Recommendations

[Merida Divers]

I have recently bought and using a set of Aqualung Legends I am so far very pleased with and using them in Qatar. My Scuba Pro and most of my Mares kit is in Mexico.

 

[Griffo]

Atomic and Scubapro are definitely good. I have never used HOG myself. But from I hear they are very cheap in quality. Tech guys love them because they are so cheap, but they are also made in Taiwan by Ocean Diver Supply I think with some other cheaper brands. I've heard many good things about them, and I've heard many horror stories. For deco bottles I imagine they would be great, but do a lot of research if you plan on using one as a primary. I know a lot of tech guys love hogs religiously, and some will probably try to get all defensive of what I say. I'm just trying to give an unbiased opinion from what others who know what they are doing have told me.

So you've never used one, never seen one in person, never inspected one, but have "heard" that they are cheap and nasty? Tech's love them because they PERFORM and you can get parts easily and cheaply, and techs use a LOT of regulators. Techs also trust their lives to their equipment far more than a rec diver, are you saying that all those tech divers switching to HOG are doing so to save a couple of bucks? Tech diving is expensive, it costs over $10k just to get your basic kit together, you really think Tec divers are cheap asses who are going to put their lives at risk to save a couple of dollars on their primary, most important piece of kit???

I have Scubapro, Aqualung Legend, and HOG regs, and the HOG's are every bit as good if not better than any of my other regs that I own or use. They just cost about 1/3 of the price.

I've never heard of any of these horror stories that you talk about either - in fact I cant think of a single bad post or thread here on SB about them. The only "bad" things you read is where people migh have a normal everyday regulator issue, and they are dealt with immediately. Like when I openly admitted that i dropped and broke my regs, and HOG sent me replacement parts - for free. Maybe you are associated with another reg company??? Or maybe these "people" you listening to are people like my LDS who tried to convince me that I was "going to die" diving these things, but hey, they had a great scubapro $1500 reg set I could buy...

And no, i'm not a tech diver. Just someone who appreciates a company with good service that cares about diving more than profit.

 

[aj555]

So you've never used one, never seen one in person, never inspected one, but have "heard" that they are cheap and nasty?

Yes, that's exactly what I stated. The people I heard it from are also very experienced cave divers, and definitely know what they are talking about. I made it pretty clear that it was not my personal opinion, so people can't say I am lying.

Techs also trust their lives to their equipment far more than a rec diver, are you saying that all those tech divers switching to HOG are doing so to save a couple of bucks?

Actually yes, that is exactly what I am saying. There is a lot of people that have cav cards when they really shouldn't. There is no scuba police, and people do what they want. You would think they would only use the best. But there are tons of people who want to do tech diving, but don't have the money. There are quite a few of them that do go the cheap route to save a couple bucks.

I've never heard of any of these horror stories that you talk about either - in fact I cant think of a single bad post or thread here on SB about them.

So every single tech diver in the world regularly posts on Scuba Board now?

Maybe you are associated with another reg company???

For starters, I also said I've heard many good things about them as well. Second, I would probably make up a story on how I actually used it, and it failed. But than again, whats to say you're not associated with HOG?


Did I ever tell the OP not to buy a HOG? Nope, just simply stated to do more research and get more opinions. And of course, I predicted someone like you coming along and saying something as well.

 

[Teller]

HOG D1 first stage is almost identical to an Apeks first stage. I have six and I won't buy anything else.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Atomic and Scubapro are definitely good. I have never used HOG myself. But from I hear they are very cheap in quality. Tech guys love them because they are so cheap, but they are also made in Taiwan by Ocean Diver Supply I think with some other cheaper brands. I've heard many good things about them, and I've heard many horror stories. For deco bottles I imagine they would be great, but do a lot of research if you plan on using one as a primary. I know a lot of tech guys love hogs religiously, and some will probably try to get all defensive of what I say. I'm just trying to give an unbiased opinion from what others who know what they are doing have told me.

