First impressions of the Mares Magellan
When I first set up the Mares Magellan HD, it felt like a proper BCD, not a flimsy travel wing. It’s still light and compact, but the back shield and padding give it a solid, supportive feel.
The back shield is narrower at the shoulders and wider lower on the back across the size range. That shape makes it sit close to your back and follow your body instead of feeling like a flat plate. Together with the mesh-padded shoulder straps, it feels comfortable and stable as soon as you put it on.
In the water, the back-inflate design is obvious. There’s no air in the front, so your chest stays open and you avoid the “squeeze” you get with many jacket-style BCDs. It feels more like a clean harness with a wing behind you, which many divers prefer for better trim and a less bulky feel.
Mares Magellan BCD trim in the water
The back-inflate Magellan HD features a large wing with bungees on each side to keep the bladder snug when it’s not fully inflated. That makes the BCD feel compact and reduces that “taco” effect where the wing wraps around the tank and flaps around you.
Most of the lift is low and to the sides, with less bubbling up near the shoulders, which helps keep you reasonably flat in the water. On actual dives, I found it easy to hold a horizontal position once I was relaxed and not over-inflated. Compared to many jacket BCDs, this design clearly encourages better body position for normal recreational depths.
The caveat is trim pocket placement. The HD’s rear trim weights live between the wing and the back shield, fairly low on your torso. With a lot of weight in the front pockets plus that low trim weight, there’s a tendency to sit slightly legs-down, face-up, especially if you like lots of air in the wing at the surface. Higher trim pockets on the tank band would have made fine-tuning much easier.
Comfort, fit & harness
On your shoulders, the Magellan HD feels like a padded harness. The inside of the straps uses mesh over soft padding so it drains quickly and doesn’t feel spongy when wet. That mesh plus the curved shape of the straps makes the rig stay in place even with a heavy 8 mm semi-dry and plenty of lead.
The shoulder buckles are standard quick-release clips with a swivel attachment above them. That swivel lets the straps align with your torso angle, rather than twisting the buckle itself, and it makes the BCD easier to don and doff for different body shapes.
The chest strap does its job but can’t move up and down, only in and out, so some divers with very long or short torsos may wish it sat a bit differently.
The plastic back shield is a big part of the comfort story. It’s narrow at the top and wider down low, so your upper back feels free while your lumbar area feels supported. There’s a carry handle hidden between the padding and the wing, which is easy to grab once you know where it is, even if it’s not the most obvious handle at first glance.
Storage, D-rings & accessory mounts
On the right side, under the weight pocket, Mares added a smart roll-down cargo pocket. When you don’t need it, it stays rolled up and secured with Velcro so it doesn’t flap around. When you tug it open, you get a decent-sized, self-draining pocket that’s perfect for temporary stuff like trash you pick up during the dive or a spare mask.
For fixed gear, I wouldn’t rely on this pocket as my main storage. You’re better off clipping a DSMB, spool, and primary light to the large pre-bent D-rings or using wetsuit pockets. The roll-down design makes it a great “catchall,” but not a perfect home for bulky tools you want to access on every dive.
Hardware is a strong point. You get big, pre-bent metal D-rings on both shoulders that are easy to find with gloves, plus a smaller D-ring on the right below the chest strap and one one each weight pockets.
The HD also adds knife grommets on the left weight pocket area and elastic octopus retainers on the right. And that line-cutter sleeve on the right shoulder is a clever touch that keeps your line cutter accessible but out of the way.
Buoyancy control & dump valves
The Magellan HD uses Mares’ standard inflator with a bright red inflate button and a clearly shaped deflate/oral inflate button. The inflator is compact, easy to find by feel, and the tactile difference between buttons is clear, which is helpful for newer divers. If you give the corrugated hose a good pull, you also activate a pull-dump at the top.
You also have two classic dump valves: one on the lower right and one on the right shoulder. That gives you options whether you’re head-up, horizontal, or slightly head-down. In practice, I could fine-tune my buoyancy with small taps and never felt like I was fighting a stuck valve or sluggish inflation.
With around 41 pounds of lift, there’s plenty of buoyancy even when you load up a thick suit and a steel tank. For typical single-tank recreational diving, that’s more lift than you need, which adds a comfortable margin if you end up carrying a camera or extra gear later.
Travel & packability
The Magellan BCD weighs a little over 5 pounds (2.5 kg) in S/M, and 7 pounds (3.2 kg) for the XL size we tested. So the HD adds structure and padding but still stays in the “carry-on friendly” weight class.
The plastic back shield on the HD folds inward, and the wing compresses flat once you squeeze out the air and clip the straps in. I’d happily travel with this as my main BCD on a warm-water trip, and I like that it doesn’t feel like a disposable ultra-minimal rig when you use it in cooler water. Compared to super-minimal travel wings, the Magellan HD packs a bit bigger, but it gives you more support and comfort in return.
If you’re the kind of diver who wants one BCD to cover both travel and local diving with thicker suits, the Magellan HD fits that “one-rig” idea well.
Price/Quality Ratio
In the US, the standard Magellan usually sits in the mid-$400 range, while the Magellan HD comes in closer to the high-$500s or low-$600s. That puts it right in the “serious recreational gear” bracket, not entry-level but not premium-luxury either.
For that price you get travel weight, strong lift, good materials, and a thoughtful feature set (line-cutter sleeve, roll-down pocket, real integrated weights, trim options). You’re paying a bit more than for the most basic travel BCDs, but you’re getting more structure, padding, and lift, which will matter if you dive more than once a year.
Against other back-inflate travel BCDs, the Magellan HD holds its own on comfort and lift, and only really falls behind on perfect trim adjustment out of the box. If you’re willing to invest a little more in trim pockets or smart weight placement, the overall value is strong.
Do we recommend the Mares Magellan HD?
Yes, we do recommend the Mares Magellan HD for recreational divers who want a light, back-inflate BCD that still feels solid and can handle thicker suits and more lead than a “bare-bones” travel wing. It’s a comfortable, easy-to-use rig with a very usable feature set and enough lift to grow with you.
It’s especially good if you like a clean chest, integrated weights, and the idea of one BCD that can travel well but doesn’t feel out of place back home. If you’re extremely picky about trim, or planning to move into tech or twinsets, you might prefer a modular backplate and wing instead.
For most single-tank recreational divers, though, the Mares Magellan HD is a very capable, travel-ready back-inflate BCD with just one main compromise: you’ll probably want to fine-tune your trim with how and where you place your weights.
Specs & Features
| Inflation | Back |
|---|---|
| Weight | S/M about 5 lbs. (2 kg) |
| Lift capacity | 38–41 lbs (17–19 kg); varies by size |
| Clips/D-rings | 5 stainless steel D-rings |
| Adjustment points | Adjustable shoulder straps with swivel buckles; chest strap |
| Extras | Right-shoulder line-cutter sleeve; octopus holder on right weight pocket |
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