DIN vs YOKE (USA)?

[yn37605]

Din, but always carry adapter. Cancun had mix of both. Roatan you'd be lucky to find a din tank on the entire island

Was in Roatan last month and the dive operator we used had DIN tanks.

 

[gamon]

You're diving in a geographic location where yoke tanks are the norm. A DIN adapter for a yoke tank is much more cumbersome to dive with and carry around then the other way around, which only requires a small valve insert the size of a quarter and maybe a half inch thick.

Seems to me that the obvious choice would be to get yourself a first stage yoke regulator and swap the hoses. Carry a couple of adapters in your gear bag for the occasional times they'll be needed.

I have never seen a single example nor valid reason given that DIN regulators are somehow better than yoke, other than when someone says "yoke regulators are more prone to failure if they hit something" (without providing any proof).

 

[LFMarm]

I have never seen a single example nor valid reason given that DIN regulators are somehow better than yoke, other than when someone says "yoke regulators are more prone to failure if they hit something" (without providing any proof).

Wonder why DIN is the standard for all technical diving then...

 

[gamon]

Wonder why DIN is the standard for all technical diving then...

But you don't wonder. There aren't many, if any valid reasons for choosing DIN over yoke. Somebody important says it's the way to go and others line up without wondering why.

This sort of thing happens not only in scuba but in all walks of life. People do things a certain way because they were told to do them that way and they refuse to think outside the box they've voluntarily placed themselves within.

 

[Edward3c]

I carry both DIN and Yoke for my 1st stage, plus the wrench to change them.

I always make sure I can unscrew the unit before leaving home.

 

[broncobowsher]

DIN is becoming more and more common. Yoke is only a legacy product at this point.
Dating myself, but when I started, nobody knew of anything except yoke. And that was how it was for many years. Then this funny DIN thing showed up every once in a while. The first DIN regulators I saw came with yoke adapters included. Some people never even knew there regulator was DIN as the adaptor was installed at the shop and they never knew it was there.

I have DIN. I do have a yoke adapter. I have yet to dive with that adapter. Owned it since sometime in the 2010s. Check ahead of where I will be going. If it is unclear what valves are on tanks, I take it as a back up.

 

[lostsheep]

But you don't wonder. There aren't many, if any valid reasons for choosing DIN over yoke. Somebody important says it's the way to go and others line up without wondering why.

This sort of thing happens not only in scuba but in all walks of life. People do things a certain way because they were told to do them that way and they refuse to think outside the box they've voluntarily placed themselves within.

Someone pee in your Cheerios or what?

As a machinist and an ME-lite, I’ll take a threaded connection over a clamp any day of the week.

 

[gamon]

Yoke is only a legacy product at this point.

Well that's ok, I still log my dives using Windows 3.1 on an IBM PC Jr

 

[macado]

Consider another option. Whatever regulator you buy, get a the yoke conversion kit. You will have best of both worlds. I can't speak for all regulators but it's a quick and easy conversion if you are slightly mechanically inclined.

Otherwise I'm voting DIN + Yoke adapter. The yoke adapters work fine if you have to use them in a pinch. They are not my first preference because they do cause the first stage to stick out further which is annoying but tolerable.

Pro Valves (convertible DIN valves) have become very commonplace but sometimes the DIN insert gets seized / stuck inside. A lot of times people strip the insert by using the wrong size hex key which is even more annoying. This is literally the only time I've had to use my yoke adapter. Because it was either that or I don't go diving. I really don't stress about this.

Part of where you are diving in the US might dictate yoke vs DIN preference. If every single dive you're doing is off a cattle boat in places like Key Largo, St Croix, Cozumel, Bahamas or Belize then yoke might be a better option but even still they can usually all accommodate DIN. I realize you said primarily US based but I'm just giving some examples.

People turn this into a much bigger issue and debate than it actually is in real life. I have no qualms or hesitations with using yoke. I don't care about DIN vs Yoke battles. To me DIN is a superior connection but I simply don't care. I'm not going to sit here and debate the merits of the connection. I'm going diving. I'm sure this thread will quickly balloon into a 50 page saga of people debating the merits of both connections shortly.

 

[Nemrod]

Wonder why DIN is the standard for all technical diving then...

DIN does not have the entanglement hazard that a yoke knob presents. And DIN does not have a built in lever (the knob) that could sustain an impact and provide a bending moment to the assembly as does yoke. DIN has a captured O-ring to make the seal whereas the yoke interface is not fully captured (IMO) and can thus extrude if given a chance (asymmetric loading or damage of the sealing interface). DIN is also lighter and more compact and thus advantageous for travel (advantage eliminated by carrying an adapter).

Modern yoke assemblies have been engineered to deal with asymmetric loads by being substantially oversized compared to legacy yoke assemblies and are rated to the working pressures of scuba tanks. Yoke is more damage tolerant of the sealing faces and in assembly is somewhat self adjusting/centering. We have all seen divers (other divers?) whose yoke connection bubbled happily away not just for one dive but an entire trip with no further issue than the annoying stream of bubbles.

And then there is the adapters, most are not heavily built, they increase the leverage potential by pushing the first stage further from the sealing interface, they have two sealing surface, both DIN and yoke, and the knob is there to entangle and to bang into cave/wreck ceilings and become entangled in jump lines (breaking them) thus again, combining the worst of both and the good of neither.

Think about a cylinder in service at a Caribbean resort or dive shop. It gets filled often at an off site fill facility. It gets transported to the dock/boat/shop and then gets transported again into the boat or Jeep or truck or camel. Then all the reverse back to the fill facility, multiple opportunities to drop the cylinder or impact the valve. Almost all tanks I have seen in rental fleets have at least some damage to the valve post. And yet a yoke can often be installed and will seal. Whereas a DIN regulator may not thread in if the broach is deformed or corroded and even if it threads in the sealing surface is not symmetric and thus no longer a fully captured O-ring with now the possibility of extrusion. Now hidden deep inside the threaded broach rather than being clearly visible that something is amiss as with a yoke. Installing a yoke on a damaged valve would not damage the yoke assembly, it just would not seal viably. Running a DIN assembly into a deformed or corroded or otherwise damaged valve could damage the regulator DIN assembly but fortunately usually is apparent such would be the case.