Din or Yoke Set Up - Which to go for?

[gcarter]

Seems pretty common here in Ontario - we have so many tech divers with DIN

 

[kwinter]

Now here's a twist. I recently lost the O ring out of my DIN reg (fell out somewhere between transport and dives) and did not have a spare. The people I was diving with had spare yoke O rings but not DIN (because they all dove Yoke) so I was almost SOL. Fortunately, while I did not have a spare DIN O ring, I had a spare reg set on my pony

Then you made 2 mistakes and can not blame anyone else. 1) You did not keep a DIN cap on your regulator. This prevents the loss of the o-ring. And 2) You did not carry a necessary spare.

 

[PfcAJ]

gotta use DIN caps. Protects the threads (#1) and prevents oring loss (#2).

 

[WarrenZ]

Regarding Din and caps/plugs Definatally use them but you should be using a dust cap on your yoke regs as well especially when you wash them separate of a tank.

I like the metal gas saver din plugs from dive gear express for my tanks I would get the golem gear purge ones if I was using them on a deco tank though.

I had someone decide to be helpful and crack the valves for me with the plugs in once the oring in the tank plug kept the cylinder from venting but I had to remove them under pressure with a wrench it made my butt pucker when they finally hissed. I wouldnt want to try that on a high O2 concentration gas.

 

[Belzelbub]

If you already have tanks (Faber) with Yoke fittings, I presume its quite easy to change these over to DIN?.

Yes. Converting a tank is quite easy. Worst case you'll need to get a DIN or combo valve. I just did this with my aluminum tanks. Dropped them off for VIP & fill, and had them change over to DIN. They did that for no charge. I said worst case. Depending on the tank, it may already have a convertible valve. This is a DIN with fewer threads, and an insert. If you have this type of valve, just get the appropriate hex key and screw the insert out. The tank will now accept DIN.

If your valve looks like this, then you have a convertible valve.

On the other hand, if your valve looks like this, then you have a Yoke valve, and would need to swap out the valve itself to convert to DIN. Note the shape and location of the air-hole as compared to the convertible. The convertible has what appears to be a larger air hole in the center that is hex shaped. The Yoke valve does not.

For what it's worth, I switched over to DIN about 10 years ago when I bought by Zeagle DS-V. At the time, I only had Yoke tanks, but I figured I would be getting more tanks. I liked the DIN connection better, and also liked that if needed, I could screw on the Yoke adapter in 30 seconds without tools. It is true that the DIN valve with Yoke adapter is longer than a standard Yoke. I have not had an issue with banging my head on it. It's also true that the Yoke adapter doubles (2 vs 1) the number of O-rings used in the tank to reg connection when compared to a Yoke reg to Yoke tank. However, when compared to a Yoke reg on a convertible valve, there is no difference. Both use 2.

If I were buying a new reg today, I'd get a DIN with the adapter. On most days, diving my own tanks, the adapter would stay in my reg bag. When needed, it'll be there. A lot of new tanks appear to be sold with convertible valves. So, it's only a matter of time before the adapter on the reg is not needed.

 

[DaleC]

Then you made 2 mistakes and can not blame anyone else. 1) You did not keep a DIN cap on your regulator. This prevents the loss of the o-ring. And 2) You did not carry a necessary spare.

Congratulations Captain Obvious. I don't recall trying to blame anyone but thank goodness you were here to put me in my place. I like to share the truth good or bad about what I do so others can learn from (or laugh at) it.

But anyway, I do have, and use, a cap. I imagine the O ring fell out when I was disassembling the rig as it is only friction fitted into the end of the first stage.

 

[mockney]

Yes. Converting a tank is quite easy.

If your valve looks like this, then you have a convertible valve.

Thanks Brian, for your post and pictures. That's great because it means my tank is already set up to accept both yoke and DIN. Definitely coming round to the idea that my new set up should be DIN. I was in my local dive shop yesterday and they had the yoke converter, so its seems the most sensible choice. They also said DIN would be their choice.

 

[kwinter]

Congratulations Captain Obvious. I don't recall trying to blame anyone but thank goodness you were here to put me in my place. I like to share the truth good or bad about what I do so others can learn from (or laugh at) it.

But anyway, I do have, and use, a cap. I imagine the O ring fell out when I was disassembling the rig as it is only friction fitted into the end of the first stage.

Did you learn something from your mistakes? Then my work here is done.
- Captain Obvious -

 

[v101]

Hello and good morning,

I am very close to purchasing a new set of regs, I have my own gear but bought some of it second hand just to check I enjoyed the sport before spending vast amounts of cash on brand new stuff and then being the guy selling it all on E-bay as "hardly used" .

I want to purchase the Scubapro MK25 first stage and the A700 second. They do a great black edition which I like the look of.

My question is do I buy the Yoke or DIN set up. I know this is a personal choice and DIN is more toward tech diving but what I don't want is to buy Yoke and then find I have to move to DIN at a later stage of my diving hobby.

My future plans are to hopefully achieve my master scuba certification and afterwards just enjoy diving in general, nothing too technical but I may be tempted at a future stage to try my hand at some tech diving, there are a few sites out of reach of recreational diving so I may feel the urge to train to go deeper.

So based on my ambition above should I just go for DIN now and in effect future proof my kit' or get the standard Yoke set up.

I think yoke it better because my tank is yoke, plus all dive shops use yoke etc ect (ease of use). But I am keen to hear your opinions.

Many Thanks

I prefer DIN and everything i own except 1 regulator set is DIN, w/ that said if your tanks you own now has a YOKE valve, it can be easily converted to DIN, or you can get a convertible DIN/yoke valve, which you could use your used YOKE regulator and easily then use your DIN regulator. the cost to convert your tank(s) to DIN valves, isn't that much. You can also buy a DIN to YOKE adapter, but you can't get an adapter to go from YOKE to DIN

I like / prefer the secure attachement of DIN as was already indicated by a # of people here.

I was in your exact same shoes several years ago, wondering what type of regulators to get/ tank valves, etc. I am very glad i went w/ DIN as opposed to yoke;

 

[Steve_C]

I always carry a din adapter in my regulator bag. Well after washing and cleaning gear after last dive it did not get put in regulator bag as I discovered a couple night ago just before my first grand cayman dive. Resigned to having to rent a reg if needed I showed up and found out that that had yoke adapters available at not cost. Have added the word adapter after reg on my equipment list. Also nice that some places have adpaters.