Is Dacor still around?

[BidAndDive.com]

I just saw a new Dacor Reg for sale on Ebay a few days ago. So, I think they're still around...a subdivision of Mares. Then again, only like 4 major companies make all the scuba gear and just give it all different names...

 

[mike_s]

Well, Mares did offer a trade in policy for owners of older Dacor regs who could not find parts any more. While I never knew the details of that policy and whether or not it was a good deal, it was an act of good will that was not really required by the company.

While there was some discusssion about it on here.... I never saw it in any of the major magazines. so it wasn't very well advertised. did anyone else see it in print advertisement anywhere? (maybe I'm wrong)

 

[bureau13]

I think I may have seen a reference to it on Scubatoys, or some other vendor site. I certainly wasn't told about it by the LFS I took my old Dacor reg in for service (I ended up deciding to buy a new reg, and I would certainly have given Mares more of a look had I known about that deal).

jds

 

[captndale]

Greg,

Thanks for correcting me on the Mares/AMF thing. I guess I had the sequence of events in the series of corporate purchases a little wrong. I am still confused though. Did AMF purchase Voit/Swimmaster and Mares? How is it that Mares survived with products that were Voit/Swimmaster designs? When AMF came apart, how did Mares go from being part of Mares to an Italian company with virtually no presence in the USA?

 

[captndale]

Well, Mares did offer a trade in policy for owners of older Dacor regs who could not find parts any more. While I never knew the details of that policy and whether or not it was a good deal, it was an act of good will that was not really required by the company.

At the time that Dacor was Purchased I owned a dive shop in the Chicago area (I've since sold it.) I would, from time to time, get Dacor regulators in from my customers for service. Since I was not a Dacor dealer, I would send them out to another store in the area that was an authorized Dacor dealer for service. Shortly after the Dacor sale the supply of repair parts dried up. Although the Dacor representatives denied that there was any shortage of parts, no one had any. I saw an opportunity, and sent an offer to my customers to purchase their old Dacor regulators if they would purchase a new Scubapro regulator from my store. I took the Dacor regulators that I got and donated them to the Boy Scouts. Emails quickly circulated on the internet accusing me of trying to buy myself out of some kind of Dacor warranty problem. It was pretty nasty. The Dacor trade-in offer appeared a short time later, but it was not quite as good as the one I had made.

 

[MMDiver]

I just saw a new Dacor Reg for sale on Ebay a few days ago. So, I think they're still around...a subdivision of Mares. Then again, only like 4 major companies make all the scuba gear and just give it all different names...

you are very wrong. the current Dacor regs are made by Mares.

Plus there are FAR more than 4 makers of scuba gear.

For those that asked, yes at the time Mares/Dacor did advertise the trade in program on teh old Dacor website and in a couple magazines. We also recieved multitudes of banners, posters and literature to put up in the shop.

 

[Nemrod]

Voit Rubber was purchased by AMF which became AMF Voit which has nothing to do with Dacor. Mares purchased the Voit scuba line which survives to this day in their MR series regulators. Then much latter they purchased the dying Dacor. I am sure Sam Miller could give us the real details. I never much cared for Dacor, always seemed kind of clunky.

During the 60s there were U.S. Divers Aqua Lung, AMF Voit, Nemrod, Healthways, Sportsways, White Stag, ScubaPro, Dacor as being the most common brands found in US catalogs and stores. There were others of course.

N

 

[Greg Barlow]

Greg,

Thanks for correcting me on the Mares/AMF thing. I guess I had the sequence of events in the series of corporate purchases a little wrong. I am still confused though. Did AMF purchase Voit/Swimmaster and Mares? How is it that Mares survived with products that were Voit/Swimmaster designs? When AMF came apart, how did Mares go from being part of Mares to an Italian company with virtually no presence in the USA?

AMF actually purchased Voit in the late 1950s. The Swimaster line was likewise acquired, but it took place in the early 1960s. AMF was making a strong attempt at becoming the nation's largest sporting goods manufacturer, and they pretty much carried it out. AMF was beginning to come apart in the late 1970s, as evidenced by the Harley Davidson line getting sold. The dive line had very little R&D the last few years as interest in diving began to wane across the country. I noticed during 1978 and 1979 that the Voit/Swimaster was starting to lag behind the other leading manufacturers. This was a tough time in general for the diving industry. Sportsways and Healthways also gave up the ghost in the same general time period.

Mares was acquired by the AMF banner, but they had a strong following in Europe and Asia. Their fins, masks, snorkels, and pneumatic guns carried them through. Plus, the Italians have been at the forefront of injection molding since the mid 1970s, so they could bring innovative products out pretty quickly.

As far as no presence in the USA, that was under a cloak of disguise. When you look at many Voit and Swimaster rubber items from the early 70s to 1980 or so, they are marked "Made in Italy".

Mares also had an affiliation with Sea Quest in the early 1980s. HTM Sports conglomerate pumped a lot of cash flow into the company in the 1990s, and the line grew rapidly. Once the regulator line included the Abyss, Voltrex, and Akros, their sales really increased.

What many people don't know is the strong Voit/US Divers connection. During the 1950-1970 decades Voit was actually making many of the rubber items for US Divers. In turn, many of the early regs (both double and single hose models) were actually US Dviers models that were rebadged. The Voit Trieste, Voit 50 Fathom, and the single hose regs made after 1965 were all actual Voit designs.

The MR12 first stage had many of the same design features as the Conshelf. In fact, the Voit engineers used some of the same dimensions for internal parts.

Interesting, as to how many double hose divers would hold loyalty to one of the two brands and slam the other. Little did they know.....

Greg Barlow

 

[Mr.X]

Voit Rubber was purchased by AMF which became AMF Voit which has nothing to do with Dacor. Mares purchased the Voit scuba line which survives to this day in their MR series regulators. Then much latter they purchased the dying Dacor. I am sure Sam Miller could give us the real details. I never much cared for Dacor, always seemed kind of clunky.

During the 60s there were U.S. Divers Aqua Lung, AMF Voit, Nemrod, Healthways, Sportsways, White Stag, ScubaPro, Dacor as being the most common brands found in US catalogs and stores. There were others of course.

N

That's a terrific catalog cover! Way ahead of its time! Grrrrh!

X

 

[Luis H]

This is from:
http://www.scubacollector.de/

I don't know how accurate it is.

Mares was founded in 1947 by Ludovico Mares (an Austrian) in Rapallo/Genua, Italy. Major target were the underwater hunter – that’s why they mainly produced abc´s which are even today a big part of their portfeuille. Their first Reg was the Doublehose Reg Air King. Since 1957 Mares equipment was sold through Barakuda in Germany. The first regulator was – for sure – a double hose, but don´t know much more… 1971 Mares was sold to AMF which owned Voit. They merged Mares and Voit and the name Voit disappeared – their regs not as you can see by the "Mares" MR 12. 1990 Mares founds HTM together with the other AMF-firms Tyrolia and Head and is now called HTM Mares. Mares regulators are very popular all though they have no adjustment-knob.