So.... this year I bought a Mares suit (an XR) to replace my BARE suit. I've been using BARE suits since 1985. I feel loyal to BARE and it took a lot to make me decide to buy a Mares drysuit instead of a BARE.
The good news is, It fits like a glove... no... better than that.... it fits like the perfect glove. I've never had a drysuit that felt like I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt but the Mares XR is like that. The product is (assuming it stays dry) well above expectations.
... but it leaked. Shortly after I got it, it started to leak..... then it flooded. I'm not talking about a little bit of water from the shoulder valve being in the squeeze, I'm talking about flooding to the point that your toes are wet from a 20 minute dive. It turns out the one I got was a lemon. The cuff seals were not attached correctly and they were coming unglued and letting buckets of water in..... Thinking, "ok, that can happen" I sent it back to Mares Italy for repairs.
It took them... and I kid you not..... 3 months to fix it. In fact, they didn't fix it at all..... after 3 months they sent me a new suit. They could have done that in 3 days!
3 months! The #fail in that was HARD... REALLY HARD. Hard to understand, hard to accept, hard to defend.
I decided to step away from BARE and buy a Mares suit because Mares makes good diving gear but this kind of thing cannot pass. I don't even know what they were thinking because they KNEW I would write about it on the internet!
A la. The Mares suit is unbelievably comfortable but be prepared. The customer service in Europe utterly abysmal. I can't think of any other words to describe it.
R..
The good news is, It fits like a glove... no... better than that.... it fits like the perfect glove. I've never had a drysuit that felt like I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt but the Mares XR is like that. The product is (assuming it stays dry) well above expectations.
... but it leaked. Shortly after I got it, it started to leak..... then it flooded. I'm not talking about a little bit of water from the shoulder valve being in the squeeze, I'm talking about flooding to the point that your toes are wet from a 20 minute dive. It turns out the one I got was a lemon. The cuff seals were not attached correctly and they were coming unglued and letting buckets of water in..... Thinking, "ok, that can happen" I sent it back to Mares Italy for repairs.
It took them... and I kid you not..... 3 months to fix it. In fact, they didn't fix it at all..... after 3 months they sent me a new suit. They could have done that in 3 days!
3 months! The #fail in that was HARD... REALLY HARD. Hard to understand, hard to accept, hard to defend.
I decided to step away from BARE and buy a Mares suit because Mares makes good diving gear but this kind of thing cannot pass. I don't even know what they were thinking because they KNEW I would write about it on the internet!
A la. The Mares suit is unbelievably comfortable but be prepared. The customer service in Europe utterly abysmal. I can't think of any other words to describe it.
R..