questions about din versus yoke

[donnad]

hi, i'm considering asking the family for my upcoming birthday to give me $$ towards a regulator and am considering Zeagle Envoy Deluxe. i need to decide DIN or YOKE. so far my diving has been mexico and caribbean destinations. does the rest of the world use DIN? is it a bad thing to buy a yoke with a din convertor instead of din with yoke converter? i'm probably more likely to be encountering yoke unless that money tree in the back yard gets alot bigger ya know? tee hee hee. so if i get DIN and have to use yoke converter most of the time.....is that bad cause of having more connections for something to go wrong, and will it be big and i'll konk my head on it too easily?? thanks in advance for your help with my questions.

 

[breals]

Most of the dive destinations use a yoke connection. Unless you are getting into the technical realm of diving, stick with a yoke connection, you have less problems. They are both good safe connections on the tank. Using those adapters makes the reg stick out farther and you end up banging your head against it.

 

[SteFord]

Go with the DIN and get a low cost yoke adapter. You'll be very happy when you buy those HP steel tanks!

 

[serrada]

I cant recommend one way or the other for you. DIN is the Batamax of scuba (far superior system although yoke is almost just as reliable). I have two local dive shop within walking distance of me here in Fort Lauderdale, FL and both rent DIN tanks. Also, my favorite dive shop in Key West, FL rents DIN.

All in all DIN is best, but Yoke is not and has not been bad.

If you are diving places that don’t offer DIN tank you have to get an adapter to convert to yoke. Half of the reason you would have gone to DIN in the first place is the more reliable seal of the O-ring on the DIN. Now with the conversion, you have a DIN O-Ring and the Yoke O-ring. This is doubling your chances of O-ring failure. I have both and use my DIN more than my Yoke, will you? As stated before only you know what you need and as you can see above renting DIN is not so unusual in this part of the world as it used to be.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I recently went through the same dilemma. I'd recommend going with the DIN and get a DIN to Yoke adapter. That will allow you to use the same reg, unmodified, on either DIN or Yoke tanks. I would also highly recommend the Dive Rite DIN-to-Yoke adapter vs. the Apeks adapter. It is a good 1/2 in shorter. Doesn't sound like much, but when it's right behind your head it makes a big difference. You may also need to angle the tank slightly in your BCD so that the adapter and 1st stage don't point directly at the back of your head.

I recently bought my first tanks and I purchased them with the Thermo Pro DIN/K valve. These valves can be either DIN or Yoke (with an insert that is included). I use them as DIN tanks and I LOVE the security of screwing that reg into the tank. Great peace of mind. I know the Yoke is also a good connection and problems are very, very rare. But I really like the security of the fully captured o-ring and the screwed-down connection.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[spacemanspiff1974]

A din with a yolk connector means never having the wrong type of connection. That is what I have. Used both the din alone and with the connector. No problems here.

 

[theatis]

A din with a yolk connector means never having the wrong type of connection. That is what I have. Used both the din alone and with the connector. No problems here.

Same here, even though mine is an albumen connector <lame joke>!

 

[10X]

I recently bought 2 used HP 120s from my LDS and had to have my reg converted to DIN. The shop showed me how to remove the DIN and put the yoke back in for when I travel. I don't like the idea of doing this, even to the point of considering buying a whole separate reg setup only with a yoke instead.

If I understand this thread correctly, there is a converter that I can add so I won't have to make the changeover, is that correct?

Sorry if my ignorance is showing through but this is something I never had the need to check in to.

 

[AlexMDiver]

DIN stands for Deutsche Industrie Norm. Jawohl, German design and bullet proof.
DIN is rarely a problem for dive shops on trips (also carib in my experience since they get lots of tourists from Europe), and you can always get the adapter just in case you are diving really remotely. Likely is that you won't need it.
I have seen a yoke knocked off tanks during a water entry and hitting the yoke/valve on the boat (choppy seas). DIN was designed for the high pressure 300 bar tanks if I am well informed.
Good advice in the previous post is that Yoke has nearly as good a safety track as DIN, but with DIN you make sure. If you like engineering you will find DIN a nicer concept.

Good luck!

A.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I recently had this issue with a Zeagle Flathead VI. I wasn't sure if I wanted DIN or yoke, so I asked Larry at scubatoys about it when I ordered the reg. He explained that the spin-on DIN-to-Yoke adapter would make the first stage hit my head a lot because it adds an inch or so to how far the reg usually sticks out. He told me that for about the same as a spin-on adapter ($50) I could get an actual DIN fitting that would replace the yoke one on my reg, and just change them out with a big wrench. That way you're not 'patching' anything, it's all native connections.