Which reg to choose.. HOG D1 vs. Apeks XTX-100/200?

[OskarV]

Well I'm having a hard time with deciding what reg to go for despite reading a bunch of posts and reviews so I'll try to get some answers here. I've basically narrowed my choices down to these two.

What is the difference between the HOG D1 cold regs and the Apeks XTX 200 / XTX 100's beside the price?

I live in Iceland so all my dives here will be cold water (often under 40° F) and there is no dive shop here that services either brand (plan on servicing them myself in the future). I've tried neither of them and there's no one that I know of that uses them here. Diving single tank recreational diving at the moment but would like to aim for a doubles configuration and more extreme (ice / cave diving) later on.

Apeks XTX 200 + XTX 50 Octo go for around 650$ (464 euro) at Scubastore

HOG D1 cold 1st stage + 2X HOG 2nd stage regs for around 370$ at CaveAdventures (at 50% off...any downsides to that high discount as opposed to buying from edge-gear.com?)

Which would you prefer and why?

 

[realdiver7]

I just recently went through the same decision-making process. After diving the HOG D1 cold water reg set, I decided to go with HOG regs. If you're going to dive in cold water, and then service your own regs later, then the HOG makes even better sense to me.

With the little experience I've had with HOG vs. Apeks, I could not tell any noticeable difference in ease of breathing, quality of construction, etc. between the two. The HOG looks, feels, and functions like high quality, so it didn't make much sense to me to spend more money on Apeks.

The HOG 2nd stage works well with the Scubapro MK17 1st stages that I have, so I didn't have to buy another Yoke setup to take on vacations where Yoke valves are the only valves available, and I don't have to worry about taking along a DIN to Yoke adapter.

The true tests will come over time when we see how well HOG regs do with a lot of diving in various conditions, how well they tune after a few annual services, if the price remains highly competitive, how long the company thrives/survives and continues with good customer service, and how long parts will remain available.

Remember, my experience with HOG and Apeks is limited. I have always leaned towards Scubapro. Most modern-day, quality built regs are very hard to choose from because they are all good for the most part.

Hope this helps!

 

[OskarV]

Thanks for your post realdiver7

It seems after alot of research that HOG really is the way to go even though the Apeks are easier to buy from Spain then from USA for my part.