I'm sorry but this has to be one of the most ignorant posts I've read in a while. You heard they are very cheap in quality? This must be from shop employees from a shop that sells other high priced equipment. People always associate quality with price, if this is so then the best reg out there is the Aqualung Legend with pink chrome for a mere $1500 "your life is worth it? No?". Cave divers have been diving the DiveRight RG series of regs for years and are still alive and swear by them for reliability. These are almost the exact same design as the HOG regs and built by the same OEM (Ocean Divers Supply) but at almost twice the price, so people don't trash them because expensive must mean good. No? I've been diving the HOG's since they first came out and have only had one problem, the exhaust diaphragm would fold over and stick if there was extreme flow at a right angle to it. Chris (the owner off Edge/HOG) made a change in the second stage housing in less than a year after he heard about this problem(he heard about the problem from only two or three people). After these new housings came out he Chris sent me five of them at no charge and even offered to do the work if I sent mine to him. Try calling one of the large scuba manufactures and informing them of an issue with there product and see how far it goes. Sorry for the rant but it bothers me when people bash a very good product based on price or what they heard from someone that has some other agenda. If to don't want to believe me, look up Kim Inge. She trusted HOG regs for her bail out gas on her record breaking 652' dive in Grand Caymen. I guess she used these regs to save a few bucks.

 

[aj555]

I'm sorry but this has to be one of the most ignorant posts I've read in a while. You heard they are very cheap in quality?

The only thing ignorant is your false assumptions about what I am saying. Did I state these things as fact? I'm not going to lie and say I had failures with HOGS when I never used one? Why would the OP buy one if they are good? Oh wait, that's because HE HEARD from all of you that they are good, so stop being an ignorant hypocrite. I also stated that I HEARD many good things about HOGs as well, if you would learn to read.

This must be from shop employees from a shop that sells other high priced equipment. People always associate quality with price

No, actually 9/11 people that told me don't work at shops, and don't favor any particular one. Price never equals quality. But it does say something when one brand makes their own regs, and the other orders theirs from a mass producer in Taiwan. That leads to more research wanting to be done before making a final decision.

I've been diving the HOG's since they first came out and have only had one problem, the exhaust diaphragm would fold over and stick if there was extreme flow at a right angle to it. Chris (the owner off Edge/HOG) made a change in the second stage housing in less than a year after he heard about this problem(he heard about the problem from only two or three people). After these new housings came out he Chris sent me five of them at no charge and even offered to do the work if I sent mine to him.

Oh look at that.... More research and opinions from people who have used them. That's EXACTLY what I told the OP to look for before making a final decision. I never told him to stay away completely from HOGs.

Sorry for the rant but it bothers me when people bash a very good product based on price or what they heard from someone that has some other agenda. If to don't want to believe me, look up Kim Inge. She trusted HOG regs for her bail out gas on her record breaking 652' dive in Grand Caymen. I guess she used these regs to save a few bucks.

You should be sorry since you completely failed to understand what I wrote in my original post, and tried to bash me. So does Kim Inge represent all divers who use HOGs now? Just because she used them for reliability, doesn't mean everyone else who does didn't buy them to simply save a buck.

 

[Griffo]

I wrote a lengthy reply but I've decided that it's just not worth continuing the discussion.

In retrospect I shouldn't have replied to your first post.. Your original post was a textbook troll - bash something, pretend that you are trying to give a balanced opinion, and then predict that people are going to rail against your post. It's the perfect way to spread FUD without it looking like it. I should have known better.

I, my dive buddies, and my tech instructor will I am sure continue to happily dive our HOG's for many years to come.

 

[cnar]

From all of my research on regs they last for ever if they are looked after well. It would make sense to buy a reg that meets the kind of diving you plan on doing, this way you'll get use to it and learn about it prior to making you cave, deep and cold water dives.

 

[elan]

Look at zeagle, they are fairly close to you, their service is great the first stage IMHO designed cleaner than apeks and the clones (conical valve and gas paths are simplier) you can buy their service kits and they are not expensive.
Aqualung and Scubapro has a history of having parts for many regs that are decades old. You can still buy an old Mk5 and have it running.

 

[buddhasummer]

Atomic and Scubapro are definitely good. I have never used HOG myself. But from I hear they are very cheap in quality. Tech guys love them because they are so cheap, but they are also made in Taiwan by Ocean Diver Supply I think with some other cheaper brands. I've heard many good things about them, and I've heard many horror stories. For deco bottles I imagine they would be great, but do a lot of research if you plan on using one as a primary. I know a lot of tech guys love hogs religiously, and some will probably try to get all defensive of what I say. I'm just trying to give an unbiased opinion from what others who know what they are doing have told me.

I like a good horror story. Of the "many horror stories" you've heard care to share some? I've only ever read good reports and have been eyeing them for a while so am interested in hearing of any known issues especially if there are "many". Cheers.