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Mares BCD MRS Plus weight system may not be quite as reliable as intended and may well present serious potential danger.

I purchased a Mares Vector 1000 MRS Plus BCD just over a year ago, but only really started to use it during 2009. Whilst the MRS Plus integrated weight system may seem a good idea, particularly when you are stood upright on dry land, I have found the system to be unreliable in use.

The first time I lost an MRS Plus weight pouch, i put it down to bad luck. Fortunately, its loss posed no major risk as I was nearing the end of a dive and was only at 6M or so depth, when suddenly I became very buoyant and popped up to the surface, as you would expect when losing 5 kg of weight.

The second time it happened, was much more concerning. Had I not had weight spread arround (1.5 kg on each ankle, plus 2 kg in each BCD trim weigh pocket) the loss of a 5 kg pouch at 25M depth in Stoney Cove could have ended my dive with very serious consequences. Fortunately I was able to dump what air I had in my dry suit coupled with taking very shallow breaths and clinging on to what rocks I could find whilst attracting the attention of my buddy to signal to her what had happened.

Whilst I stayed put filling my BCD pockets with rocks, she went off to try and locate my lost weight pouch but returned a few minutes later having not been able to find it.

With a BCD filled with rocks, we were able to complete our dive and to make a controled ascent without further incident.

Whilst the MRS Plus weight pouch needs a good tug on the handle to relaease the weight pouch when standing up, when you are positioned in the horizontal and with 5kgs forcing against the retaining clip, you only need brush against the release handle with a downward arm movement (such as when performing a tuck to shift air from your dry suit boots - as hapened with me on both occasions), and the weight pouch is instantly released.

Recommendation:- If you have a Mares BCD with MRS Plus integrated weights, throw the pouches away (or sell them on Ebay - there will be plenty of bidders from divers that have lost their pouches) and invest in a pocket type weigt belt. Just as comfortable and a whole lot more dependable and safer.

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