Mares new limited edition

[The Chairman]

You know,

Larry knows gear. Like EF Hutton, when he talks... I LISTEN! So if he says it's innovative, then who am I to disagree. Thanks for the heads up Larry!

 

[scubatoys]

Larry, I respect your professional opinion as much as anyone in the industry, so I ask you, simply out of curiosity, will you be making this reg, fin, or BC YOUR personal choice?

Scott

There's a darn good question... Well, let me tell you... I'm not a paddle fin kind of guy... I'm a split fin guy, and I realize that is a minority here on the board... but I love my apollo splits... And when it comes to BC's... I'll admit that the new mares BC will not take me out of my Zeagle... The reg... The reg is pretty darn cool. I haven't had a chance to go dive this stuff for real yet... but I could be very easily talked into using that reg... might not even take any talking!

But people are different. I know people who swear by quattros, and if I was a quattro diver, I'd want these fins. They are basically a volo and quattro technology combined and on steriods. The BC is comfy, but I'm not much of a wrap around jacket guy, or a BP wings guy... a Brigade suits me just fine. So will I replace all my stuff - no. But I would not buy the newest Ford, no matter how cool it is... I'm a chevy guy.

As far as people saying this is just a ploy and the same products will be out in 6 months... from what I hear... no. Now, I would assume that aspects of these products will be worked into the line in time. That would make sense to me that you take the 4 DFC port technology and add that to the V32 reg and make a V48 or whatever... but who knows.

I do know, I have a lot of respect for what they have done. Our industry is plagued by folks who do cheap copies of others products when they prove commercially successful. Hell Scott... look at a company that makes a BC and has the guts to call them Z-Eagle or whatever. One company brings out a mask, and in a matter of weeks, 3 others have a dupe. I invented the ScubaTool, and within a year, a company that calls themselves "innovative" sent it to Taiwain and told a manufacturer there to "do an identical copy".

So I applaud any company that makes strives to bring new products and ideas to market. Maybe more than others as I have taken those steps when I was in the manufacturing end. It takes a lot of risk, and guts to take your hard earned money and invest everything you have in a ScubaTool, or a DiveOpoly game. And those were so minor compared to a new regulator, BC and fin.

If it were not for companies taking those risks, what would our gear look like today... we'd still be in horse collars.

So is this product line the end all to all... probably not. I have had several people who want to buy a piece here or there, and some that want full sets of it... and I know several other LE dealers who have sold a lot of their stock.

I strive to educate folks on features and benefits, not "sell them" a particular product. I'd rather see a customer walk out my door with a setup that is perfect for them, instead of leaving with product that has a profit margin perfect for me... But that is why my customers brother, uncle and neighbor show up next week. So LE perfect for everyone? No... But for those who want the newest, and a very unique product, I will not have a problem selling a set to any of my friends or customers. If you don't like the style of gear - maybe not for you. But for some - this will be their dream equipment. Not everyone likes the same stuff - and that's a good thing, and I hope manufacturers keep making strides to bring out new stuff.

Having 2 scuba patents my self, and several other inventions that I didn't patent, I love seeing the new stuff - I have a very healthy respect for the efforts that go into it, and when it all comes together in a nice finished product... to me it's a thing of beauty.

 

[ScottZeagle]

That is a great answer, Larry.

Thanks!

Scott

 

[Kestrell]

That is a great answer, Larry.

Thanks!

Scott

I agree.

While I was not knocked out of my socks by the new stuff from Mares, I do think it is innovative. Will I be buying any of it; no, but I just bought all new gear last year (thanks Larry) so I don't need any gear. But it looks to be very high quality gear, and gear that, were I in the market for gear, I would put on my short list of equipment to consider.

I also don't hold any animosity towards Mares for not supporting the older Dacor stuff. I'm sure they chose not to do so because there was not money in it. If they were to support the older gear in spite of this the cost would have to be passed on to the people purchasing new gear, which would in turn make Mares uncompetitive in the market place. Then when they went under (not likely) we could all hate whatever company bought them out when they decided not to support older Dacor and Mares gear.

I say Bravo Mares! Keep up the good work.

 

[Paul Evans]

I was in Kent Diving today, they have the full range of kit on display.................

I was amazed at how small the first stage is :11:

Also the fins have obviolusly been rebuilt from the ground up.............

But the thing that I noticed was the exceptional finsh quality of the products, really something else

So, while I still think there is a lot of hype, and I can't understand why this is a Ltd run, just price the stuff at this level and let that make it exclusive?.....................

If I had the cash...............I would buy it :yl2jump:

 

[jonscubas]

Greetings Stefano,

I like the fins. I'm very much into new technologies. I've been watching this thread mature, and i've been sitting patiently for someone to give me a detailed, factual experience in use of them. Well it's obviously too early. So I went out and bought me a set to judge for myself.

Now that I have my own, I am eager to test them out very soon. The question I have for you since these are limited edition and there are only 4000 made, what happens if I need to have these fins repaired or replaced within the 2 year limited warranty period?

