Atomic M1, Z2, SS1, Cressi XS Compact... what to use?

[jerbee]

In preparation for an upcoming 6-month trip to the Philippines, I caught a case of "new gearitis". I'm going to be doing primarily open water dives down to 30m with the dive groups, but an average of one deep dive to about 60m every few mornings with a group of tech divers led by the guy who owns the resort I'll be 'working' at. I was there for 6 months in 2017 with my Cressi XS Compact (2nd stage & safe second) / AC2 (1st stage) and had zero problems with them. They work fine, were lightweight, and breathed easy as anything, even at depth.

Then I start thinking of streamlining, and get the Atomic SS1 to replace my octopus with... about a week ago. Then I start really liking Atomic, and start looking at replacing my primary XS Compact, since Atomic will open up more doors it seems in terms of when I decide to go further into tech diving while in SE Asia. I feel like the Cressi was great for what I was doing then (relatively shallow tropical reef dives), but it doesn't really give me any other options for future growth.

So, I found BuddhaSummer on here, and he was kind enough to sell me an Atomic M1 with a 40" hose. Then I found a Z2 on eBay for a ridiculous price (100), so I picked it up too... because it felt like it would be criminal not to. Now I have a M1, Z2, SS1, and two Cressi XS'... what to do with them? I'm thinking I'll use the M1 as my primary, the SS1 as my safe second, and then use the Z2 (when???? for what???) and keep the Cressi's in case I want to use them for shallow water tropical dives (or should I just sell them both and recoup some of the money spent on the Atomics????) I'm still using the AC2 piston 1st stage, since it seems like there's no IP compatibility problems between it and the Atomic regs....

Basically, I'm just trying to get an idea of what I've gotten myself into here, and where I should go moving forward, from people who are much more experienced than I am.

 

[buddhasummer]

I'd sell the cressi and SS1 regs. You could use the money to buy a used Atomic first stage. Having all the same brand often makes servicing easier and if you're OCD, you'll sleep better at night. I like the Hogarthian reg set up, bungeed back up on a short hose 22-24", primary (OW) with either a 40" or 5' hose with adaptor. Good luck, figuring it all out, it's part of the fun of the journey.

 

[BoltSnap]

Get rid of the Cressi regulators and put the money aside for something else you may need or for training.

 

[saxman242]

If you're doing dives to 60m, you're going to want at least another reg set up for a pony/twin set/sidemount/some other redundant bottle.