My friend says Mares regulators aren't good - is this true?

[USdiver1]

I service most of my own regs (Poseidon being an exception). Mares regs are not bad regulators, although I share the opinion that when Mares bought Dacor and ceased production of that line, it was a slap in the face to generations of loyal Dacor users. I have nothing but praise for the Mares Abyss and its ancestors (Mares MR-12III to AMF/Voit/Swimaster MR-12). The Mares first stages 12, 22, 32, 42 and 52 are all reliable and easy rebuilds. I like and use a Mares Proton as my "pool" reg for teaching. The damn thing is indestructible, and again easily rebuilt. The metal Proton Ice and the Abyss Navy are two cold water specialty regulators that I have used, and find both good cold water (<50 degrees) regs.

P.S. I also dive a Kraken and a Phoenix RAM, these plus the aforementioned Poseidon are kings of the cold.

 

[DevonDiver]

I use high-end regulators for technical diving and I need to get service/spares/repair globally, so Apeks and Scubapro are the two real choices.

I used to own 4 sets of Poseidon regs (2x Jetstream / 2x Cyklon), but they were a pain to get spares/repair for across SE Asia. I sold them on eBay and bought Scubapro Mk25/S600s... You can ALWAYS find a convenient service center for Scubapro or Apeks.

If I didn't need high-end, or reliable global support, then I'd consider other brands. If I were choosing another brand, it'd be something truly economical like HOG.

Mares is kinda in the middle... neither superlative nor economical.... so they'd never be on my list.

Also... I used to have a set of Dacor Vipers once in the distance past. Dreadful regs... and once tried to kill me in cold water. Mares bought Dacor and still sell the Viper. Yuk...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

And I have 50 year old US Divers regs that until VDH started making repro parts, were in a box. I have a Nemrod Snark that I can't get parts for. So what.

Manufacturers go out of business - no reason to bash their successors- like blaming Chrysler/Fiat because AMC went bankrupt and then telling someone not to buy a Viper because you can't get Javalin parts.

Yes but.. what did Mares do? Did they immediately retire the DACOR brand? No, as I recall they did not. They kept using the DACOR brand in order to squeeze profits out of the name/brand. However, they LATER dropped support for DACOR products - even ones which were made after they took over.

Dacor was one of the biggest (and best) manufacturer's of gear when I started diving.

If my recollection is incorrect then explain it to me. Nothing they did inspired any loyalty from me.

 

[Kairoos]

I don't own a Mares regulator, but I have a bunch of other Mares equipment (bags, mask, fins, wetsuit) and their products are a pretty good quality. I would probably trust a Mares regulator more than some other companies out there.

Definitely go with something that you can get serviced locally though.

 

[tbone1004]

This thread is moving fast and getting hot, but I can't let this one pass: I got the Kraken and it's in a league of its own. I tried Aqualung Legend (equivalent to XTX200 I guess) and realized I just can't go back to single hose for my regular diving (non-technical stuff, no sidemount etc). The Kraken is that much better to my taste. At these prices I would simply not even consider a Mares or any other from this list unless doing sidemount - in which case I assume one would get cheaper regs anyway.

And if that's not enough, all the girls say I look cool :vintagediver:

I dive Poseidons exclusively, many of my buddies dive Apeks and Scubapro. The key is to take advantage of used gear since the average tenure of technical divers is around 3 years there is a lot of gear turnover.

 

[TN Traveler]

They (HEAD) just spent $$$$$$$$ to buy DACOR - a bad decision since DACOR had massive financial and supply chain problems - do you think the corporate heads are going to just right off that money? No they tried to get something out of the name, using it for "low end" gear. This was a "HEAD" decision, not a Mares decision (Mares management was not part of the decision to buy DACOR). Mares management did what they could after being told by HEAD that they now had to handle the DACOR brand - but they finally decided to pull the plug. By the way, anything that Mares actually manufactured with the DACOR name on it, is still supported since it is identical to existing Mares gear. No one is suggesting you be loyal - just that you need to stop bashing Mares gear which you admit, you never tried/used because you feel "hurt" by the loss of DACOR.

US Divers was the best/biggest when I first started diving - is it fair for me to bash Aqualung and Apex because they stopped and no longer support my old double hose regs. They sort of killed the US Divers name, also.

Enough said!

Yes but.. what did Mares do? Did they immediately retire the DACOR brand? No, as I recall they did not. They kept using the DACOR brand in order to squeeze profits out of the name/brand. However, they LATER dropped support for DACOR products - even ones which were made after they took over.

Dacor was one of the biggest (and best) manufacturer's of gear when I started diving.

If my recollection is incorrect then explain it to me. Nothing they did inspired any loyalty from me.

 

[tbone1004]

I can still get parts kits for my poseidons dating all the way back to 1958..... Every single one of them.... just sayin

 

[kelemvor]

US Divers was the best/biggest when I first started diving - is it fair for me to bash Aqualung and Apex because they stopped and no longer support my old double hose regs. They sort of killed the US Divers name, also.

Huh.. I guess I learned something today. An elderly family friend was telling me how he used to dive (probably around the 1950's or maybe 60's I'm estimating) and would only use US Divers gear. I didn't say anything but assumed he was full of baloney since I've only ever seen the US Divers name on crap snorkels and masks for children at walmart.

 

[boulderjohn]

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[pedro_rj]

I don't own a Mares regulator, but I have a bunch of other Mares equipment (bags, mask, fins, wetsuit) and their products are a pretty good quality. I would probably trust a Mares regulator more than some other companies out there.

Definitely go with something that you can get serviced locally though.

That reminds me of something: when we started diving my wife got a Mares Puck dive computer. It was supposedly brand new, in a sealed original box etc, but came with a few dives already logged (!). It was cheap and at the time where I was living it would not be economical to ship it back, so we ended up keeping it.

I don't know if this is considered normal with other brands, but since then I took the decision to discard Mares for life.

---------- Post added January 8th, 2016 at 01:21 PM ----------

I dive Poseidons exclusively, many of my buddies dive Apeks and Scubapro. The key is to take advantage of used gear since the average tenure of technical divers is around 3 years there is a lot of gear turnover.

I get what you mean, but if you're not an experienced diver it can be daunting to buy second hand gear in many places of the world (may be different in the US?). You either have to trust your life to the seller or to a local shop and both can be a coin toss. With a new reg one would expect a higher % of it coming in perfect condition (unless you're one of the lucky ones to get "brand new" used gear, of course...)