I would like to hear from you how this is going to be handled since there is only so few being made, and production has now seized?

I have dove jet fins exclusively, prior to purchasing these fins. I wanted something that was well rounded, have power, can do most of the kicks, and maneuver. From examing these fins closely, I think it will fit my needs fine.

You have to keep in mind that the scubapro jet fins are bulletproof, they are so tough they don't even need a warranty. I would like to stick to one fin, so if these are it, I want to make sure I can get them back in order should I ever have the need?

Thanks.

Dear Poseido,

what happen to your student is not acceptable for our standard of quality.

Please, inform us in very much detail on what happen and we will make sure the problem is resolved. I repeat this is very important to us and has to be more detailed to really evaluate what happen.

I will personally take care to follow this case and to make sure our LE customers are completly satisfy.

Please, inform us asap and if necessary call us directly in Italy 011 39 0185 20 11 asking of Mr. Toma or me directly or call Mares - Dacor US at 020 38 55 0631 asking of Mr. Romeo. For immidiate assistent inform the dealer where the product was bought.

Thanks

Stefano

 

[davidr]

i like the mares nemo titainium watch this is really cool

 

[scubapro50]

Speculation and hearsay are just that, and nothing more. Since we (the gen pub) do not know what they will releasing, we cannot not honestly make any judgements. If it is advertizing goo, then I am sure it will get it's just reward. If it isn't, I hope we have the ability to judge fairly.

I seem to remember a company called Apeks that released the Black thingamajing and Aqualung with the Gold supersucker. How about ScubaPro releasing the 65430000 XXX super duper one of a kind.

Larry is right, every company does this type of marketing play. How they get the techies (like myself) all excited. If it play fails they al least got some new recognition. There is no such thing as bad advertizing publicity. I once saw a grown man scream and cry like a child at the auto show, because he wanted the newest LE Mercedes.

To each his own. I think we will have to wait and see in order to judge. Then the gloves will come off.

Dive Smart; Dive Safe
Enjoy the ride
:14:

back in the late 60's Aqualung released a special "limited" Royal Aquamaster .... for $2500 you got a 24k gold plated Royal Aquamaster Double hose regulator in a hand made walnut case and a certificate signed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Haven't seen one of those units in years ...... wonder what it would bring on Ebay ??????

 

[Prudent_Rabbit]

I actually went out and bought the set, and have done 20 dives with the gear so far, 1st stage, tiny, looks kinda strange on the dive boat with all the other 1st stages lined up, gets lots of double takes. The regulator itself, brilliant, no dry mouth, exceptionaly delivery of air, no jaw ache either, a very comfortable reg. The BCD, the absolute nuts, very very very comfy, I like the integrated weights, you dont need a Phd to work them and your buddy can understand 1st go. Air trim system, took me about 5 dives to get it sorted, but very happy with it now, my bouyancy is superb and its like sitting in a comfy chair. Fins....boy do they move you along at a very rapid rate of knots if you need to, also swimming against a current, they seemed to propel me better than my buddy (quattro Fins) all in all, one very happy customer

 

[longimanus]

After a couple of pool sessions for my Divemaster classes, I finally went diving in open water with my newly acquired LE Regulator. During my first setup, I noticed a weird noise coming while inhaling and while testing the Airtrim (the inflator for the Morphos Pro). It sounded like: "tac-tac-tac-tac", very regular, very mechanical. Underwater, the noise continued and there was resistance while inhaling. Air came by successions of short packets, at the same rate as the noise. The whole problem disappeared after about 15 minutes, and the reg behaved very smoothly, very easy to use. On the second dive, after switching tanks, the same symptoms came back, but I decided to give it another try. Same story, problematic at the beginning, then goes away after a while. This phenomenon happened systematically at each subsequent dive, until I decided to stop using it by fear of failure on a planned 140ft deep dive and rented a reg from the diveshop.

It seems that the problem occurs when the pressure getting to the first stage is high, anywhere from 200 bars to 120 bars (3000 psi to 1800 psi), problem goes away when pressure is below 120 bars +/- 30 bars, and the reg is actually very smooth, very nice to use. I had actually never noticed the problem during my pool sessions since we were using "leftover" tanks from previous O/W students that we equalized among each other. Pressure was 70/80 bars then.

I was actually able to limit the problem by inhaling at a very very slow, unnatural and uncomfortable pace. An instructor told me that this might be "pinging". I couldn't find anything about pinging on scubaboard.

I am returning the reg for inspection at the store, was told that it could take anywhere from 2 weeks to a couple of months, depending on if they need to resend it back to Italy. They also suggested to replace it, but I like the limited number of mine hence would like to avoid that. This is a bummer since I have many pool sessions coming up for my Divemaster classes. Hope that the store or Mares will be able to lend me a reg for free in the meantime.

Stephano, again I do not work for a competitor. I like the reg and would like to keep it once fixed. I am probably jinxed with Regs, I returned my ScubaPro 650X for good since it had a very strong resistance (continuous, not pinging) while inhaling, way worse than a rental reg.