Atomic M1: Good Purchase?

[baitedstorm]

I love my Atomic M1 and my hubbies adores his B2. I haven't ever tried his out so I can't tell you the difference between the two as far as breathing goes. I love that I can be upside down and still get the same quality from my reg. Good luck on your search..

Cheers,
Vickie

 

[Michael Schlink]

I have quite a few regs that I use including Scubapro and Atomic, as was pointed out Atomic regs were designed by former Scubapro guys. The biggest down side of an Atomic reg. is that they can be difficult to get serviced if your not near an Atomic dealer. They require a few special tools to work on. I have an M1 along with T1's and B1's. All of my Atomic's have performed very well. The M1 was designed for higher O2%'s (up to 80%) and I use my M1 on my "travel/deco stage" I have another reg for my 100% O2. All Atomic regs will breathe the same. The only difference in the regs are the types of "metals" used in the parts. Titanium, Brass, Stainless, and Monel. If you are looking at buying a new reg. think about how when and where you'll be using the reg. If your not planning on using the reg for 40% O2 or higher gas mixes than look at something else, either in the Atomic line or possibly Scubapro or Apeks(Zeagle) JMHO-M

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'm not a tech diver yet, but have been looking into it and have spoken to a couple of tech instructors--one on the east coast and one on the west coast. There seems to be a preference for brand based on location, for regs, wings, dry suits, etc. One thing that was pointed out to me, though, was that an environmentally sealed reg is better for tech diving, especially when wreck diving, and Scubapro's regs aren't environmentally sealed. I've been trying to get more information on this with little luck. I've read quite a few of the threads here and also haven't seen any mention of it. So, aside from Scubapro having part availability everywhere, is that worth losing the environmental seal option. And since this question will probably come up, I dive all temps of water. I know environmental sealing is recommended/necessary in cold water, but the recommendation I got for environmental seal was not because of cold water, but because of silty conditions in wrecks.

 

[Michael Schlink]

I'll risk taking a beating here, in my opinion there are few reg's that will do it all, in all places. Alot of folks swear by Poseidon for cold water, others love Scubapro, especially the cavers in N. Fl, I like the way my Atomics breathe, but some will say the can be problematic to get serviced. Other will swear by Apeks/Zeagle. Fortunately you have SB to get everyones opinion. If you travel alot you'll want to be sure you can get your reg serviced if it fails. Performance is a whole 'nother ballgame. Scubapro, Atomic, Apeks, Zeagle and several other regs will give most everyone the performance the demand or require. You should choose a reg based on how when and where you will be using it. There are regs that I wouldn't feel comfortable taking deep(I've tried!). Other regs are going to give you more trouble in cold water. Some regs are going to be easy to get repaired others my hold up longer. That's all the fun about the scuba addiction, shopping and playing with new toys. Have fun, good luck-M

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I'll risk taking a beating here, in my opinion there are few reg's that will do it all, in all places. Alot of folks swear by Poseidon for cold water, others love Scubapro, especially the cavers in N. Fl, I like the way my Atomics breathe, but some will say the can be problematic to get serviced. Other will swear by Apeks/Zeagle. Fortunately you have SB to get everyones opinion. If you travel alot you'll want to be sure you can get your reg serviced if it fails. Performance is a whole 'nother ballgame. Scubapro, Atomic, Apeks, Zeagle and several other regs will give most everyone the performance the demand or require. You should choose a reg based on how when and where you will be using it. There are regs that I wouldn't feel comfortable taking deep(I've tried!). Other regs are going to give you more trouble in cold water. Some regs are going to be easy to get repaired others my hold up longer. That's all the fun about the scuba addiction, shopping and playing with new toys. Have fun, good luck-M

Just my 2 cent's, ive had Poseidon Extreme, ive had Scuba Pro's, which i still let my wife use, never had an Apeks, Had just about every Zeagle, and Dacor's, (crap) and $300 reg's., which in my opiuon don't even compare to the high performance reg's. Right now im diving with a pair of Atomic's M-1 on my doubles, i use them for cave, been down close to 200' a few times on wrecks, and mostley dive around 135' on doubles like the Speigal, and love the Atomic M-1 out of all of them, just my opioun. just about every brand out of the high performance reg's have their good's and bad's, but i have to say, the Atomic's go for around $700 + a pc, i wouldn't take a rec reg that is normalley used down 200', or go 2000' + into a cave using a $200-$300 reg, just my 2 cent's, from what i see everyone using, is alot of Atomic's, Scuba Pro's, Apek's, and very few Poseidon's, When i do see somone diving Poseidon's, their usalley from Canada down here to cave dive, but i don't usalley see local diver's from FL to much using them. Im sure their alot out there that do.

