Which Atomic reg (ST1 / M1 / B2 / Z3)?

[rombre]

I didn't mean to imply that having a swivel is not good, I merely meant that their version of the swivel on the hose is expensive. If you are going to keep the hose that comes from Atomic as is and you don't need to use a longer hose, then it is fine, no problem. For the octo., you will need a longer hose for sure which means you will have to buy a hose in addition to the one that comes standard with the extra second stage.

Got it, thanks!
The ST1 isn't sold at any dive stores here as only 2nd stage (only 1st + 2nd) and there is no ST1 octo from Atomic, so I would either have to go ST1 + M1/B2 octo or M1 + M1 octo. Buying it as an octo gives you a longer, 36" hose from Atomic.

Then the next difficult decision will be Yoke or DIN I have read countless threads here discussing that and while I prefer DIN as a connector, realistically 95% of the places I am diving at, will have Yoke cylinders, so a Yoke one will likely be the sensible choice. I've read it is possible to permanently change the 1st stage from Yoke to DIN if required at a later stage?

 

[BoltSnap]

I own my Tanks and I don't travel much now, my regulators are DIN. If you are going to be using rental tanks all of the time, then yoke will be more convenient. Please note that you can switch a Yoke regulator to a DIN any time. If you buy DIN regulator, you can also buy a DIN/Yoke adapter to use when you have to use a Tank with yoke (INT) valve that doesn't work with DIN.

Some resorts/dive operation have tanks that have an insert in their valves that can be removed "easily" so you can use a DIN regulator with them but you are never sure if they do or if the insert isn't stuck in the valve because of poor care for the tank and valve. In other words, don't count on it.

 

[rombre]

Perfect - thank you!
I will only dive with rental tanks for the foreseeable feature. Will go for Yoke then I think - using an adapter for almost every dive doesn't sound like a great solution to me.

 

[BoltSnap]

Yes, if you are renting all of the time. Personally, I like DIN much better but that's a different story and my scenario isn't applicable to you at this point.

 

[buddhasummer]

I too would go Apeks for all the reasons mentioned. To add, they are very easy to self service should you ever decide to go down that road, parts are not hard to get. If travel diving is in your future you'll likely find more places in far flung locations that will service Apeks over Atomic, not a big deal but worth mentioning. I've owned both Atomic and Apeks and couldn't tell the difference breathing from either. I sold my Atomics and other than some old G250s I've been playing with recently now pretty much dive Apeks exclusively, never had an issue with them. As with most things in life the final decision is mostly personal preference. I've no doubt you'll be happy with either choice. Good luck with your decision.

 

[diversteve]

The ST1 isn't sold at any dive stores here as only 2nd stage (only 1st + 2nd) and there is no ST1 octo from Atomic, so I would either have to go ST1 + M1/B2 octo or M1 + M1 octo. Buying it as an octo gives you a longer, 36" hose from Atomic.

Personally I'd buy a Z2 Octo and save some money.

Every Atomic Octo is designed to breathe as easily as a primary.

Atomic Aquatics Safe Seconds - Octopus Regulators and SS1

 

[rombre]

I went to two LDS to have a look at the regs and have a chat about them.

#1 doesn't sell any Apeks except the XTX200, but the whole Atomics range (+ Scubapro, Aqualung etc.). The sales rep did give - what I felt was - balanced advise with pros and cons of the Apeks vs. Atomic. They do service both (price difference very small at ~£20 incl. sealing of the Atomic) but given their brand focus, I do not have a lot of trust that they actually service Apeks regs very regularly.

#2 sells the XTX50 + the whole Atomics range (+ several other brands). Advise was basically useless, the sales rep pushed really hard to sell me a Scubapro reg which is "according to all tests around" by far the best performing 1st and 2nd stage with "neither Apeks nor Atomics getting close" and "while Scubapro has a 1 year service interval, they are so well built, that you can easily get away with doing it every second year; there's no chance you can do that with Apeks / Atomic" [no comment]. They also service both Apeks and Atomic - price difference ~£15.

Overall, I decided to go with the M1. Availability and service (very little price difference, likely higher service volume at LDS vs. Apeks) surprisingly turned into advantages.

Thanks so much to everyone, you helped me a lot with all your recommendations!

 

[buddhasummer]

Congratulations on your purchase, they are very nice regs, I've no doubt you'll be very happy with them.

 

[Caveeagle]

...Advise was basically useless, the sales rep pushed really hard to sell me a Scubapro reg which is "according to all tests around" by far the best performing 1st and 2nd stage with "neither Apeks nor Atomics getting close" and "while Scubapro has a 1 year service interval, they are so well built, that you can easily get away with doing it every second year; there's no chance you can do that with Apeks / Atomic"

Good grief!! ...It would seem that total BS and shameless exaggeration from ScubaPro dealers is not limited to the USA. Is this something that is built in to the contract with SP? OR part of their sales training? I recognize that SP makes some fine equipment. Why is it that SP dealers main selling point is how they are light years ahead of everyone else?

 

[buddhasummer]

Just as an aside, SP Japan wouldn't sell a dealer a face plate as it was not considered a "consumer assembly" item, they wanted me to send the regs to SP Japan service center. I only wanted a face plate. I didn't bother. Struck me as rather silly. I like some of their gear, as a company, not so much.