Got my TDI Adv. Nitrox / DP certs in December. Haven't done any tech dives since as I'm still in the process of acquiring a set of tech gear and losing all my money. Perdix and BP/W are on the way and now I'm looking at regulators for a manifolded twinset.
Not to be too broad . . . but are there any particular considerations I should take when looking at which model to buy? I'm aware certain brands will be more / less convenient to service, gotta get cold water regs, etc., so I'm referring to factors specific to doubles. For instance I trained on Tek 3's, which seemed fine to me then some other diver told me how much he hates the routing on those and I should just got a pair of DST's, etc.
I know certain things are obviously preference but if there's anything in particular I should be considerate of, I'd love to know.
So, scubaboard never fails to entertain, right?
I think one of the points being discussed here is din vs. yoke. I personally think din is the way to go. Here are my reasons:
- In my limited use of yoke configured tanks, the number of o-ring issues I've had (and seen) give me the impression that yoke is more susceptible to o-ring related issues. To be fair, I encounter yoke tanks only when on vacation and diving on a cattle boat.
- Reconfiguring a din 1st stage to yoke is as simple as getting an adapter. Most of the boats I've been on on vacation have them on hand and even then, they are relatively inexpensive so you could buy you own if you want. Using din first stages for vacation diving is trivial.
- On the other hand, if you have yoke first stages and you go to cave country, your choices for tank rentals shrink greatly. At least, that was the case about 10 years ago. As examples, Extreme Exposure and Zero Gravity (dive shops in cave country) rent all kinds of tanks with din valves. Same with any other dive shop you find in cave country. Tanks with din valves will be ubiquitous. It's entirely possible they also rent tanks with yoke valves or tanks with thermo valves (din style valve but there is a screw in insert that converts it to yoke) but again, your choices for these will be much less if they are even available at all.
- similarly, if you do get into technical diving in the ocean or any other open water site outside of your home area, tank rentals are again going to be a concern. As an example, I am in California. I did some tech diving in Vancouver Canada. The only doubles I could find for rent were only available in din. Also, if you make acquaintances with other tech divers and arrange to visit and dive with them (and borrow tanks from them), likely, those other tech divers will have din valves.
I personally think you have a lot more flexibility with din 1st stages. When it comes to "what is better", I personally think din 1st stages are better for the reasons that others have stated. Yoke 1st stages, if you look at pictures, you will see, have a knob that protrudes out the back. In open water, the risks this protrusion introduces are mostly negligible. But, the cave divers, and you have a couple of heavy hitters posting in this thread, will tell you that this protrusion adds all kinds of risk for absolutely no benefit in cave diving. I glanced at this thread twice now and honestly, while one person is vocal about yoke 1st stages, I didn't catch what the purported benefits are.
I hope that helps.