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.

 

[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...

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Nemrod]

@Nemrod: Thank you for attempting to provide reasons that DIN is superior to yoke, and giving me the opportunity to scrutinize and debunk them.



Ah the old "you're going to snag (a suicide clip/retractor/yoke valve/split fin, etc) on a fishing line in a wreck and die!". I read about that happening once in a book about fatalities on the Andea Doria (and that guy was probably diving DIN). Perhaps some hard digging will find an example of a recreational diver losing their life due to a yoke valve entanglement but until then, that particular given reason is moot.



How many examples can you provide where a yoke valve impacted an object and caused a catastrophic life endangering failure? If you or anyone else can give... let's say, 3 examples, I'll post a retraction. Wait, never mind, after thinking about it, I'll settle for just one example.



Yes, yoke O-rings occasionally fail, requiring an inconvenient 2 minute replacement from a boat tool kit or save-a-dive tool box. Typically not during a dive although on rare occasion it can happen, although I don't ever recall reading about a serious incident as a result. Can you? Regardless, you get a half a point for providing an advantage of DIN valves.



I think the bubble stream is rather pretty, rather than annoying. Sort of like in a fish tank. Other than that, as you said, no further issues. As we all know, the amount of gas lost in those bubbles is, for all practical purposes, insignificant.



The adapter that converts a DIN valve to a yoke regulator are simple solid circular devices with O-rings. They're solid metal, you don't get more heavily built than that! Do they significantly push the sealing surface further away and increase the risk of failure? I don't know, from my experience my yoke regulator seals just fine to a yoke valve or a DIN valve with a yoke adapter, not seeing any major difference there.



Not clear what you're trying to say there. A DIN to yoke adapter sits inside the DIN valve and does not have a second knob. A tank so configured looks and functions no differently than a tank with a yoke valve. The extremely low risk of entanglement other than on dirty technical wrecks such as the Andrea Doria was addressed.



Choose another dive op.



This is an advantage of yoke vs DIN.

Is your real name Stockton Rush?

 

[Nemrod]

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.

That is exactly what Stockton Rush said before he became dead.



I tried to provide a balanced view. Both systems have pros and cons, you just do not agree with them regarding yoke. And yes, I have seen and had jump lines tangle in my yoke. Yes, I have seen and had failure due to impact of a yoke valve and yes such a thing if to occur in a deco or penetration dive with overhead could very easily result in someone becoming dead.

 

[Nemrod]

Are you saying I shouldn't go on that submersible trip I've got booked through Groupon?

Please do not, we would miss you .