[aclivity]

It depends on your point of view if they are a rip off or not - a lot of dive kit appears to be overpriced for what it is, but then the fact that a failure of the item could cause severe problems supports over-engineering it.

In the case of the pony clamp I reckon it could be quite a loss (both fiscally and in terms of redundant bailout) if it broke during a dive. If it broke when you were using the pony, it could be fatal.

That said, a lot of people seem to move through the pony stage into the twinset stage so a lot of pony clamps come up for sale with only a few dives on them. Like Fiona's. So buy Fiona's and save yourself some money! (or look on eBay for Pony Clamps!)