First, it is really great to see you here you my friend, it has been a while!
The "SS" meant "Second Stage" not the SS1, the Atomic version of AIR II. I meant the regular Atomic second stage.
I haven't tried the S620Ti thoroughly yet. I friend of mine bought one so I am hoping to borrow it from him to give a more thorough test in the next coming weeks. I did compare with the S600 (I have tons of them with MK25's in my stock. I grabbed over 10 of them brand new in their boxes just before the Libyan currency went down the toilet. They cost me around $100 each
).
I have used Atomic second stages the longest/most and I am very "tuned" to their performance. The AFC feature works like magic and I can feel it especially when going down to 20m/60ft and deeper.
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What do you use your 2 sets of MK25/G260 for now after you acquired the M1's for your double tank kit? Are you using for OC tech. diving too? Would you recommend M1's for technical diving or MK25/G260 for somebody who can only have one of them?
(I can't decide myself, I side with the M1 but then I feel guilty and want the G260 too just like when you have one favorite kid but then you feel guilty if you don't treat your other kids the same).
Thank you.
The AFC on the Atomics is nice, but having to manually turn the Dive/Pre-dive knob on a ScubaPro is no big deal, does the same thing, and is likely to never not work (say, because of debris that gets in and makes the AFC stick). AFC is fine, but I don't consider it to be a Pro or Con and wouldn't push me either way.
My M1s are used for diving OC doubles. My 2 ScubaPro Mk 25 EVO/G260 sets are my main BO and deco regs for CCR diving. If I carry 3 cylinders, then I use the 2 x SP sets plus one of my Dive Rite XT1/2 sets.
At this point, for anyone debating between Atomic M1 and ScubaPro G260/Mk25 EVO, I would recommend the Atomic M1, without question. 2 reasons:
- The Atomic 1st stage is environmentally sealed. That is REALLY not a big deal, to be honest. I don't have any reason to think they are any better in cold water than the SP regs, but I don't really know. By itself, this would not make me choose one over the other. But, when all else is equal, I'd rather have sealed than not sealed.
- An Atomic M1 set is $800 and the SP G260/Mk25 EVO is $1000. Personally, I don't think the SP set is has ANY more value than the Atomic set. So, no way I'd recommend to spend the extra $200.
Now, all that said, if someone asked me to recommend one of those two, I would have to ask if they have considered the Halcyon Halo/H75P set. The H75P is identical to the ScubaPro Mk25 EVO, in everything except labeling and irrelevant cosmetics.
I think (but definitely not sure) that the Halcyon Halo second stage is a re-labeled ScubaPro G250. Maybe not *quite* as nice as the G260, but still very nice. I have a set and, as I mentioned earlier, I have had some issues with them, but I am confident that I'll get it sorted and they will be just as reliable as my actual ScubaPro regs.
And the Halcyon set is $702 WITH a HP hose and SPG. If budget is at all a factor, it's hard to make a case for anything but the Halcyon regs.
Personally, I might pay the extra bucks for Atomic M1 over the Halcyons. But, it's hard to really say as I am biased by virtue of being in the industry and not paying retail for either. I own all 3 and my Atomics are my favorites, but it's hard to say anything objective about what I like better about them (other than the AFC, which I have never actually had a problem with and do admit it's nice to not have to remember to turn the switch from Pre-dive to Dive).
Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I did have a problem with one of my Atomics. I loaned the set to a friend for an upcoming tech dive she was planning. She gave them back unused. She said when she put them on a tank and turned the gas on, one of the 2nd stages was freeflowing and she couldn't get it to stop. I had a quick look at it and it seemed to be doing as described. I put them aside for a while. I finally got them out to fix last week. It still seemed as though the one 2nd stage was freeflowing. I completely disassembled it, then put it back together again - without changing anything. Same parts, etc.. I changed nothing. After reassembly, it worked fine. I dived it for 2 days this past weekend with no problems at all.
My *suspicion* is that the the seat saver feature in the 2nd stage was sticking. I think it was not moving to seat the poppet on the low pressure seat in the 2nd stage (hoping I used the correct terms there) when the gas was turned on. By disassembling it, I freed it up and then it worked correctly on reassembly.
However, there is a slight possibility that there was nothing at all wrong other than her and subsequently myself not turning the gas on fully when checking it. Because of the Seat Saver feature, I have found that if you turn the tank valve on slowly and only until you hear gas start to flow, it can flow without enough pressure to make the Seat Saver close. When you open the tank valve fully, then it does make the Seat Saver close. At this point, I cannot say for certain whether that was all it was all along. She didn't open the valve fully, heard it start freeflowing, and closed it again immediately. After being told of the problem, maybe I did the same thing.
But, it works now, without changing any parts. So.... still my favorite regs.
