Stop steering new divers in North America towards DIN regulators

[Reku]

I would just let them choose - din is everywhere nowadays.

din vs yoke is something you check before you fly out to some far away dive site anyway....I can't imagine just buying some dive trips and rolling with it and hoping for the best - that's insane...

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I would be willing to help you out and take the useless HOG/DIN 1st stage off your hands! I'm sure its just taking up space and a sad reminder of all your DIN/Yoke struggles.

Long gone,
But thank you for your concern anyway.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

DIN often seems to be proposed as a fine solution for problems most rec. divers don't have much of (e.g.: less likely to be knocked loose if struck, capable of higher pressure connections). I dive yoke and my personal tank is a 130 cf HP steel tank; the reg. seems to handle up close to 3,400 PSI fine. I don't do cave diving.

Is knocking a yoke connection loose during a swim through on a coral reef dive, for example, at all common? Is anyone aware of people getting tanks filled to pressures yoke reg.s can't handle, for standard recreational diving?

The one irritating lack-of-a-good-seal-issue I've run across is typified by diving the rental tanks in Bonaire; a small hissing indicative of a very small gas escape. But I haven't seen it prove to be much of a practical issue.

For a U.S. & Caribbean diver remaining in recreational limits, considering that diving DIN with a DIN-to-Yoke adapter seems to offer no evident advantage over Yoke, is there any significant practical advantage?

Richard.

If the yolk is tightened down correctly then it's next to impossible to knock it loose when pressurized. You can't even come close to loosening it by hand either.

 

[KenGordon]

I had my Hog D1 converted to yoke to avoid the hassles I was encountering with rental tanks. The adapter was annoying, and forgetting to bring it could mean not diving. Convertible valves with the removable insert are great, but as the OP pointed out, they are not without their own minor hassles. At dive resorts where many divers rent all their gear and they just load a bunch of air tanks on the boat I think they would be happy if everyone used yoke. I have been diving in Indonesia the past few weeks and saw very little use of DIN. I was glad I had my yoke reg. Heck, the DMs already had enough trouble understanding my BP/W and long-hose setup.

My doubles regs are of course DIN, but that's a different story. For recreational travel diving, I think yoke prevails.

I got back from Indonesia on Sunday. I dived with four different operators and was on boats with probably 30 other divers. DIN was everywhere. I did at least one dive where the guide was on a BP/W setup and was on a boat where two other divers (so four altogether) were on BPW/hog loop. This was all normal and unremarkable.

Even in Mexico I have had no trouble. I do not own a yoke adaptor. I have some very old Spiro yoke regs which I used to use in the pool but now have an Apeks DIN first stage.

Our club just bought 10 sets of DIN regs and have finally retired all the A clamp regs. Hopefully this will save the students the embaresment of putting the reg on backwards, the pain of trying to take off an over tightened clamp after a dive and the fun with not quite lining up the clamp before ham fistedly over tightening it and knocking off the chrome.

 

[Bob DBF]

LOL!!!!!
"Wally World dive gear"
LMAO!!
So a MK25/ A700 yolk is wally world (another term for WalMart),
But a MK25/A700 in DIN becomes "professional" gear?

I was not sent the memo either, perhaps I should get on the e-mail list.

On a side note, add yoke to to your spell check 'cause its corrections are driving me nuts.


Bob

 

[Storker]

add yoke to to your spell check 'cause its corrections are driving me nuts.

Seconded. And thirded.

 

[Got2Go]

Seconded. And thirded.

Fourthed?

 

[sheeper]

Most of my regs and tanks are DIN.

The problem is that, in North America, dive ops that cater to recreational divers, especially ones who cater to newer divers, have rental cylinders that are yoke. In my experience most of these are yoke only valves, not the "pro valve" style with the removable slug. I'll mention a few specifics I've run into without naming specific shops:

1) I dove with a large dive op in Key West, all rental cylinders were yoke only
2) I dove with another dive op in Key West, cylinders had pro valves, divemaster was willing to remove the slugs but had to go to the shop for a hex key to do it
3) I dove with a dive op in Islamorada, choice of AL80s with yoke only and air, or HP100s with DIN and 32%
4) I dove with the dive concession in Pennekamp State Park, cylinders were yoke only
5) My local dive club shares cylinders among members on a no-fee courtesy basis, but only one member has any DIN cylinders (besides me)
6) Of the three local (Minnesota) dive shops I've visited, none routinely rents cylinders with DIN valves

the shop and dive boat i work for on the Treasure Coast of Florida has a mix of AL80's with DIN (some...all nitrox), AL80's yoke (most, mix of air and nitrox) and a bunch of tanks with pro valves. We also have steel 80's, 100's and 117's with pro valves. customer need only ask.

 

[Oldbear]

So.....should I buy DIN or yoke? *runs* okay but seriously, I'm buying a reg in July. Super excited and not sure if it's silly to just go DIN and carry a conversion piece everywhere I go since as of right now, I only really dive while on vacation and dive ops all easily have yokes. No local diving or my own tanks until I figure out the dry suit thing. 45-55F...BRRR!!!! No plans to go into tech diving either..at least as of right now. Thanks.

I would go with a Yoke model 1st stage based on what you described above. This is what you will see most often diving in North America and the Caribbean. You do not have to mess with adapters or corroded plugs. If you remotely think that you might decide you want or need a DIN 1st stage AND you only want just one regulator you can pick a ScubaPro MK17, MK21 or MK25 1st stage. All these models can be converted from Yoke to DIN for around $100. If you like the idea of converting your 1st stage or having the ability to convert your 1st stage, buy the Scuba Pro in DIN first. It is cheaper to convert from DIN to Yoke than vise versa. I mentioned Scuba Pro Regs, because these I am familiar with their conversions. I am sure other manufactures allow their 1st stages to be converted too.

 

[Oldbear]

Personally I've always thought of DIN valves and regs as an upgrade that you get when you go from being a noob diver to a more seasoned diver that starts replacing your original Wally-World dive gear.

Hmm

I have friends who have 5000+ dives on Yoke valves, when do they stop being "Noob Divers" ?

I belong to a dive club with around 250 members. We average monthly 850 "Yoke-Tank dives" vs. 8 "Din-Tank dives". We have been doing this for 60+ years. If you do the math, 850 x 12 x 60 = 612,000 dives...that is a lot of dives. But if your logic holds credibility when we all switch or "upgrade" to DIN we will become "more seasoned divers".

It is NOT the equipment that makes a "seasoned" diver!!!