Din or yoke?

[dfx]

I'd wager that pretty much every dive shop in Germany and Austria and probably most if not all of Europe, and probably also in the surrounding areas, has DIN valves and regs. I know that when I was certified in Austria, DIN is all they had. It's all they taught us and it's all we knew. Just to add some more global perspective.

 

[Rich Keller]

I would still go with a yolk and just bring an insert for the DIN to change it to yolk valve. I just do not see DINs lasting for decades of use the way my yolks have.

 

[dfx]

I would still go with a yolk and just bring an insert for the DIN to change it to yolk valve. I just do not see DINs lasting for decades of use the way my yolks have.

Just make sure you separate the egg white and the shell from the yolk before putting the reg on.

 

[Rich Keller]

I keep the white and yolk together, just loss the shell then add 151 proof rum and drink it raw before I start to assemble my gear!

 

[eelnoraa]

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.

You read the post wrong. He said DIN o-rings sees less dives then Yoke o-rings. Not tanks, which makes sense. Yoke o-ring is on the tank, so every time a rental yoke tank goes out, it see a dive. A rental tank can be used by more than one person a day. And yoke o-ring only gets replace when necessary. DIN o-ring is on the reg, it definitely see less dives than rental tanks.

---------- Post added April 13th, 2013 at 11:33 AM ----------

For single tank setup, I will suggest Yoke. You don't/shouldn't do any deco or overhead with this setup, so the "more secured connection" advantage isnt a practical concern. Instead, the advantage of yoke is convinient. You can be sure you will get yoke rental anywhere, but not so for DIN. With yoke converter attached, all advantage of DIN goes down the drain. It is actually a worse setup with both native DIN or Yoke.

I think a blanket statement like DIN is better because cave tech divers use them is just not correct. Cave and tech also use double, stage bottle, argon, canister light, drysuit (even in warm water).... because for their application, these item make a differences. For rec diver, I won't say these are necessary better equipments.

 

[agilis]

I bring two first stages, a Mk5 yoke and a Mk10 DIN, and the small adjustable spanner to attach the hp spg, both 2nd stages and the bc hose, to either. The Mk10 is all I need most places. Not much extra space, as much as an adaptor. A few spare o rings, and any fan of vintage SP regs is good to go.

 

[viakovlev]

Learned the hard way, yoke seat allows a bit of play and the reg moves a bit. This applies shear force on the O-ring. If the seat of the O-ring has sharp edges, the setup works like scissors and cuts into the o-ring like a bagel. You will be surprised how much bubbles a small nick in o-ring can produce. Quite a show uderwater. DIN SHOULD BECOME STANDARD!!!!!!! There is no mechanical reason yoke stays in use, plain inertia.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Actually, the OP just asked which was better PERIOD. He didn't say for which type of diving. I'm going to assume that he wanted to know which was better from a safety standpoint, as that is the most important thing to consider when underwater.

I think it's just as reasonable to believe that the "better" valve is the one that the majority of divers around the world (and this even takes into account Europe, the home of DIN) find on the tanks they rent (and I do believe most dives occur on rented tanks).

DIN valves are probably better from an engineering point of view, as you and others have pointed out, and that's an equally valid interpretation of "better." But a better engineered product isn't always better for everyone in every instance. A BMW is probably better engineered than my Toyota, but there might be reasons why the Toyota could be deemed better, such as lower service costs, or if you're driving around in less developed countries, you'll find that every place can fix an older Toyota. This is not a great analogy, and I don't think there's anything over-engineered about a DIN valve, but my point is that "better" can mean different things. If one randomly picks a dive operator somewhere in the world, they are far more likely to rent tanks with yoke than DIN valves.

Using an adapter is a slight inconvenience but takes care of the "problem" entirely. Still, for someone who is all about convenience and has no interest in tec, cave, or cold water, a yoke reg is better.

 

[RDRINK25]

Wow I didn't realize what I had started. I will not be in any Cave whatsoever and have no intention too do so. This will be for rec use only in the US and Caribbean. Of course safety is a concern but if all the time I am diving I have to use an adapter then what is the point of having a DIN? Thx for the responses I learned a whole lot I never knew about regs.

 

[The Chairman]

Of course safety is a concern but if all the time I am diving I have to use an adapter then what is the point of having a DIN?

I dive DIN regulators, travel all over the place for diving using their tanks, and rarely, very rarely do I ever have to use my DIN to yoke adapter. Not only do I avoid snags but I rarely have dive op monkeys screw around with my gear. They avoid anything they don't understand and I like that!

Like many urban legends, the one that you just can't find DIN around the world is quaint and it's probably put out there by someone who dives a yoke in order to justify their choice. The yoke's design takes it up to 200 bar (3000 PSI). The DIN (Deutsche Industrie Norm) is designed to accept up to 300 bar (4500 PSI). There are a lot of tanks that have a service rating of 3500 PSI which in fact exceeds the yoke's design. Lots of people exceed the design with only a lot of prematurely failed o-rings to show for it. Me? I don't like to exceed design specs, so I dive a DIN.