Pony Gauge

[ccarter]

Should I get a gauge for my pony? Yay or Nay?

[franksrq]

HAHAHAHA, nice pun. i dont know anything about ponies in diving, but i know that the animal kind say "nay."

beyond that observation.....i cant really answer your question.

[in_cavediver]

Get the gauge. You ought to know the contents pressure when diving. (quick glance will tell you where you are at). Numerous items can cause slow leaks and this would let you know. This is even more important if you rig your octo to come from the pony. (empy pony = no alternate to use/donate). Gauges are cheap.

[meesier42]

just get a mini gauge on mounted to the first stage. That way at least you know what you've got when you enter the water. As far as during the dive, I am aborting the dive anyway and if 19cf of air isn't enough just to surface safely then I screwed up a long time ago.

[mm_dm]

Originally Posted by in_cavediver

Get the gauge. You ought to know the contents pressure when diving. (quick glance will tell you where you are at). Numerous items can cause slow leaks and this would let you know. This is even more important if you rig your octo to come from the pony. (empy pony = no alternate to use/donate). Gauges are cheap.

I couldn't agree more. You need a guage on your pony, even if you never use it and it just comes along for the ride. Otherwise you'll always be diving with the assumption you have a redundant air source and somewhere along the line that could be put to a test. That would not be the time to find out you had a slow leak somewhere in the system.

[ccarter]

Originally Posted by in_cavediver

Get the gauge. You ought to know the contents pressure when diving. (quick glance will tell you where you are at). Numerous items can cause slow leaks and this would let you know. This is even more important if you rig your octo to come from the pony. (empy pony = no alternate to use/donate). Gauges are cheap.

I was leaning toward yes before posting but was thinking about a mini gauge.. now I'll probably get the real deal.

[CrzyJay456]

i say yes, but not those little button ones that thread straight to the reg, because they are hard to read. i'd say a guage on a short hose.

[texdiveguy]

On my rec 19cf pony I have a thimble gauge just screwed in the HP port of the first stage. Its all you need!

[ScaredSilly]

We used a thimble guage for many years - they got to be a pain to double check the pressure. Now we have a regular brass and glass on our deco/pony bottles. My thimble guage is used on my dry suit inflation bottle.

Get a small brass and glass SPG and mount it on a 6" hose.

[NightLife]

At my LDS they sell OMS mini gauges, but this gauge is bigger then the rest I have seen. Most mini 1st stage gauges I have seen are the size of a dime, this one is the size of a quarter. I use it and it is plenty big to see.