• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Mares Bandit 75cm/95cm? Good spec. but very disappointing execution :(

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

Mr. X

Forum Mentor
Staff member
Forum Mentor
Jul 14, 2005
8,436
1,736
418
I just came across the Mares Bandit which seems to have an excellent feature set/spec. Similar to more expensive railguns. It could make an excellent entry-level priced speargun (well under $100 in some places - don't over pay for it) with intermediate and advanced spearing capabilities. But I recall there were some quality issues with an earlier Mares speargun that I liked the look of, a few years back (barrel flex?), so: has anyone used this speargun? Is it as good as it appears to me? (If it is, I will likely start recommending it, rather than my usual fallbacks! )

2 of the size options look particularly good for UK waters: 75cm (normal use) & 95cm (clearer waters)


There is a fancier, more expensive Viper model, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mares-Ar...or-Spearfishing-Viper-Pro-DS-4UK/132729555504 but the enhanced spec. is unnecessary for the UK (e.g. the second band and reel) but might be useful for those spearing elsewhere - and you don't have to fit the second band/reel.
 
Last edited:
A friend of mine bought the bandit 110 model. He was having issues loading the shaft at times and also when pulling the trigger, it would jam. I took the mech out of the handle and noticed that the sear was about 4mm smaller than the mech housing + the small rod which holds the trigger sear in place was smaller than the actual hole on the sear (i hope I am explaining myself properly) this caused the sear to twist and jam sometimes. I opened it up and put two ss washers on either end to stop the twisting and this helped a bit. Another issue he had with the gun was the shaft. The gun comes with a single 16mm band which is cut very long (the muzzle has the option to allow another rubber. He placed another 14 rubber on the gun and while diving, the spear snapped at the notch. Luckily no one was hurt. I dug through some old chats and found the pic of the mech after I put the ss washers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Reactions: Mr. X
So, basically crap then. Pity the spec. looked promising. Mares don't seem to have mastered speargun manufacture yet
 
Well that was my interaction with the gun. I’m not sure if anyone else had a better experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Looks like some surface rust in the mech, too I've changed the title of this thread, lest it encourage someone to buy one.
 
Reactions: Nicholas1986

I wish I had seen this before I bought my 110 bandit. I have the exact same issue. How did you access the trigger mechanism to repair?
 
Mpatersonz said:
I wish I had seen this before I bought my 110 bandit. I have the exact same issue. How did you access the trigger mechanism to repair?
Click to expand...

There were some stainless steel pins that you need to remove and the entire trigger mech comes out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…