Atomic Aquatics ST1
PROS:Lowest overall work of breathing; corrosion resistance at a lower cost than titanium; great second-stage swivel for added comfort.
CON: High price.
FIRST STAGE: The ST1 is a balanced-piston first stage turned from 316 stainless steel that offers greater strength and corrosion resistance than brass regulators at a significantly lower cost than titanium. It offers four low-pressure ports on a swivel turret with a fifth port on the end of the first stage for easy hose routing, plus two high-pressure ports. SECOND STAGE: The ST1 delivers high performance with a dose of comfort thanks to a well-designed mouthpiece and Atomic’s Comfort Swivel. It also features all the usual Atomic features—Automatic Flow Control (AFC), a self-adjusting venturi effect that increases breathing performance as you descend; the Rapid Adjustment Knob, which allows the user to de-tune the reg for surf entries or octopus use; a flexible purge cover; and the Seat Saving Orifice, which helps maintain the reg’s peak performance over time. Inside the second stage, the entire valve body and lever of this pneumatically balanced second stage is made of corrosion-resistant titanium.
TEST DIVERS SAID: Divers thought the ST1 was one of the “smoothest breathing” regulators of the bunch and gave it the highest ergonomic scores of all the regulators in this review. The comfort swivel helped boost comfort scores and test divers had praise for the user control knob and soft purge cover. This reg also received the highest score for Ease of Breathing and was the only reg rated Excellent by test divers for dryness. When we polled our test divers for their top reg in the price category, the ST1 was a clear Testers’ Choice (see “Testers’ Choice & Best Buy,” p. 73).
THE ANSTI REPORT: While several regs in this review earned perfect breathing machine scores on our 1 to 5 scale, the ST1 can boast the lowest overall work of breathing in every one of our ANSTI tests.
PRICE: $899
SCUBA DIVING
MAGAZINE JULY 2007