Mares or Scubapro? Or something else?

[ryt]

I am new to diving (only done 9 dives) and was purchasing equipment. My dive instructor used and recommended Mares gear. Then I went to go shopping around and was told by another dive shop that Mares was hard to service and not very good - they recommended Scubapro. I was told that it is best to not mix brands because it makes it easier for servicing and such so I wanted to buy the same bcd, regulator, and dive computer. Anyway, I was curious on your thoughts

btw. I am located in Hilo, HI so I will be diving in warm waters and plan on staying under 100ft at max.

 

[scubapro50]

my choice SCUBAPRO (what else) .... lately been put off by Mares and Dacor. Aqualung is another good choice if you are looking. Scubapro and Aqualung you can find service and parts for anywhere in the world ............ as for mixing brands don't worry about it ..... when I first started out I had a VOIT regulator, U.S. Divers air guage and vest, Scubapro wrist depth gauge and fins, a Dacor backpack, NEMROD mask and snorkel, and a $14 watch from K Mart.

 

[ABlue]

I am new to diving (only done 9 dives) and was purchasing equipment. My dive instructor used and recommended Mares gear. Then I went to go shopping around and was told by another dive shop that Mares was hard to service and not very good - they recommended Scubapro. I was told that it is best to not mix brands because it makes it easier for servicing and such so I wanted to buy the same bcd, regulator, and dive computer. Anyway, I was curious on your thoughts

I would choose item by item. I love Mares Fins but Scubapro has good regulators etc... I also love Aqualung I ha the Legend LX and am very pleased with it.
Wetsuits? Aqualung. Semi-dry? Scubapro BCD's? Seaquest/aqualung
Well this is my opinion.Good gear for medium price.

 

[jsbromley]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with mixing gear. I would bet that most divers use different equipment manufacturers. I use a Sherwood regulator, Zeagle BC, and Suunto dive computer.

There isn't anything wrong with Mares gear, the problem is that they allow sales over the internet, which upsets many of the LDSs, at least mine anyways.

The most important thing for yourself, would be to research and test as much equipment as possible and determine what your comfortable with and what you like.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The only mixing I would tend to stay away from would be adding an octo of one brand to a reg of another brand. Functionally there is no problem doing this, but unless the LDS handles both brands, servicing can get interesting.

Annual BC maintainence is not a problem as, with a few exceptions with odd sized corrogated hoses, most BC's and BC parts are fairly generic and the operational principles are the same. And even in the case of a BC with an odd sized hose that failed, you are usually able to swap the entire inflator hose assembly with another brand as the hole in the BC is normally the same diameter.

Scubapro and Aqualung are both companies with vast dealer networks, quality equipment, and a long history of providing parts and service support for their older regs (30 plus years in both cases). Dacor used to fall in the same category - until they were acquired by Mares.

I am personally avoiding Mares. Their acquisition of Dacor folowed by their decision to discontinue parts support for all of Dacor's older regs does not say much for their long term committment to customer service. I would not want to buy a Mares reg now and then discover in 5 years that Mares has decided to discontinue annual service parts for it.

As indicated above, Mares is also heavily into on-line sales. This tends to undercut their dealer network with the result that selling Mares is often not profitable for smaller dealers and they drop the Mares line. This makes servicing harder to find and in many areas it becomes a mail-order operation as well.