Downside is the cost of these - cheapest ones on the market right now are about $2500, but hopefully they will come down in price when all the pilots decide they want one....riiiight.

Yeah, sure--and then they'll put "airplane" on its label and double or triple the price!

My recent trip to Durango to visit my Sis certainly emphasizes the value of having O2 aboard. I filed IFR although it was generally clear most of the way both directions--probably got maybe half an hour or so in the clouds in almost 4 hours flight time down, no IMC on the way home. The MEA varies from 13,000' to 14,000' along the route, so I went on oxygen as I went through 10,000' both directions. In a total of 7.5 hours flight time, perhaps 6 of those hours on oxygen, I used less than 1/4 of my bottle. At 14,000' MSL, I set the needle valve on the system for 16,000', so I run it a little rich. I didn't bother to check my pulse-ox percentage, but from past experience doing that, setting it about 2000' higher than my actual altitude gives me about a 90% value. No headaches, clear thinking (well, clear as ever ), and certainly not inconvenient.

Cary

Thought I'd revive this thread from 2013. I've been using O2 for longer x-countries and night flights. I usually don't go high unless I can catch a tailwind, but when I do, the O2 makes all the difference and at night it is amazing how much brighter the lights get when it gets turned on. Of course it also helps to take my sun glasses off .

When I started this thread, I wasn't sure I'd use oxygen much and I really don't maybe 6 times a year or on average every other month, but well worth having along. I wouldn't have made a flight last week without it. Allowed me to get over the top of an airmet for mod turbulence below 14k. Picked up a nice tailwind, two. Two of us on board for 4.5 hours with a Skyox system and still had some left on the 15Cuft bottle. Shaved at least an hour off the flight, too.

I'm low and sightseeing the majority of the time, but getting up to altitude definitely has advantages when the winds are right so I'm in the "Useful" camp now.

O2's handy to have for treating the occasional case of morning-after syndrome too.

I was going to say... I wouldn't mind huffing some pure O2 at my desk right now.