Atomic Z1 vs ScubaPro MK25/S600 or G250

[Lead_carrier]

This is a good example of what I'm talking about; first, I do not use the increase in breathing resistance as a reminder, and never stated that I did. Second, what's more dangerous for a new diver not paying attention to his/her spg, getting a "reminder" from the reg at 300psi, or cluelessly breathing right down to the last couple of breaths, then realizing he/she is OUT of air, not LOW on air?

Come, on, the argument that unbalanced regs are dangerous because they begin to breath with more resistance at low tank pressure is absurd.

Chill just a bit, if you will notice on the next line I said "seriously". I was just cutting up with you a bit. If you take a balanced system down to 300psi you run of good chance of overworking it and getting breathing resistance. No offense intended or no disrespect to you diving abilities or common sense.

 

[liberato]

ScubaPro is the Rolls Royce of regulators...

Well, if we use the term Rolls Royce to imply the epitome of fit and finish then not only is the Atomic the Rolls Royce but the high end Scubapro is at best a fine Lexus and the mainline is a dependable Toyota. And the X650 is a luxury Hyundai, ambitious but failed. Just compare the finely machined 1st stage swivel turret on an Atomic to the sloppy one on a ScubaPro as an example. ScubaPro regs generally perform fine but have too many cheap parts these days to be the Rolls Royce of regs.

 

[Diesel298]

Well, if we use the term Rolls Royce to imply the epitome of fit and finish then not only is the Atomic the Rolls Royce but the high end Scubapro is at best a fine Lexus and the mainline is a dependable Toyota. And the X650 is a luxury Hyundai, ambitious but failed. Just compare the finely machined 1st stage swivel turret on an Atomic to the sloppy one on a ScubaPro as an example. ScubaPro regs generally perform fine but have too many cheap parts these days to be the Rolls Royce of regs.

did you fall down and hit your head?

Scubapro is one of the top regs on the market..
there can be much debate on what one is the absolute best. and has alot to do with personal preference...
piston vs diaphram.. mares vs scubapro. whatever
but scubapro has a excellent product, and has a excellent rep, and stands behind there stuff.
the only downside about them is they are a little more pricey than some alternitives.
atomics engineers used to be engineers for.. thats right.. scubapro
now granted im bias to scubapro. because i dive it. my primary set of gear i have a MK20 D400 and a air2
my biggest issue is that i hate servicing that finickey d400 but man that breaths like a champ when i do
anyway. back on topic
im sure whatever you pick will be a great reg.
your bigest concern is what can your local dive shop service...
your service is gonna be done when your home and not diving.. and repairs made overseas will be repair work in case of a failure.....

 

[liberato]

i have a... D400... my biggest issue is that i hate servicing that finickey d400 but man that breaths like a champ when i do

Hey, no old Ferraris allowed in this comparison!

 

[halocline]

Chill just a bit, if you will notice on the next line I said "seriously". I was just cutting up with you a bit. If you take a balanced system down to 300psi you run of good chance of overworking it and getting breathing resistance. No offense intended or no disrespect to you diving abilities or common sense.

Sorry; I couldn't tell that you were joking, and it is a common bit of misinformation perpetrated by over-eager LDS employees. No offense taken!

 

[Diesel298]

Hey, no old Ferraris allowed in this comparison!

lol
yeah i know....
im thinkin that im gonne be mothballin that this year.. its just hard because shes my baby

 

[Lead_carrier]

Sorry; I couldn't tell that you were joking, and it is a common bit of misinformation perpetrated by over-eager LDS employees. No offense taken!

No problem, I thought the jumping monkey might give a hint. :monkeydan I will usually try to steer people away from unbalanced since there are so many quality balanced regs out on the market today. Once a tank gets low and a newer diver starts feeling the breathing resistance, from my experiences, they will start trying to breath harder which will over work an unbalance system very quickly. With my point of view, that is what makes them "dangerous" not the fact that they are unbalanced.

 

[halocline]

Once a tank gets low and a newer diver starts feeling the breathing resistance, from my experiences, they will start trying to breath harder which will over work an unbalance system very quickly. With my point of view, that is what makes them "dangerous" not the fact that they are unbalanced.

Sorry, I really have to disagree with you here. I know from experience that the SPMK2 does not increase noticably in breathing resistance until the tank is WELL below 500psi; and at that point, it's a subtle, gradual increase in resistance. Any new diver is taught to exit the water with at least 500 psi; well before there's any sort of issue with breating resistance in an unbalanced reg. If having to pull a little harder on the reg teaches new divers to plan their gas management a little better or pay better attention to their SPG, that's a good thing. And, again, I assure you from experience, we're not talking about the inability to get enough air here; just a slight and increasing resistance. It's just common sense that this is far preferable to a new (or any) diver running out of air with no warning.

"Over working" the MK2 is almost impossible by a single diver, as the 1st stage puts out way more than the capacity of any 2nd stage. Now, two divers breathing heavily off the same 1st stage might (MIGHT!) be an issue in difficult conditions at some real depth, but this has nothing to with balanced/unbalanced, but instead the flow capacity of the reg.

If your experience is that new divers "over work" unbalanced regs because their tanks are so low that they can't get enough air, I'd have to say that whoever is training these new divers is putting them in a dangerous position, by allowing them to stay under with far too little air in their tanks. If that's the case, the unbalanced reg is probably their best friend in the situation, if it gets them to surface with a reasonable amount of air in their tanks.

 

[RoadWarrior]

My husband and I are fairly new to diving (@25 dives). We've decided to purchase regs and are trying to decide between the Atomic Z1 and the ScubaPro MK25/S600 or G250. I haven't seen a lot of information on the Z1, but of course seen plenty on the SP. I wanted to get any opinions on the Z1 itself and compared to the SP. The B2 is just too expensive for us since we're buying 2 of everything. By the way, we've narrowed it down to these based on LDS in our area.

We'll be doing mostly warm water recreational diving but would like to keep our options open for the future.

Thanks for any help. I've really found this board to be full of great information.

Atomic............. can you guess which one I use?

 

[EANx40]

I dive a MK25/S600 and my shop sells both. You can not go wrong with either one. The shop owner uses Atomic. He travels all over the world and service/parts are not a problem. I do know from working on the regs, Atomic is much easier to work than my Scubapro. Whatever brand you decide on, just don't scimp (sp?). Get the best your budget can handle.