mares Proton MR12?

[rebels14]

I am about to buy a new reg and i was jw what everyone thinks of the mares proton mr12?

 

[jptrealty]

There are much better choises out there.

Posidon, ScubaPro, Atomic, Apex

If your going to spend the money, buy something you will NEVER have to buy again, its much cheaper in the long run.

Good Luck

 

[Mlody11]

I bought the whole proton mr12 set (reg + octo) but I havent used it in open water yet. I tired out the reg is a pool dive and it breathes very easy and is extremely light weight. You can barely see the reg in your mouth either, but the bubbles interference when you are verticle is a bit on the higher side (not that you cant see through the bubbles). Otherwise no complaints...

I will try the reg out this week in a quarry in both warm water and below a thermocline (probably around 50-60 degrees) so I will tell you how that goes.

Edit After reading the post above:
I notice people say stay away and dont buy but many times they dont give a reason. If there are reasons you can support because of technical specs or personal experince please do so.

 

[Scottri]

The MR12 is a good design. It's been around for years and is very reliable and easy to service. It's not as good as the top of the line Atomic, Apeks or Scuba Pro stuff but it will work great for most recreational diving. I've service a lot of them and I really like it. The Proton is a decent 2nd stage that will serve you well.

 

[Greg Barlow]

I own Mares, AquaLung, and Apeks regs. I use Mares MR12s on my doubles for cave and technical diving. The MR12 is a robust, simple, design. It offers enough gas flow to meet the stringent US Navy Class A standards. It provides enough gas flow at 165' for two hard working divers. Need I say more?

The Proton is a simple, stable, design. I have serviced many of them over the last few years. I personally own two of them, both with the polymer body. In fact, a close friend of mine is an ice diving instructor. He use two V16 polymer Protons for his doubles rig while teaching the classes. To date, he has never had a freezing issue.

Sure, there are designs such as my Apeks DS4 that can offer more gas flow. Any decent balanced piston can beat the MR12...However, remember that these first stages can also only flow as much gas as the second stage can deliver. I've seen the actual results from ANSTI simulators, and much of it is beyond what is needed in the real world.

The MR12 is a great value, and is easily serviced around the world....

Greg Barlow
Former Science Editor for Scuba Diving Magazine

 

[mossym]

i'm biased, but that's because my buddies mr12 stopped giving him air at 90 ft lat week on a liveaboard. it was fine again when we got shallower. it breathed hard on him before when we got deep, but this time it really gave up.

i paid more for the v16 proton, and it breathed fine down to 120ft on a quite a few occasions, temps in low 50's. I have an atx50 now, and it breathes much better.

so i don't like mr12s..

 

[Greg Barlow]

i'm biased, but that's because my buddies mr12 stopped giving him air at 90 ft lat week on a liveaboard. it was fine again when we got shallower. it breathed hard on him before when we got deep, but this time it really gave up.

i paid more for the v16 proton, and it breathed fine down to 120ft on a quite a few occasions, temps in low 50's. I have an atx50 now, and it breathes much better.

so i don't like mr12s..

A few years back while at around 110' a dive buddy and I attempted to overbreathe a Mares MR12 Axis. For around two minutes we breathed as rapidly and deeply as feasible. The two of us simply couldn't overbreathe the reg. I would estimate that we were both breathing at a rate of 25 bpm and with deep inhalations/exhalations of at least 1.5-2.0 liters. Considering that a diver can only sustain an exertion level of that form for a few minutes, this is a pretty darn good testimony to this simple reg.

I love my Apeks, but the Mares (along with many, many other regs from reputable companies) will meet the needs of most of the world's dives and divers.

Your buddy's reg needs to be examined by a skilled technician. I set all of the Mares regs that I tune to an IP of 135 lbs. and a cracking effort of 1.25". I have yet to hear anyone tell me that one of the regs that I have serviced has displayed such poor breathing characteristics.

Greg Barlow

 

[mossym]

just came back from being serviced, and it's been through a service before, he's had more hassle with this reg than he should, i think he's going to change..

 

[scubafanatic]

just came back from being serviced, and it's been through a service before, he's had more hassle with this reg than he should, i think he's going to change..

....my suspect the problem has more to do with the service / repair skills of the dive shop than the reg itself......... I dive Mares MR 16 Voltrex / Mares Ruby and have been VERY impressed with their reliability / performance ....and I'm familiar with 'high - performance' regs, as I dive Poseidon Odins and an Atomic B1/T2 as well....so I know a quality reg when I see/ dive one......and although I haven't gone below 151 ft. deep, my Mares regs felt just as good as my 'high-performance' regs did at those depths.

Karl

 

[mossym]

not at all..my v16 proton always came back perfect, as have al other regs, it's definitely not the service...maybe he just got a lemon, but it's turned me off them..just tht reg, i like the rest of the mares line