Mares questions and concerns

[mcace007]

My wife and I are new to the diving family and are tired of using junk rental equiptment when we travel and dive locally, so we're in the process of gearing up.

I though that I was sold on the Mares Dragon BC for me and the Mares Kaila for my wife, the on-line reviews all spoke highly of it, they fit great, so I was on to find the best price and buy them. Then I logged on here to see if there was any additional information. I see all the posts about the problems with the weight pockets failing and either breaking or falling out causing an uncontrolled accent?

Have the problems been addressed by Mares? Are these safe BS's for new divers to get, dive with and grow our skills in?

I really don't want to have a great dive turned in to a tragedy by my equiptment choice.

Any input would be great! Thanks All

Michael

 

[H2O 70]

If you want to dive locally, I'd look first at what local divers use. You're in Oakland, CA so I'd post on the NorCal forum and see what they use locally.

 

[Schizlor]

I have the Dragon and read the same reports you did on here. From recollection if Im not mistaken those reports are from a few years back, and Mares acknowledged that there was a defective batch that went out where the stitching was done improperly on the pockets, causing them to rip. I believe they fixed that quite some time ago and if you buy a new one you should not encounter that problem. I've loaded the pouches of mine with weight, and had a ton of stuff in the side pockets (Which overlay the weight pouches) as well like a reel, SMB, Knife, light sticks, even my gloves...and I've never had an issue with the weight pouches coming unclipped at any time.

Of course don't take my word for it, I am a user but don't work for Mares so Im unqualified to give the Dragon the "all-clear" on that issue, but I think if you dig deeper into the posts you'll see that it was mostly an isolated issue early on in the production of the jacket, that has since been addressed.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Most of the people I dive with have Mares equipment and no one has had a problem with weight pockets.
Most issues with weight pockets are caused by over loading them. If you use a lot of weight it is best to divide your weight between a weight belt and BC
I would also post this in the Mares forum and Zak can answer any concerns you have

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

We have sold a couple of these and have not seen any issues. For divers that want this type of BC, they have loved how comfortable (hybrid BC-More rear inflation/Less front) it is, good price point and that it has good options (rear trim pockets) for weight distribution.

DRAGON w/ MRS Plus *Buy at DIVESEEKERS.com 888-SCUBA-47

 

[McCainiac]

I've lost 3 weight pockets on my Dragon in less than 8 months. :depressed: I'm claiming some OPERATOR ERROR and plan on putting half my weight in the rear trim pockets from now on. Part of my problem was a ROUGH shore entry and SUPER ROUGH conditions getting back on a boat.