DIN v. Yoke! Fight!

[DitrasetMan]

I started this topic as a new thread from my other thread because I think it deserves more input. I am sure this has been discussed before.

As I said in the other forum, I am getting an Aqua Lung Legend LX and I am unsure if I should buy DIN or Yoke.

I will be doing (1) reef dives from the beaches of Florida, (2) charter dives in Florida off the coast, and (3) traveling to the Caribbean and doing charter dives. I will not be going anywhere else with my setup, and I will not be going deeper than 130 feet. DIN has the benefit of being more secure (using your own o-ring in your first stage) but the negative is that every time I rent a tank, or go on a charter I have to worry about the availability of a DIN tank or I have to lug around an adapter which I really don't want to do.

Considering my uses, what wold you do?

 

[Wolfie]

No fight and yes it has been discussed again and again. If you're primarily renting tanks in fl and surrounding just get yoke. Yeh DIN is better. But hey won't work with the tanks you have available.
most regs you can convert to DIN if you end up getting your own HP tanks. Then you can worry about the adapter.

 

[DitrasetMan]

They guy at the shop said that since I am getting such a high end reg, and my number one concern is ease of breathing and free flowing air, the DIN reg will flow easier (since it has a larger hole) than the yoke. true?

 

[diversteve]

95% + of all the tanks you'll encounter in the Caribbean are yoke.

Typically the only places you'll find DIN in the Caribbean are where they do technical diving.

On Grand Cayman for example - that's Divetech. However they won't let tanks off their property so having a DIN reg there seems less than optimal. The other 30 dive operators - to the best of my knowledge - normally have yoke tanks. I know of 4 places on Bonaire that rent DIN tanks - usually as doubles for tech diving. Roatan there's 1? - maybe 2-3 tech oriented operations that would have DIN tanks. And they won't have as many.

For general hard rental use, Yoke is preferred as it takes the beating that rental gear gets better than DIN. Once you bugger up the threads on a DIN valve it becomes a paperweight.

If you're going to a location with your DIN reg, it would be worth your while to call ahead to reserve/ensure they have DIN tanks available. I've never been anywhere where I had to call to see if they had yoke tanks available. You may want to buy a yoke adapter also if you decide to go DIN. It does add another failure point though.

Some of the newer tanks now have convertible valves - they're DIN with a screw-in yoke adapter. But they're not widely seen/used yet in areas I've been. I've been to 7 of the top 10 Caribbean dive locations. It's even hard to get DIN tanks on some of less populated Hawaiian islands.

If you plan to do mostly shore diving locally - or bring your tank on board local dive boats - then get DIN as it's a more reliable connection. IDK - but I would surmise that the FL dive boats that do provide tanks mostly provide yoke since that's what the majority of their user/tourist base is diving. In 30 years of diving I've seen exactly two yoke o-rings fail - both on the surface/boat before the dive.

 

[DitrasetMan]

Ok.. I think based on diversteve's (and others) comments, I am going to go with yoke. I do not want to call ahead to charters, tank rentals or anywhere in the Caribbean to ensure that they have DIN, and I do not wish to deal with any converter. Also, I am VERY rough on my gear and I do not want to worry about messing up the threads.

Has anyone heard anything on the flow being easier (or making more use of a higher end reg) because the hole is larger in DIN?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

They guy at the shop said that since I am getting such a high end reg, and my number one concern is ease of breathing and free flowing air, the DIN reg will flow easier (since it has a larger hole) than the yoke. true?

Never heard that before...If i were starting out.. I would buy DIN and use the adapter when traveling. I have 15 regs (and 20 tanks) all yoke and it would be a pain to switch. DIN is safer.

 

[Slmason.72]

They guy at the shop said that since I am getting such a high end reg, and my number one concern is ease of breathing and free flowing air, the DIN reg will flow easier (since it has a larger hole) than the yoke. true?

You should asK the guy at the shop which valves have a larger hole in them to go along with the bigger hole in his DIN. Really, check the schematic of a tank valve, then go back and laugh at that guy.

 

[eelnoraa]

most regs you can convert to DIN if you end up getting your own HP tanks. Then you can worry about the adapter.

NO need to conversion. Yoke will work on HP tank just fine.

---------- Post Merged at 07:36 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:35 PM ----------

They guy at the shop said that since I am getting such a high end reg, and my number one concern is ease of breathing and free flowing air, the DIN reg will flow easier (since it has a larger hole) than the yoke. true?

absolutely bullsh!t!

---------- Post Merged at 07:43 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:35 PM ----------

maybe you have read this before, but let me go again

I suggest get Yoke for your first reg. It is single tank setup, you will NOT(should NOT) be doing tech diving or overheard diving with single anyway, so advantage of DIN isn't there. Yoke will ensure you will be able to rent tank anywhere in the world. If later on, you decide to get into tech diving, just buy DIN first stages at that time. In the grand scheme of tech diving, the cost of buying one extra 1st stage is very minimal. If the cost if your concern, tech diving isn't for you. Then back to rec diving, Yoke is just as good.

 

[Wolfie]

It is really quite amazing the volume of air can go through a tiny hole when it's at 3000 psi. Even 500 Psi. A lot more than your whole dive class I'd suppose.

 

[halocline]

They guy at the shop said that since I am getting such a high end reg, and my number one concern is ease of breathing and free flowing air, the DIN reg will flow easier (since it has a larger hole) than the yoke. true?

Total B.S.

---------- Post Merged at 09:57 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:47 PM ----------

DIN is safer.

Unless you have some statistics to prove that diving with DIN is safer (meaning fewer injuries/deaths with DIN, adjusted for number of dives in each sample) then this statement is false. You might 'think' it's 'safer' because the type of connection is theoretically more secure, but that doesn't make it actually safer. There is one situation that I would agree DIN adds a credible possible safety factor, that's in severe entanglement hazard areas.

Certainly using a DIN reg with an adapter and a yoke tank negates any possible benefit of DIN.

I use DIN on my doubles, and I do certainly like the fact that A)I'm in charge of the o-ring, and B) the regs are nice and compact, and C) there is less of an entanglement hazard in very tight spots. But deliberately using DIN regs on yoke tanks makes no sense whatsoever.