am spoiled by the Atomic wide exhaust and in fact the only time the exhaust really annoyed me on the D1 was when I removed my mask underwater, I had to close my eyes when exhaling because the bubbles tended to rise directly into my eyes irritating them, mask on and again and the problem was almost negated. Also, I normally use a Seacure mouthpiece and these tend to push the second stage body a little further forward so that could exacerbate the exhaust issue, frankly that could be the only reason that it may not end up on my main reg.
Overall this is a great second stage and I am looking forward to using it as a primary for a few dives in Cozumel.
I saw no reason to get involved, but recently I perceived the need for a new primary second stage to go on my spare rig which is a MK11 scubapro first with an R395 relegated to secondary.
So, out of curiosity I ordered a Hog D1 standard second stage and it arrived a few days ago. Out of the box I would have to say I was a impressed with the feel of quality, of course this has been said many times before but I share the opinion!
I hooked it up to the MK11 first stage and after a brief function check jumped in the pool to see how it went.
OK, 10 feet deep insn't exactly an "in depth" test but it is enough to get a feel for a reg and I checked it out in every position.
Overall I would have to say that this is one seriously smooth breathing second stage for the money- in fact for any money.
In the shallows and without any fine tuning other than ensuring the adjustment is turned all the way out and the venturi is "on" it breathes at least as easily as my Atomic regs and my recently sold A700 scubapro- which is to say very easily indeed. Dry in all positions, only a little harder inhalation looking up and clears easy. The mouthpiece appears to be an Atomic copy and in my opinion is even more comfortable than the original.
The only gripe I have, and it's not a big one, is that the exhaust tee reminds me of an Apeks ATX I had once and it deflects bubbles with the same inefficiency. Perhaps I am spoiled by the Atomic wide exhaust and in fact the only time the exhaust really annoyed me on the D1 was when I removed my mask underwater, I had to close my eyes when exhaling because the bubbles tended to rise directly into my eyes irritating them, mask on and again and the problem was almost negated. Also, I normally use a Seacure mouthpiece and these tend to push the second stage body a little further forward so that could exacerbate the exhaust issue, frankly that could be the only reason that it may not end up on my main reg.
Overall this is a great second stage and I am looking forward to using it as a primary for a few dives in Cozumel.
