Mares Dragon

[goldenwingk]

i'm fairly new to diving and i just completed my advanced open water course. i'm looking into buying my first BC
i've been checkin out the Mares Dragon
and i would like to know other peoples opinions on this BC.
I dive in cold/ice water and im also looking into starting techincal deep diving.
Would this be a good choice?? do u have any other BC's to recommend??

all opinions will help me out alot, THANKS!

 

[Standingbear56]

Hi Goldenwingk,
First, congratulations on your AOW course. They are alot of fun. The Mares Dragon is a good Sport Diving BCD. It is comfortable and has many good features. However, you mentioned that you are looking to start technical deep diving. The Dragon is not suited for technical diving at all. For one, it cannot be set up with double cylinders, which is a tech diving requirement, nor can it handle deco and/or stage bottles. On top of this, you cannot adjust the placement of any of the D rings, another tech diving requirement. If you are going technical, your best bet is a Back Plate/Wings (BPW) set up. There are many brands to choose from - Deep Sea Systems, Dive Rite, Golem Gear, Halcyon, Hollis, OMS, Oxycheq and Zeagle come to mind. Check out their websites. It can be confusing. Your best bet is to talk with your instructor and find out what equipment is required for his/her technical class. Also, just because you have just finished your AOW course, doesn't mean you cannot use technical equipment. All your basic technical equipment can be used for sport diving, but very few sport diving pieces of equipment can be used for technical diving. If this is where you want to go, start looking for equipment that can meet technical's advanced needs.
Safe Diving,
George
PADI MSDT 33859
Prime Scuba

 

[goldenwingk]

Hi Goldenwingk,
First, congratulations on your AOW course. They are alot of fun. The Mares Dragon is a good Sport Diving BCD. It is comfortable and has many good features. However, you mentioned that you are looking to start technical deep diving. The Dragon is not suited for technical diving at all. For one, it cannot be set up with double cylinders, which is a tech diving requirement, nor can it handle deco and/or stage bottles. On top of this, you cannot adjust the placement of any of the D rings, another tech diving requirement. If you are going technical, your best bet is a Back Plate/Wings (BPW) set up. There are many brands to choose from - Deep Sea Systems, Dive Rite, Golem Gear, Halcyon, Hollis, OMS, Oxycheq and Zeagle come to mind. Check out their websites. It can be confusing. Your best bet is to talk with your instructor and find out what equipment is required for his/her technical class. Also, just because you have just finished your AOW course, doesn't mean you cannot use technical equipment. All your basic technical equipment can be used for sport diving, but very few sport diving pieces of equipment can be used for technical diving. If this is where you want to go, start looking for equipment that can meet technical's advanced needs.
Safe Diving,
George
PADI MSDT 33859
Prime Scuba

thanx alot for the info, finally got a reply haha.
i think i could just get the dragon for now, and when i start heading for technical diving i'll get one of those BC's that u said.
but out of all the brands that u named, which one would u go with?? cause i dont know mucha bout the brands yet in scuba...

 

[wjknobles]

goldenwingk,

what george said about transitioning to a BP/W system is very true ... however considering that you are looking at Mares you might want to look at the Mares Icon or Pegasus over the Dragon. Both are back-inflate BC's which is as close as you can get to a BP/W without making the jump straight into a BP/W system.

that all being said when you make the jump you can't go wrong with the Deep Sea Supply wings. Tobin does a great job designing and manufacturing them, and he has a number of BP sizes to fit you more comfortably and efficiently.

 

[String]

If its Mares and its like mine and other peoples experiences it'll probably fall to pieces within 12 months.

 

[Standingbear56]

Hi Goldenwingk,
I personally use a Trans Pac. Because of a back injury, I cannot put large doubles directly on my back, so I side mount them, which is a totally different skill. Before my injury, I used an OMS back plate with a single piece harness. My wings were a dual bladder OMS 96. I used a wing this size because I used dual 130 LP steel tanks and up to 4 deco bottles. The changes I was going to make were to switch to one of Tobin's tall, wide back plates, and to a smaller size wing - maybe around 60 lb or so. I actually never used the full 96 lb lift, so why have it along with the increased drag when a smaller unit will do?
The choice is yours, but I really personally believe you will be happier getting the tech BC now - this way you don't have to upgrade later (things only get more expensive).
Whatever you decide, let us know.
Take care and safe diving,
George
PADI MSDT

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I have a Mares Dragonfly that I have had for 8 years. It works as good as The day I bought it. The instructor I DM for has a Mares Kaila and most of the people I dive with have Mares Dragon's.
Mares is high quality gear and you won't go wrong with any of it. Our local dive shop is a Mares dealer, so I have tried most of their BC's. I didn't care for the Icon. My BP/W is a Dive Rite Transplate and Rec wing.

 

[String]

Mares make nice fins and masks.

Its a pity the build quality of their BCDs is terrible. Myself and many others have had snapped backplates, broken zips, snapped clips, material fraying even only after a years use.
As for their regs the top end ones are OK, any under that are complete service nightmares to keep them working properly.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Mares make nice fins and masks.

Its a pity the build quality of their BCDs is terrible. Myself and many others have had snapped backplates, broken zips, snapped clips, material fraying even only after a years use.
As for their regs the top end ones are OK, any under that are complete service nightmares to keep them working properly.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you 100%. I have never had a minutes trouble with my 8 year old Dragonfly. When I was researching BC's, the Mares BC's were made from the heaviest material.
I have a Mares MR22 Abyss main and Proton Metal alt. that I have dove from the caribbean to the very cold, deep Great Lakes and they have NEVER given me a seconds trouble. I won't dive with anything but a Mares reg in my mouth.
Most of the people I dive with have Mares gear because our LDS is a Mares dealer and no one has had any service or breakage problems with their gear.

I stand by my original post that Mares makes high quality gear.

I have and will continue to recommend Mares gear with confidence and without hesitation to the students or anyone else I dive with.

 

[nashirak]

The Dragon is an outstanding jacket-style Rec BCD. It's amazingly comfortable, it's reliable, and Mares' MRS weight system is easy to use. You can't go wrong with it as a recreational BCD. I agree that Mares makes outstanding gear across the board. We get nothing but rave reviews at all seven of our locations and around the world (except for their current inventory situation, but that's a whole different issue).

I agree with George in this instance though. In buying any gear, you always want to look ahead at what you plan on doing in the future.

Think you might be going Nitrox? Go ahead and get spend a little extra to get a Nx-capable computer and a reg that's O2 ready.

Think you might do some cold-water diving? Go ahead and get a reg set that's sealed and capable of it.

Spend a little more now instead of a lot later. I would invest in a good wing now (OMS and DiveRite are the two that come to mind as top-sellers for me). The TransPac is capable of doing anything you need it to, and the IQ harness is a very comfortable and highly capable harness as well.

When buying, don't look for just the price. Decide first what the maximum budget you've got is, then invest as high as you can in each line that has the features you'll need both now and later in your diving experience. You'll be glad you did.