Mini Pony Bottle Pressure Gauges

djhall · Dec 18, 2002

According to the instructor at my LDS, this style of mini pressure gauge is unreliable and prone to breakage/error, though he has not actually used one himself. Does anyone have any experience to confirm or deny this allegation?

Typical Gauge Link

joens · Dec 18, 2002

I used to think they were a good idea but not any more . they are hard to read especially after they get a little old and scratched up . if you dont want a full size guage with a long hose try a guage on a 6" hose .
joens

Padipro · Dec 18, 2002

I've been using one on my 13 cuft pony bottle for several years and have never had one brake.

As far as the realibility of the indication goes, it's so small that it's nearly impossible to get an exact reading off it like you would hope to get from a full size SPG. I only use it as a referance when I turn the bottle on before the dive to make sure there's something in it and since my bottle is back mounted I wouldn't be able to read it durning the dive even if I wanted to. The bottle is for emergency use only and all I would use it for would be to get me to my buddy if he wasn't close enough for me to make it on what breath I had left and then get his alternate to make an ascent.

IMHO they work well enough to be used for their intended purpose, referance only.

Scott

Uncle Pug · Dec 18, 2002

we use them on our argon bottle regulators... but as has already been said they are very hard to read. I've never had one break.

WreckWriter · Dec 18, 2002

Unless you have hellacious vision, they're unreadable. Useless in my opinion. I had a couple but found them unusable. I'll sell them to you

Tom

SimonN · Dec 18, 2002

I actually like the mini-gauges for deco bottles. Less things to go wrong and they are nicely out of the way, well about as out of the way as you can get.

There are two types on the market the Genesis/Oceanic/Probably-someother-brand-as-well and the Apeks.

I have an oceanic branded one. My first one died within three months. This was replaced and has been going strong for around the 100 dives it has been used on over two years.

General consensus amongst my diving peers is that the Apeks is slightly better because we have never heard of one just breaking and it is slightly easier to read.

And, you can check how much gas you have got. Granted, not as accurately as a full sized gauge. In the big scheme of things this matters not on a deco bottle because if you cannot breathe through the reg, no matter what the cause, you have to go to whatever strategy you had as a backup anyway.

Go on, tell me I'm wrong! Dare you! ;o)

Padipro · Dec 18, 2002

SimonN once bubbled...
In the big scheme of things this matters not on a deco bottle because if you cannot breathe through the reg, no matter what the cause, you have to go to whatever strategy you had as a backup anyway.

Go on, tell me I'm wrong! Dare you! ;o)

LOL...Oh you're going to catch hell for that one SimonN.

SimonN · Dec 19, 2002

Maybe ;o)

But realistically, what are you going to do if you notice that you have less deco gas than expected?

Hmmm...

Breathe it until it is empty and go to another gas?
Breathe it until it is empty and buddy breathe?

How does this differ to suddenly having no gas (which doesn't really happen anyway, you have a good couple of minutes of a reg being hard to breathe from).

The crux of it is, the only reason you look at a gauge is to know if you have to call the dive.

If you are on deco, you can't call a dive as such as you are already ascending.

Padipro · Dec 19, 2002

True, very true.

Uncle Pug · Dec 19, 2002

Simon do you leave your deco regulator charged but with the valve shut off?

Mini Pony Bottle Pressure Gauges

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