Let's put the fatuous car analogy to bed. I've driven a Mclaren (M1B) and I would not recommend it for anything except going around a track quickly. It is uncomfortable, hot, bumpy and unforgiving; it has extremely limited space and despite two seats lacks the space for two sets of dive gear; it also requires extremely expensive tires (which wear out rather fast) and it burns an immense amount of fuel. It would not even make it up and down my bumpy driveway. A KIA would serve much better. Yes, the M1B was hand built and KIAs are built in a largely automated plant, but I suspect that the build quality, out the factory door, of the KIA is superior (e.g., it will run far longer without the ministrations of a small army of rather highly skilled technicians, machinists and mechanics).
So, how does this apply to regulators ... it doesn't in the least ... but that is rather the point, no?
Similarly, the questions of design and build quality for diving regulators are basically red herrings. There is not a single regulator, produced today, that would not happily dive within recreational limits, in fact, I think I could extend that to any no-D dive down to 190. Are there regulators that I like better than others? Sure, I really like side breathers ... but they've dropped out of fashion. I'm partial to pilot valves, despite their inherent problems with servicing and adjustment and I prefer diaphragm regulators. Just about anyone who has been knocking about the dive industry for a couple of decades or more, especially if they've worked on the manufacturing end, can, and often will style themselves a "regulator designer." But most of what is going to be done, has been done, and at this point we are more and more talking aesthetics, convenience and bias rather than anything that involves substantial performance change. The actual performance differences are often down in the noise of the testing machines.
But, it is important that the general diving public understand the economics of a regulator sale and how the economics effects dive "proferssionals" preferences. Let's start with the conventional model: You by a regulator set for, say, $800. That set cost the shop a bit less than $400. A regional rep and/or distributor likely made some money on it too, as did the "manufacturer." It cost less than $200 from the supplier to the "manufacturer." Each step in the supply chain, and the expectation that most steps involve doubling the price, up to the "suggested retail," leads most LDS to want to sell items that have a high markup, maintained either as a result of manufacturer's distribution policy (e.g., ScubaPro or Aqualung), exclusive sales areas (with the internet this is disappearing), or some other artifice. So what you, as the end user, hear from the salesman, is BS about design, build quality, servicing, etc. Lots of unprovable and often irrlevent intangibles, made to seem reasonable through convincing patter: MOST OF WHICH IS COMPLETE AND UTTER CRAP! For example, does "free parts for life" save you money? In my experience it does not, you wind up laying more for the service than many places charge for the parts and the service together. But that concept is used to spill over and support the idea that the manufacturer has such a good design and such high quality build quality that they can afford to back it up this way. Crap, double crap, maybe triple crap. All manufacturers cover defects, "free parts for life" is not a guarantee, or even a warrantee, it's just a sales gimmick to get you back into the shop at a regular interval. Now, don't get me wrong, I do not begrudge a well run shop a reasonable profit ... they need that to stay open. I'd just rather not contribute, in an unknowing and unthinking fashion to that profit as a result of smoke and mirrors.
Other companies, like HOG/EDGE, use a different model: reduce costs, reduce the markup, and reduce the number of steps that their product goes through before it gets into the hands of the end user at a much lower price. I rather like, and appreciate that. This make HOG and EDGE of more interest to sellers at both the very large and very small ends of the spectrum, and of less interest to the conventional LDS who is in the middle, they only sell a few regulators a week, have high overhead, and would rather be selling you ScubaPro and Aqualung at a much higher profit margin because they do not agree that lower prices will actually result in more regulator sales. For them it is a matter of two or three regulator sets a week times whatever thier magin is, their not going to sell more reg sets so they need to make as much as possible on each one.
There was a time when I favored mainly Oceanic gear, they were an upstart company, growing out of a garage in Hayward, California near Bob Hollis' shop, The Anchor Shack, on Jackson Blvd. Bob answered the phone when you called and Dan did a great job supporting the product. They built an empire on the back of high quality gear built in the USA (and great service). But the machines and tooling that I saw in their factory down over the Nimitz did not look a whole lot different than the machines and tooling in Taiwan where HOG/EDGE regulators are made. Face it, the day of using "made in Taiwan" as a putdown like "made in Japan" once was, is long gone, and specious at best.
So ... does that mean that Chris (Silent World) is a lying dog trying to steal your money, but that Jim, who wants to flog some HOG/EDGE to you is your best friend? No, I don't think so. Chris and Jim are both, at base level, trying to do the best that they know how, within the world that they see and their preconceived notions. What you, as an informed customer, need to do, is to determine which of their approaches is based on wider knowledge and firmer understanding, and then let your money follow that choice. I've made that choice, each of you is free to do the same ... but make it eyes wide open and don't fall for the BS.
... I have yet to see a world renowed instructor utilize hogs regs on big dives. If so, the market share with the elite instructor/divers is very, very small.
In time. this could all change. In the meatime, if a new tech diver wants a solid recomendation, you know what brands I would recomend...
The biggest dives that are ever made are made with students in 30 feet of water (you know, trusted to teach loved ones and all that) and I'm happy to use HOGs and EDGEs, and have the students do the same, but perhaps I do not meet your criterion of being, "a world renowned instructor."
The time is NOW, it all has changed.
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Poseidon invented the single hose regulator. Their quality and innovation is undeniable. Love them or hate them, they make a quality product...
Not true, I was diving a single hose regulator at least two years before Poseidon existed.
