Mares Proton 32 Metal Regulators? Any Opinions?

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T

The Novice

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Does anyone have any opinions/experience with the Mares Proton 32? I've found very little information using the search function for this particular model. However, I have seen several positive comments about the Mares Proton 16 and was wondering how they compare. Any assistance is appreciated.
 
Since no one seems to have any opinions/experience with the Mares Proton 32, how about the Mares Proton 42? Does anyone have any opinions/experience regarding it?
 
The Proton 32 is a very good regulator - it basically the MR 22 1st stage with some of the excess metal trimmed away to make it lighter. My wife has been diving one for 2 years and loves it.

I dove a Mares Ruby (MR22 with Ruby Poppet) for several years and then switched to a V32 2nd stage to save some weight when traveling and because it's smaller size reduced my head hitting the reg (I used it with my Abyss, all metal 2nd).

I'm now diving a vintage double hose reg - mostly because I take pictures and like the bubbles exiting behind me and the fact that in any position,other than standing on my head, it breathes even easier than my Mares.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Proton 32 and the only suggestion I would make is to go for the Proton Metal 2nd stage, if dry mouth is a concern. I don't know anything about the Proton 42 - so can't help you there.
 
Actually, I'm also very interested in doing some underwater photography. With that in mind, is the Proton Metal second stage a bad idea?
 
Since I never dove the Proton 2nd stages, I don't know personnally how they disperse the exhaust. My wife takes pictures with her Proton 2nd and I don't see anymore bubbles that I used to when I was using my Abyss 2nd.

But then again, she has better bouyancy and trim control that I do and when I watch her taking pictures she is almost always at a 45 degree angle downward, so the bubbles naturally go past her neck and don't interfere with the camera (I on the other hand tend to more horizontal, so bubble go up across my mask from my 2nd stage).

The Proton Metal 2nd would probably make no difference as far as the bubbles (I'll be able to tell you more about that after Christmas, since she is getting a Proton Metal 2nd as a gift) - the advantage to a metal 2nd stage is that it reduces dry mouth since it condenses some of the water from your breath and rehumidifys the incoming air (scuba tank air is extremely dry).
 
I actually dive with a Proton V42 Metal. I absolutely love it. It is a great regulator that provides clean and easy breathing. The first stage features 4 low pressure ports and 2 high pressure ports. The 2nd stage all metal body is 25% lighter than traditional second stages. It's also nice to have the mesh grid front cover that prevents free flow. As far as the rest of the Mares Metal collection, our customers rave about all of them. I have not heard one bad thing about Mares regulators.
 
I service and own several different Mares regs. As far as bubble dispersion, it is pretty tough to beat a large exhaust tee such as found on some of the older models like the Akros or Nikos. My Proton Metal second stages seem to be a bit better than the polymer bodied Proton, but this would be a minor difference.

While swimming forward in a horizontal position, I hardly notice any bubbles from either Proton design. If vertical, then I do notice a few obscuring my vision; particularly if not moving forward much.

I absolutely love tuning the Proton regs. They are so simple to adjust due to the side port. I adjust the primary second stages to have a cracking effort of 1.2", and that is just about perfect for their case geometry fault design. While in the normal swimming position, they have very little cracking effort.

When you consider the rugged simplicity of their second stages, and the fact that they easily meet the US Navy "Class A" standards, they are an outstanding choice.

Greg Barlow
 
I still have two MR-32 Rubies and I think that they're great regulators.
 
I have a few of the Mares regs, including a couple of Proton Ice's. They're great breathers and I like the exhaust better than my Apeks regs. There aren't any adjustment knobs on it, but then again, it doesn't need any.

Check the IP pressure every so often to make sure it isn't creeping up.
 
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