Atomic SS1 combination Octopus + Power Inflator

November 14th, 2005

Atomic Aquatics has quickly become known for superbly crafted diving equipment. As former employees of Scubapro (another great company), the founders of Atomic set out on their own to create something revolutionary, something they felt couldn’t be done within the constraints of a large established company entrenched in tradition and convention. A friend and I recently did the same, but that is another story….

About the SS1, this piece of gear lets you combine (as the name would indicate) the functionality of your power inflator and your octopus. Some better-known models among these sorts of products are the Scubapro AIR2, Zeagle Octo+, SeaQuest Air Source and Atomic Aquatics SS1. The Atomic is my personal favorite based both on looks and performance, and the company’s history does well to explain my opinion.

Dean Garraffa and Doug Toth founded Atomic Aquatics ten years ago in Huntington Beach, California and haven’t looked back since. They both have amazing track records both as divers and as mechanical and industrial designers. The premise behind the company is that they take every last effort to make the highest-quality product and sacrifice nothing, all in an effort to smash the boundaries of the scuba industry rather than falling in line with the other manufacturers’ standards. Though people disagree as to how much one should spend on equipment, most will admit that Atomic regulators are at the top of the pack, if not the best performing regs you can buy. I’ll soon be telling you about these great regs, but first let me introduce the first Atomic product I ever bought: the Atomic SS1 combination safe-second/inflator.

There has been some controversy as to whether or not a combination of the traditional octopus and power inflator is a good thing or not. Our DIR friends definitely think a product like this doesn’t have a place in our waters, but lets not let that get to us quite yet. I am of the opinion that for recreational diving a combo octo/power inflator is a terrific way to go, especially if you’re traveling and interested in eliminating hoses from your regulator setup. Once installed, the SS1 can be detached in a few seconds by unscrewing a quick-release for safe stowage when traveling (I check in my BC but never my regs). Also, a little-known fact is that the same piece the SS1 screws into is threaded exactly right for a standard garden hose. Thus, with little effort you can flush out the inside bladder of your BCD right after you take your SS1 off for safe storage. This type of foresight is exactly why I believe Atomic to be head and shoulders above the rest in many ways. It’s all in the details. Never mind that my Atomic delivers even more airflow than my Scubapro S600/MK25 primary, I just like the fact that it can inflate my BC in no time flat and has the good looks of a snazzy sports car.

The only shortcoming I see with the Atomic SS1 is that its very difficult to retrofit to a SeaQuest BCD due to a few reasons. For one, the power inflator hose that comes with it is too thick for the plastic clips that normally secure the power inflator hose. Also, the hose itself comes down the wrong side. Furthermore, the SeaQuest hose is too rigid and short to allow the SS1 to comfortably (or securely) fit into a diver’s mouth, or even turn his/her head for that matter. The best hose setup on the market for mating to an Atomic SS1 belongs to Zeagle, as shown. The red SS1 even matches the color scheme of Zeagle BCDs perfectly!

Update: I’d like to add that recently my SS1 began having a slow free-flowing problem. I have been unsuccessful in solving the issue and I’ll be returning it for service. Atomic has been kind enough to respond to a query I posted on ScubaBoard, saying that they’ll help with the issue. I doubt most companies are this caring about their customers, so that makes me feel a whole lot better about the issue. I will detail a report when I isolate and remedy the problem. It turned out to be a problem with the first stage regulator, meaning that the SS1 is as solid as originally reported.

Entry Filed under: SCUBA