My friend says Mares regulators aren't good - is this true?
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jaycanwk
Contributor
I've never had any problems with my Proton42 metals diving the Graet Lakes in april when the water is still only 1 or 2 degC and service and parts have never been a problem round my area anyway.
mrshadow75
Registered
Just to throw in my 2 cents.....
I also dive Mares, specifically the MR22 Abyss with the MRT-22 first stage. Never had a problem here in the cold lakes of Austria nor in the Andaman Sea of Thailand.
They breathe nice and easy. One thing thats important for me is that with the Mares I never get a dry mouth as with other regulators.....
Maybe not the most important thing, but nevertheless....
And about service costs.... my LDS owner said when asked about a service.... if it doesn´t make problems, don´t try to fix it.... and so my regulators still have to see their first service....
I also dive Mares, specifically the MR22 Abyss with the MRT-22 first stage. Never had a problem here in the cold lakes of Austria nor in the Andaman Sea of Thailand.
They breathe nice and easy. One thing thats important for me is that with the Mares I never get a dry mouth as with other regulators.....
Maybe not the most important thing, but nevertheless....
And about service costs.... my LDS owner said when asked about a service.... if it doesn´t make problems, don´t try to fix it.... and so my regulators still have to see their first service....
A lot has been said, but my 2 cents... I mainly dive Apeks, but have one Mares. It wasn't my first choice but I was in need of a deco reg and had the opportunity to get one with an enormous discount so I went for it. And has been very good. No problems at all and I have been diving under the ice.
Still hasn't gone for maintenance (someone has mentioned "yearly maintenance"... what is that?
), but at least here in Finland it's widely available and it's a brand that I see quite often, so I guess it can't be giving them many problems if they are still using it.
Of course these are all personal opinions, and for instance some are praising Poseidon, but from what I have seen, I wouldn't touch them (the xtream), seen many freeflowing...
Still hasn't gone for maintenance (someone has mentioned "yearly maintenance"... what is that?
), but at least here in Finland it's widely available and it's a brand that I see quite often, so I guess it can't be giving them many problems if they are still using it.Of course these are all personal opinions, and for instance some are praising Poseidon, but from what I have seen, I wouldn't touch them (the xtream), seen many freeflowing...
Mares are fine regulators. They perform well, parts are readily available and they are anything but finicky. So are a lot of regs available today! I don't think you can go wrong with any modern day reg. Even the off brands are amazing.
Diverspoint
Contributor
Mares may be fine, but not in Mexico. Getting parts here is a nightmare. Distributor here is only interested in supplying Walmart and the likes, but divers get not get any serviceparts apart from sets, if those. In Mexico, avoid Mares.
I service my own regs and like diaphragm 1st stages.
My 2nd choice of reg type is Mares after USDivers / Aqualung as the first stages are as essentially the same as the AL/USD's and take the same service parts (not surprising given the Mares, Voit USD history).
The only reason they are my second choice is the better (thicker) chrome finish on the USD's.
I do have a soft spot for MR12 II 2nd stages as the breathe great and the bypass tube makes a lovely whooshy noise ... the RAF roundel purge button helps too.
Some of the later second stages have their faults......the mesh cover of the Proton falls apart, the Viper is just a bad design and the plastic bodied 2nd's with bypass tubes (IV, Navy and Akros) are not really meant to have that part disassembled.
The Voltrex/Abyss 2nd's are as good as it gets minus some silly looking purge cover updates.
My 2nd choice of reg type is Mares after USDivers / Aqualung as the first stages are as essentially the same as the AL/USD's and take the same service parts (not surprising given the Mares, Voit USD history).
The only reason they are my second choice is the better (thicker) chrome finish on the USD's.
I do have a soft spot for MR12 II 2nd stages as the breathe great and the bypass tube makes a lovely whooshy noise ... the RAF roundel purge button helps too.
Some of the later second stages have their faults......the mesh cover of the Proton falls apart, the Viper is just a bad design and the plastic bodied 2nd's with bypass tubes (IV, Navy and Akros) are not really meant to have that part disassembled.
The Voltrex/Abyss 2nd's are as good as it gets minus some silly looking purge cover updates.
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