Din or yoke?

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LOL, No, I don't care to support my claim. Read the above non-sense...

How about this line: "The average DIN orings sees less dives and is changed during annual service as opposed to the yoke rental tank one that rarely gets changed unless is fails or looks really bad."


I'm pretty sure that's a regional guess. Go to Cave Country where every single tank at every single dive shop is DIN. It's a section of the country where we dive year round. Really? Less dives? That's funny.

Head to the technical operators in Pompano or Key Largo where 70% of the tanks are DIN. Less Dives Really? That's just silly.
Guys, if 2000 cave divers are using DIN, it's not for any reason except that it's safer.
 
Yoke does have more sticking out parts which adds unnecessary risks while cave diving but this is basic forum and the assumption is that the OP is not talking about cave diving.
Buying a DIN reg and using it with an adapter does quite the opposite, more cumbersome and more o rings. If its once in blue moon its one thing but if most of the time then it does not make sense.
 
If you buy tanks be sure to get the kind that can be switched between DIN and Yoke. That makes it convenient for you no matter which you dive and also your dive buddy or mate or neighbor who borrows a tank no matter what they dive and also easier to sell if you ever do that.
 
Our tanks are all convertible.

The wife dives Yoke as she finds it easier, a larger % of her diving is traveling, and throughout the Pacific and SEA yoke is by far common, most tanks I have seen are non-convertible.
I dive DIN as I want maximum flexibility between my singles, doubles and stage tank setups. DIN is just neater. I use an adapter when traveling.

To what others have said before, in my experience in tropical dive hotspots, Yoke is prevalent for sure. I kind of agree with the comments about rental yoke tanks having crapping o-rings, you just have to be vigilant and check. I also carry a handful of yoke o-rings in my dive kit when traveling.
 
With all due respect to Superlyte, doesn't "all of Cave Country" plus technical dive operators still make up just a small fraction of dive operators and divers worldwide? One's choice should obviously depend on the type of diving they do and what's common where they do it, but I have to believe that the worldwide average dive is overwhelmingly on yoke. That may change in time, but right now, it seems to me that DIN is still relatively scarce outside of cave, tec and Europe.

But the availability of adapters should make the choice a no-brainer for anyone who wants to use DIN regs for whatever reason. As just about everyone has said: get DIN and an adapter.
 
I own a few sets of double tanks and some aluminum 40's. They all have 200 BAR convertible valves.
I rent aluminum 80's if I'm diving single tanks. The rental tanks are all yoke valves (known as Yolk on Scuba Board).

Because of the tanks I own, and the tanks I rent.

I use DIN regs for everything, except for my single tank regulator set, which has a Yoke/Yolk 1st stage. ;-)

I also have some DIN-to-Yoke/Yolk adapters, and some 200 BAR plugs laying around somewhere.

Cheers,
Mitch
 
If you are traveling in the US or Caribbean, yoke is the way to go, forget the adapters. They are a pain and fact is yoke is just as good a connector as DIN. Contrary to what most believe, the connection/seal on a DIN and yoke are the same one, just opposite sides of the connection. The yoke oring rest in a groove in the tank and seats on a flat in the reg, the DIN rest in a groove in the reg and seats on a flat in the tank, the actual mating system is the same, they are both face seals. The biggest advantage of the DIN and the reason they tend to blow more often is the O-ring in yoke rental tanks (and most personal tanks as well) is often times abused where as the DIN is most of the time better taken care of. The average DIN orings sees less dives and is changed during annual service as opposed to the yoke rental tank one that rarely gets changed unless is fails or looks really bad. The DIN connection is a little more secure mechanically but it is also a lot more prone to damage, a nick on the reg threads or a slight bump on the valve is enough to put the reg or tank out of commission until it goes back to the shop for some expensive repairs.
The yoke has been around since the dawn of diving and is still going strong for good reasons, it works and is reliable.

