Mares M1 RGBM

[pdoege]

I have one of the older Mares M1s. It compares well with my Cressi Archimedes. I really like the fresh/salt water switch.

The display is a bit harder to read.

I use it as a BT for my deco dives.

Peter

 

[cstreu1026]

I dove with my wifes M1 while my Uwatec Smart Pro was being replaced. It really isn't a bad computer. My biggest gripe is that it is sometimes hard to push the button the right way, but other than that I think you would be hard pressed to find a better computer for the price.

 

[GoBlue!]

This thread is a few months old, but I just read all the posts after a search of "Mares RGBM." I was all set to get a Suunto Vyper until I started looking at the Mares M1, and I haven't found a ton of posts from Mares M1 users (yes, there are a few, but not nearly as many as the Vyper Masses).

Seems that the Vyper uses "Suunto RGBM" and the Mares M1 uses something CLOSER to full RGBM....not sure that really makes much of a difference, as I'm a rec diver solely.

Seems the Mares M1 has a reputation for being less user-friendly with buttons that are a pain to press (no Mares dealers around me, so can't play w/ one myself).

Seems they're both reliable computers good for rec divers.

Seems they both have a gauge mode, that will probably be nice when I finally get to that DIRF class.

Neither are AI, but that's fine w/ me.

Mares M1 is cheaper than the Vyper.....not by much, and not that cost matters THAT much to me when it comes to this type of equipment.

So.....Mares M1 users, care to come out of the woodwork a bit & share some more experiences? Vyper users, I know you're out there, and I know you love what you have.

Jim

 

[narcT]

sws once bubbled...
The Mares M1 is *NOT* full RGBM, it uses the same 10 compartment modified haldanian model as the older versions, with a folded RGBM add-on. See the instruction manual p. 28.

Found this on Mares website:

http://www.mares.com/product.asp?cat=6&prod=136

"The M1 RGBM is the most complete and easy-to-use dive computer on the market, both for recreational and technical diving. Thanks to the brand new Mares-Wienke RGBM Algorithm, the first to introduce Deep Stops, it noticeably improves dive safety margins."

 

[paulwlee]

I get the feeling that the 'deep stop' that is incorporated is just an extremely simple timer similar to the safety stop timer, and not based on real-time RGBM calculations. i.e. "Do a 2min deep stop at X feet if the diver exceeds Y feet." Anyone know more about this?

If this is so, then there's no real meaning to it, as you can just as well do a deep stop while using another computer and the end result will be the same. Sure, it may be nice to be 'reminded' about it, but if you need to be reminded, maybe the computer is in charge of the dive, not you as it should be.

On the other hand, if this deep stop given by the M1 is something based on the computer's on-the-fly computation, then it may be useful information after all.

I'd be interested to know which of the two it is.

 

[narcT]

RGBM doesn't really replace the Haldane way of thinking. Its just adding the theory of bubble formation and its effects on off gassing. Basically, a molecule thats trapped in a bubble can't leave the body (off gassing can't occur for these molecules).

So, you try to minimize the bubbles with deep stops so that more efficienct off gassing can occur at the shallower depths during deco.

RGBM is based on the work of Dr. Bruce Wienke who is a physicist at Los Alamos. I don't think Mares would use his name on their website without his permission. Which leads me to believe that the M1 RGBM is the real deal.

To answer your question "...the M1 is something based on the cmputer's on-the-fly computation..." the Mares website states "...Thanks to the brand new Mares-Wienke RGBM Algorithm". Algorithm to me indicates a constant monitoring of the divers activities.

BTW, I just read a recommendation from NAUI, Mares, Dacor, and Zeagle that recreational divers make a 1 minute stop at half their maximum depth before doing their 3 minute safety stop at 15 feet (Rodales, Scuba Diving, Dec 2003, pages 79-87).

I don't work for Mares, I dive with 2 Vyper's (console and wrist). But if I was buying today, I would seriously consider the M1 RGBM.

If anyone is reading this at Suunto, please add RGBM to your Vyper and your golden

 

[Charlie99]

narcT once bubbled...
"The M1 RGBM is the most complete and easy-to-use dive computer on the market, both for recreational and technical diving. Thanks to the brand new Mares-Wienke RGBM Algorithm, the first to introduce Deep Stops, it noticeably improves dive safety margins."

This may be true, but the only manual for the M1 on the Mares website clearly describes a pure neo-Haldanian computer, without any trace of RGBM --- not even the RGBM emulation hacks of the Suunto computers.

Perhaps Mares is just slow to update the website. Perhaps the full-up RGBM version of the M1 hasn't been released yet.

Perhaps the "Mares-Wienke RGBM Algorithm" is like the "Suunto RGBM", which is really a dissolved gas (neo-Haldanian) model, where the M-value limits for the compartments are modified in response to things like reverse profiles, short surface intervals, and yo-yo profiles.

Are there any Mares dealers out there with real info?

How can you tell which version is which? Is there a full-up RGBM version actually being shipped to customers yet?
By "full-up RGBM" I mean a true dual phase model that actually directly estimates such things as total free gas volume.

Charlie

 

[plsdiver4377]

technical website for the RGBM M1. Take from it what you will.

I do own one of these computers and it does seem to work just as described, as far as I can tell.

http://www.rgbm.mares.com/html/eng/rgbm/index.asp?lang=eng

 

[narcT]

From that website:

"The Mares-Wienke algorithm is the first to introduce deep decompression stops, increasing the possibility for micro-bubbles to be eliminated. "

Sounds like RGBM???

BTW, interesting site

 

[100days-a-year]

Or you could just ask BRW staight-up.He answers anything he's asked and gives very straightforward answers in simple terms.