Opinions on a Mares BCD

[SnorkelLA]

I own a Mares Dragon that I purchased brand new in 2009. Personally, I have had no problem with it and loved it until I switch to BP&W system (SS for doubles and Express Tech for single). Nowadays, the BCD sees water when my son comes diving with me and GF. My GF also had the She dives version and never had any problem with hers. Having said that, my son did lose one of the pockets two years ago on a local drift dive. The interesting fact is after I purchased a replacement pair, I happen to be diving with a friend of mine a year later (last year) and he told me about a weight pocket he had retrieved the previous weekend at that dive site. I jokingly told him that if it was a Mares black pocket with red handle containing a combinaison of soft and hard weights wrapped in a separate sleeve that he had probably found the one my son lost. Turned out to be the one.

My recommandation for the Dragon and She Dives version is not only to insert the pocket fully until you hear a click but to do so before putting the BCD on which some people don't resulting in difficulties in properly seating subject pocket(s).

Agreed


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[GrumpyOldGuy]

^^ Step back and look at the big picture for a minute....

You are saying the Mares MRS2 weight system is reliable under these conditions
- If you insert the weights before you don the BCD
- If you put the weights in the pocket in a specific order
- If you fasten the internal velcro
- If you don't stuff bulky items in the cargo pockets
- If you make sure you hear the snap (click)
- If you don't put too much weight in the pockets

I don't know about you, but that is just too many conditions to satisfy just to prevent accidental weight loss. Can you you it safely, sure. I still use mine on occasion.

Is it a system I would recommend to a friend. No way, there are too many other options that have extremely few restrictions.

 

[SnorkelLA]

Well obviously most of these are common sense, and put in place for a reason. So obviously if you simply disregard these systems (such as not hearing the click, not zipping the zip, not fastening the Velcro, not double checking the security) there is obviously an exponentially greater chance of failure. These things are put in as steps, if you don't follow the steps the system will fail. If you don't have common sense the system will fail.

So basically, the people that do not follow the steps, and do not have common sense in the setup, have a greater chance of failure


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[scubafanatic]

Well obviously most of these are common sense, and put in place for a reason. So obviously if you simply disregard these systems (such as not hearing the click, not zipping the zip, not fastening the Velcro, not double checking the security) there is obviously an exponentially greater chance of failure. These things are put in as steps, if you don't follow the steps the system will fail. If you don't have common sense the system will fail.

So basically, the people that do not follow the steps, and do not have common sense in the setup, have a greater chance of failure


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Mares BCD's are known for style over substance, and excessive Rube-Goldberg complexity, take a look at DiveRite or Halcyon to see how a proper weight system is designed.

 

[divad]

And exsquisitely, profoundly, ****ed up.

 

[RTee]

And exsquisitely, profoundly, ****ed up.

You know, if you dive long enough, you will realize that as some point you may end up finding quite a few weight pockets from integrated system and they will not have Mares written on them.

 

[divad]

Mares BCD's are known for style

If you say so.

 

[SnorkelLA]

Mares BCD's are known for style over substance, and excessive Rube-Goldberg complexity, take a look at DiveRite or Halcyon to see how a proper weight system is designed.

The MRS system works. I don't ask it to do anything else. Different weight systems are designed in different ways. The point of the Mares BCDs are being great BCDs, which they are. And as grumpyoldman said, I've found a few of just about every kind of wight system you can imagine. From belts, to ScubaPro, to Aeris. I've even found regular 6 pound leads that broke huge coral formations right off.

And yes, I have found Mares, finding belts and weight pockets isn't always a crazy rare occurrence.

This should tell you that there is no such thing as a foolproof system


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[GrumpyOldGuy]

SnorkelLA, exactly how much experience do you have with the Mares MRS2 weight system, besides the pool test you talked about. I think this would clear up if you are defending you new gear or have more substantial experience with it.

For my opinion, I based on on owning and use 3 Mares BCD's over a period of 6 years for both me and my 2 sons. Just on those BCDs we have 300+ dives and multiple issues learning to cope with their unique needs. We still use them on occasion, but with great care.

Since then I have purchased 2 zealge back inflates and a BCD/wing with 285 dives so far and 0 (ZERO) NONE NADA issues with weights. They have been essentially bullet proof and this is the standard I wish to maintain.

 

[SnorkelLA]

SnorkelLA, exactly how much experience do you have with the Mares MRS2 weight system, besides the pool test you talked about. I think this would clear up if you are defending you new gear or have more substantial experience with it.

For my opinion, I based on on owning and use 3 Mares BCD's over a period of 6 years for both me and my 2 sons. Just on those BCDs we have 300+ dives and multiple issues learning to cope with their unique needs. We still use them on occasion, but with great care.

Since then I have purchased 2 zealge back inflates and a BCD/wing with 285 dives so far and 0 (ZERO) NONE NADA issues with weights. They have been essentially bullet proof and this is the standard I wish to maintain.

Different things work for different people. My MRS system works for me, I've had no failures. I like it, and when it doesn't work for some people, and then they come on the Internet bashing the product, calling it unreliable, one has to ask: Well, did you zip the zipper? No? Well did you push it firmly till you heard a click, telling you the system was secure? Well, you're not sure? Did you go over the capacity? Maybe? Well, did you not fasten the Velcro that keeps the weights from moving around? No? Well, did you AT LEAST check the system? No? Well then what are you bashing the product for?

And I realize that you have more experience with the product than I do, and this post was not in any way directed at you, I promise.

But, I have dove it in fresh, salt, cold, and warm water. Once I even put it through a stress test that would have instantly told me if I got a bad unit. I put it through scenarios that it would probably never go through (being rocked around hard on the surface with weights at capacity, barrel rolling on the surface and underwater)

Everything worked fine, and that's what matters to me.


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