Not sure this is true - a yoke face is just as susceptible to damage as a DIN thread. When the yoke face is gouged it can it can leak across the o-ring. Yoke face damage usually occurs when the reg isn't seated correctly before tightening. And, I see tank o-rings fail fairly regularly at busy dive ops. You would need a pretty significant whack on a DIN thread to take the reg out of service, a nick can be resolved with a small file. And the DIN o-ring is always in your care.

In either case, it's your reg and in your care, and the repairs aren't that expensive. These parts can be replaced pretty easily.

For a typical recreational diver, yoke is much more universal at dive operations. You really can't go wrong with a yoke for that type of diving, and about any reg that comes in DIN also comes in yoke. If you're looking into to cave, wreck, or technical diving, now would be a good time to invest in a DIN.
 
LOL, No, I don't care to support my claim. Read the above non-sense...

How about this line: "The average DIN orings sees less dives and is changed during annual service as opposed to the yoke rental tank one that rarely gets changed unless is fails or looks really bad."


I'm pretty sure that's a regional guess. Go to Cave Country where every single tank at every single dive shop is DIN. It's a section of the country where we dive year round. Really? Less dives? That's funny.

Head to the technical operators in Pompano or Key Largo where 70% of the tanks are DIN. Less Dives Really? That's just silly.
Guys, if 2000 cave divers are using DIN, it's not for any reason except that it's safer.



Rather than just claim I am wrong, how about backing your statements up with fact, I willing to listen.. Do you really believe that tanks in cave country are dove more than tanks in a rec setting, obviously you have not seen the tank operation at a place like Buddy Dive.
But how much the TANK is dove is irrelevant, it's the use and abuse of the orings themselves are subjected too that we....well at least I am... discussing. A rental tank may see 100s of dives a year, it's unlikely any cavers reg will dive that much and if they do I would bet a good caver would service his regs if they were used that much, surely he/she would change the DIN oring at least.
It's very easy to just to poo poo someone based on what you believe but do not actually know. I spent the time to actually study how a DIN and a yoke seal work and to understand the mechanical connections was well. I am not relaying on "someone said" to base my argument on.

For cavers and others that use their regs in overhead environments DIN does have 2 major and one minor advantage. They are less likely to be rolled off and they will withstand a major strike without being knocked loose. That is why cavers use them. For rec divers those advantages are of little use since being rolled off and taking a major strike both require an overhead environment which a rec diver should not be exposed to. The minor advantage they are less prone to entanglement. While there is some truth to it, if you stop and look at all the entanglement hazards on the average tech diver....stage bottle/manifolds with 2 or 3 knobs/can lights and all the other stuff they carry, the additional entanglement hazard is real but small in the grand scheme of things.

Then there are the disadvantages of DIN valves that DIN users do not understand or at least refuse to acknowledge. DIN tank valves are relatively easy to destroy. Their side walls are thin, bump that would not hurt a yoke will crush a DIN to the point it is useless. Same goes for the reg itself, the threads are exposed, just dropping the reg on a hard object is plenty of force to damage the threads to where they will not engage the valve. At a minimum it will require some careful filing to restore the threads to a useful condition and if bad enough it will require replacement of the connection...and you need someone with a file that knows how to use it...not too likely at a dive site. Then there is the oring area of the DIN reg. It is exposed to damage from being dropped or having something dropped on it. A slight ding on the male part of the DIN near the Oring and the reg is headed back to the service tech. Compare that to the yoke, the tank valve has thicker walls and will take a lot more abuse before it is damaged beyond use. The critical surfaces on the reg are protected as well, the male sealing surface is surrounded by the yoke and reg body, the inboard threads are somewhat protected by the yoke and lastly the outboard threads are protected by a large plastic knob. Granted, they can be damaged with just the right blow but the critical surfaces of the yoke are much better protected making the likelihood of damage a lot less.

Don't get me wrong, DIN valves/regs, esp when treated with a lot of care are dependable and work well but the idea that they are somehow superior to yokes is simply not based in fact but rather a lack of understanding of the mechanical properties of both types. The idea that "cavers use them so they must be better" is a poor way to judge the actual value of a piece of dive gear.
 
Well said Herman, but lets not cloud the issue with facts....:coffee:
 
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