CODMAN
Contributor
Hi all, I just recently received a new Dragon AT BCD as a warranty replacement for my Morphos pro (man, Mares customer service is the best!
). A tear developped that they were unable to repair. These things happen and that's when you see just how much a company backing their products counts!!!! To my great surprise I received a Dragon AT as a warranty replacement!!!! Once again, the people at Mares have shown just how much they care about us being happy with their gear! Cheers to Phil, Zak and all the gang at Mares USA!
Anyways, I tried it out last night at the pool (I always do that with new gear). Just for the record, I really liked my Morphos pro. Well the Dragon definetly gets 3 thumbs up! It was considerably more comfortable than the Morphos. The padding on the back and shoulder straps is much better than the Morphos, and also than most other BCDs I've tried or seen. When fully inflated on the surface, squeeze is minimal and the BCD keeps you pretty much ballanced and head out of the water with little to no effort.
Underwater, when you inflate to establish buoyancy, the well designed air cell inflates primarily on the back. So unless you are very overweighted (and need a lot of air to compensate), you don't feel any squeeze at all (just to note, my Morphos was also like this). Also, I found the BCD to be very stable in the water! It was very easy to stay horizontal. The big improvement I noticed over my Morphos was stability upside down and on my back. The BCD just kept me there motionless. Hardly any tendency to push me back into the original potition! I have a feeling , I'm going to really appreciate this BCD when taking photos!
As far as fit goes, this BCD is a lot more snug than the Morphos (even though both are medium). So keep this in mind when choosing a size. Mares have a reputation of making their BCDs big, but this is less so for the Dragon. My Medium Morphos was just small enough that I could get it nicely adjusted for me in my tropical setup (so in other words I really would have needed a hybrid between small and medium). This isn't the case for the Dragon which is more my size (I have room to make it loosser or snugger). Just for reference, I'm 5'11" and about 185 lbs.
As far as the MRS plus weight pockets go, they work very well. But I'm not 100% comfortable with the locking mechanism yet. On the old MRS, I could blindly check if the pocket was engaged with my fingers. This isn't as obvious with the MRS plus. But then again, it's new and I don't know it that well yet. With a bit of use, I'll probably get to know it better and be able to locate and check things with my fingers. But I'm definetly going to keep an eye out for these pockets and make sure they are properly clipped every time.
Overall, quality of the fabric and the BCD in general is great( much better than the Morphos). The feel in the water was really good. If you're considering a Dragon, and the fit is right (because fit counts for a lot), go for it. You won't regret it!
Hope this review can help!!!!
). A tear developped that they were unable to repair. These things happen and that's when you see just how much a company backing their products counts!!!! To my great surprise I received a Dragon AT as a warranty replacement!!!! Once again, the people at Mares have shown just how much they care about us being happy with their gear! Cheers to Phil, Zak and all the gang at Mares USA!Anyways, I tried it out last night at the pool (I always do that with new gear). Just for the record, I really liked my Morphos pro. Well the Dragon definetly gets 3 thumbs up! It was considerably more comfortable than the Morphos. The padding on the back and shoulder straps is much better than the Morphos, and also than most other BCDs I've tried or seen. When fully inflated on the surface, squeeze is minimal and the BCD keeps you pretty much ballanced and head out of the water with little to no effort.
Underwater, when you inflate to establish buoyancy, the well designed air cell inflates primarily on the back. So unless you are very overweighted (and need a lot of air to compensate), you don't feel any squeeze at all (just to note, my Morphos was also like this). Also, I found the BCD to be very stable in the water! It was very easy to stay horizontal. The big improvement I noticed over my Morphos was stability upside down and on my back. The BCD just kept me there motionless. Hardly any tendency to push me back into the original potition! I have a feeling , I'm going to really appreciate this BCD when taking photos!
As far as fit goes, this BCD is a lot more snug than the Morphos (even though both are medium). So keep this in mind when choosing a size. Mares have a reputation of making their BCDs big, but this is less so for the Dragon. My Medium Morphos was just small enough that I could get it nicely adjusted for me in my tropical setup (so in other words I really would have needed a hybrid between small and medium). This isn't the case for the Dragon which is more my size (I have room to make it loosser or snugger). Just for reference, I'm 5'11" and about 185 lbs.
As far as the MRS plus weight pockets go, they work very well. But I'm not 100% comfortable with the locking mechanism yet. On the old MRS, I could blindly check if the pocket was engaged with my fingers. This isn't as obvious with the MRS plus. But then again, it's new and I don't know it that well yet. With a bit of use, I'll probably get to know it better and be able to locate and check things with my fingers. But I'm definetly going to keep an eye out for these pockets and make sure they are properly clipped every time.
Overall, quality of the fabric and the BCD in general is great( much better than the Morphos). The feel in the water was really good. If you're considering a Dragon, and the fit is right (because fit counts for a lot), go for it. You won't regret it!
Hope this review can help!!!!