I wouldn't trade my Atomic's for any reg out there right now, im sure alot of other people who dive their brand will stick by them also, it's usalley boils down to personal opioun, what works best for you, you use. Their all good reg's, and all run over $600 a pc mostley, you get what you pay for, bottom line.

 

[rescuediver009]

. i wouldn't take a rec reg that is normalley used down 200', or go 2000' + into a cave using a $200-$300 reg, just my 2 cent's, from what i see everyone using, is alot of Atomic's, Scuba Pro's, Apek's, and very few Poseidon's, When i do see somone diving Poseidon's, their usalley from Canada down here to cave dive, but i don't usalley see local diver's from FL to much using them. Im sure their alot out there that do.

I wouldn't trade my Atomic's for any reg out there right now, im sure alot of other people who dive their brand will stick by them also, it's usalley boils down to personal opioun, what works best for you, you use. Their all good reg's, and all run over $600 a pc mostley, you get what you pay for, bottom line.

I would agree that your diving environment dictates your reg choice 100%. As for the distribution of regulators, it all depends on area. Regs that are more beneficial in cold water like the poseidon or Apeks would obviously be less popular in the caves of florida. There you will run into mostly scubapro and then some diverite. But like you said, they are all good regs.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I would agree that your diving environment dictates your reg choice 100%. As for the distribution of regulators, it all depends on area. Regs that are more beneficial in cold water like the poseidon or Apeks would obviously be less popular in the caves of florida. There you will run into mostly scubapro and then some diverite. But like you said, they are all good regs.

Poseidon makes great regs for cold waters, i think thats why there so popular up north,i see some diverite,but alot of Scuab Pro's, Apeks, Atomic's, etc, i think personaley there all very good reg's,and i think most divers dive with what they feel fit there needs for their type of diving. and what is comfortable for them to breath out of, we all have our own opioun on this topic, but bottom line is with all the thousand's of dive's we all put on them as diver's, the fail ratio is very little on a good reg, not saying they don't, but saying for the amount of dive's we all do, if you won a good reg, service it when it's time to, i never really hear of all these horor stories of reg failuer, think about how many people dive, and how many dives each one log' each year, and little these reg's fail, now im curious, i'll have to go research this, lol, let me shut up before i start another topic here

 

[paulwlee]

I have dived with an Atomic Z1 since I started diving, and I am leaning towards upgrading to an M1 because I love the feel and ease of breathing with the Atomics.

I use two B1's on my doubles, and I love them. One of them, I bought used on Ebay for $250, which I think was a great deal. They come up there from time to time, so you might want to look into this option as well.

BTW, unless you need the features on the M1, your Z1 will be just fine.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I'll risk taking a beating here, in my opinion there are few reg's that will do it all, in all places. Alot of folks swear by Poseidon for cold water, others love Scubapro, especially the cavers in N. Fl, I like the way my Atomics breathe, but some will say the can be problematic to get serviced. Other will swear by Apeks/Zeagle. Fortunately you have SB to get everyones opinion. If you travel alot you'll want to be sure you can get your reg serviced if it fails. Performance is a whole 'nother ballgame. Scubapro, Atomic, Apeks, Zeagle and several other regs will give most everyone the performance the demand or require. You should choose a reg based on how when and where you will be using it. There are regs that I wouldn't feel comfortable taking deep(I've tried!). Other regs are going to give you more trouble in cold water. Some regs are going to be easy to get repaired others my hold up longer. That's all the fun about the scuba addiction, shopping and playing with new toys. Have fun, good luck-M

You hit it right on the money, good post

 

[Michael Schlink]

I hate to beat a dead horse especially since we haven't seen anything from the original post BUT the original question was in regards to "upgrading" to an M1 or possibly another reg. In short the M1 isn't much of an improvement over a Z or B Atomic, keeping in mind that I have 5 sets of Atomics and several Scubapro's. I think the M1 is a fine reg. but even Atomic will tell you that all their reg's breathe about the same. So I wouldn't call the M1 an upgrade from the Z. I do dive with Atomics both cave and wreck and trust the regs completely, I think they breathe great and I have had them rather deep. I use T's for my doubles and B's and M's for my stages and I have an Oceanic for 100% O2. I also use a Scubapro for a stage reg. and a couple of Oceanics for spares and on my PADI teaching rig (typical PADI open water config.) If I see a good deal on some Apeks I wouldn't hesitate to grab them up! JMHO-M