Atomic Aquatics SS1 Stainless
FEATURES
The SS1 is designed to replace your octopus,
but its breathing performance may
just put your primary second-stage regulator to shame. It’s compact,
light and built to last with 316
stainless-steel components housed in a fiberglass-reinforced nylon body.
It features Atomic’s Seat
Saving Orifice, which helps maintain peak performance over time just
like the company’s primary
regulators. It also has large, easy-to-use control buttons and a soft,
oval purge cover that rests flat
on your BC strap. The SS1 comes with an innovative adapter system that
enables you to remove
it easily from your BC’s corrugated hose for cleaning and storage
with your primary regulator. It
carries a limited lifetime warranty and is nitrox-ready for mixes up
to 50 percent oxygen.
PERFORMANCE
“I
almost forgot I wasn’t using my primary” is
how one test diver summarized
the SS1’s performance during our in-water testing. It was the only
reg to earn any Excellent ratings
from test divers—once for ease of breathing and again for user
controls. “The buttons are easy to
use even when it’s in your mouth,” commented one test diver.
On the breathing simulator, the SS1
put up work of breathing numbers worthy of a primary regulator, earning
Excellent ratings in three
of the tests, and a Very Good in the most extreme breathing category—67.5
RMV at 165 feet.
BOTTOM
LINE
The SS1 is the top-of-the-line octo-inflator
and our 2007 Testers’ Choice. It’s also the most expensive
unit in this review, but worth every penny if you want the ultimate
in performance.
PRICE
$249 for
the stainless-steel version (model tested); $370 for the titanium version.
SCUBA DIVING
MAGAZINE AUGUST 2007