After wading through pages and pages of this thread, I'd like to offer some clarification, some applause and some constructive critism.
I am probably one of the most demanding people I know when it comes to regulator performance. I am also not, and never have been, a fan of plastic cased regs. Despite the marketing hype over "lightweight" and "small size" attributed to plastic regs, neither feature is relevent or important in the water where performance should eb the primary issue. I have always suspected that the real motivation of the industry toward plastic second stages was the potential to simplify production and drastically lower production costs (Dealer cost on plastic cases is about $5.00, so they are VERY inexpensive to produce).
On that note I applaud Mares for returning to a metal cased second stage design as it is absolutely a move in the right direction. Metal second stages do not have the dry mouth issues common to plastic cased second stages and as a frequent very cold water diver (bottom temps close to freezing) I can confirm that an all metal second stage is extremely desireable and freeze ups are virtually unheard of.
However I have not been able to use one of the new Mares regs yet. I'd love to but we have in fact not even seen a Mares/Dacor sales rep since before the merger. I do the reg repair for a small land locked shop and I have been left with the impression that small shops are not a priority for Mares.
Steve2281's approach is a little confrontational but his concerns are valid. In the US in particular, divers are still upset by what has occurred since Mares acquired Dacor and eliminated parts and service support for many of Dacor's designs - designs that were originally sold with a lifetime warranty. It has, to put it bluntly, created a major credibility problem for Mares in the US and has alienated a large percentage of the more experienced divers here.
Those same divers are going to be very careful about buying from Mares when companies like Scubapro and Aqualung have a history of providing parts support for their regs for decades rather than a few years and in fact still provide parts for regs that are 30 plus years old.
As a technical diver I can also understand the concern over making an already very equipment intensive sport even more equipment intensive. The HUD and BC advances are no doubt revolutionary, but it is a revolution that worries many divers as they see it as the potential basis for a further degeneration in the skill level of the average diver. For example BC's were themselves reovlutionary 35-40 years ago and opened the sport to many more divers who otherwise would not have had the fitness or swimming skills to dive safely - arguably a mixed blessing.
The limited edition marketing approach also comes off as being a little elitist, something that is often not well regarded in the US even if we, or the elected leaders we often unwisely elect, hypocritically act that way.
I am probably one of the most demanding people I know when it comes to regulator performance. I am also not, and never have been, a fan of plastic cased regs. Despite the marketing hype over "lightweight" and "small size" attributed to plastic regs, neither feature is relevent or important in the water where performance should eb the primary issue. I have always suspected that the real motivation of the industry toward plastic second stages was the potential to simplify production and drastically lower production costs (Dealer cost on plastic cases is about $5.00, so they are VERY inexpensive to produce).
On that note I applaud Mares for returning to a metal cased second stage design as it is absolutely a move in the right direction. Metal second stages do not have the dry mouth issues common to plastic cased second stages and as a frequent very cold water diver (bottom temps close to freezing) I can confirm that an all metal second stage is extremely desireable and freeze ups are virtually unheard of.
However I have not been able to use one of the new Mares regs yet. I'd love to but we have in fact not even seen a Mares/Dacor sales rep since before the merger. I do the reg repair for a small land locked shop and I have been left with the impression that small shops are not a priority for Mares.
Steve2281's approach is a little confrontational but his concerns are valid. In the US in particular, divers are still upset by what has occurred since Mares acquired Dacor and eliminated parts and service support for many of Dacor's designs - designs that were originally sold with a lifetime warranty. It has, to put it bluntly, created a major credibility problem for Mares in the US and has alienated a large percentage of the more experienced divers here.
Those same divers are going to be very careful about buying from Mares when companies like Scubapro and Aqualung have a history of providing parts support for their regs for decades rather than a few years and in fact still provide parts for regs that are 30 plus years old.
As a technical diver I can also understand the concern over making an already very equipment intensive sport even more equipment intensive. The HUD and BC advances are no doubt revolutionary, but it is a revolution that worries many divers as they see it as the potential basis for a further degeneration in the skill level of the average diver. For example BC's were themselves reovlutionary 35-40 years ago and opened the sport to many more divers who otherwise would not have had the fitness or swimming skills to dive safely - arguably a mixed blessing.
The limited edition marketing approach also comes off as being a little elitist, something that is often not well regarded in the US even if we, or the elected leaders we often unwisely elect, hypocritically act that way.
