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HOG makes a great plate and wing for the cost. Go with at least a 30 lb wing to accommodate the necessary lead and steel tanks worn when in cold water. I'm not all that versed in regs. I use a 20 year old Titan set and it performs well for me. I would however caution buying the shiny expensive stuff. A good cold water rated reg doesn't necessarily have to set you back $1k. Plenty of good new ones on the $500 range.
You will be very pleased with the new xt4 regs. I have been diving them for a couple of years now. They are excellent.
Steels give you significantly more air. HP 100s are common on our coast and the go to tank when you buy your own. You'll need less lead in your wait pouches and belt using steel over AL. Steel is less susceptible to damage from an over zealous tank monkey over filling it. An AL tank filled to 3300 psi could be damaged of done often enough. My steel tanks are cold filed to 3800. Any less and I give a "really" look to the shop worker filling tanks. Overall they're better for everything in cold water. AL 80s are great for a rental fleet since they're cheap. The AL 80s also work great for stage and bail out bottles.
They have the same buoyancy shift per CF drop. The difference is the weight of the steel tank material being inherently more negative than AL. You still use ~8 lbs of air but the steel tank remains neg where the AL gets floaty.
