Question Yoke Regulator with Wreck Diving

[tursiops]

I've been in the skinniest of places come out covered in smatterings of rust and oil scratched up tanks
and rounded yoke knobs

Oh crap I forgot about The Curmud

You just enjoy living on the edge!

 

[JoeTPhilly]

Get DIN. Continuing to buy yoke just keeps it around. Buy an adapter for the places that don't have pro-valves on their tanks.

 

[halocline]

But would you rathr bump the overhead with a yoke or a DIN reg? Would you rather scrap up against some sharp, rusty metal with a thin wing or with one covered with heavy, rip-resistant material?

I think we're all assuming he's not actually doing technical wreck penetration, like in tight spots with hazardous materials around. If he is doing that without the requisite training (the regulator question implies he has no technical training) then yoke vs DIN is the least of his problems.

 

[jeffsky29]

Wow, I have learned DIN is much safer than Yoke, but I did not know diving with Yoke was frowned upon when diving wrecks. I was diving wrecks in the northeast since the 80’s, but 4 years ago I moved to Florida and wanted to get my wreck diver cert, and the instructor never mentioned I should switch to DIN. And, before the course I wanted to upgrade to a Shearwater AI computer, but my first stage did not have an extra high pressure port for the transmitter, so I purchased a new Apex XTX50 Yoke first stage and 2nd stage. Had he told me DIN was the only way to go for wreck diving, this would have been the time to buy DIN! Bummer!

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

I think the best question to ask is not about what you are currently doing but what types of dives do you see yourself doing in the future. If you see yourself wanting to real penetration or if there is even the slightest urge to go tech, buy a DIN. It will work for any future diving you want to do. If you plan on doing the dives you currently do and have no plans or desires to go further, then stick with yoke if you want.

I personally prefer DIN because they are MY regs and the o-ring is mine. I know when it was changed last and how it has been take care of whereas with a yoke, the o-ring in question is the dive shops. Yes you can inspect it but to be honest, a visual inspection with just your eyes will not tell you how good or bad it is. A terrible one you can probably see but one that is close to failing, you likely won't see. This is just one reason I prefer DIN with the other reasons being the types of dives I do.

 

[MarkField]

I think the message should be then: don't buy a DIN regulator just for that one week of wreck swim-throughs in the Red Sea. If wreck diving (or any regular diving in an overhead environment) is in your future, though, DIN's the way to go.

I encourage people to buy DIN, especially if it’s at a comparable price to the yoke counterpart, and then spend another $50 on an adapter. Best of both worlds, at only a slight expense. Only time the adapter comes into play is when you’re forced to use yoke, but the only time that’s going to happen significantly is when doing more recreational/easy dives. If the diving you’re doing would normally need a DIN regulator, the tanks that’ll be available/used will also be DIN.

Only time I wouldn’t recommend this is for someone who is exclusively recreational (with zero consideration/desire for anything beyond OW) and the locations they dive more commonly use yoke. Alternatively, if you didn’t want to deal with adding the adapter or remembering to pack it and have money burning a hole in your pocket, then go for it.

 

[DrMattWill]

Will you be penetrating wreck interiors or just doing the occasional swim through a wide open space that is commonly traversed by recreational divers? If you were penetrating, you probably wouldn't be asking this question, as you would already have the training and the gear for diving in overhead environments, so my guess is you're just diving those wrecks the way hordes of divers do every day on the Red Sea wreck safaris, and I'm sure not all of them have any special gear or training or give much consideration to the type of regs they're using.

Speaking for the hordes... Thanks

 

[DrMattWill]

I think Cheizz is on target.
There is undeniably additional risk to a yoke IN a wreck, but if the OP is sensible he will not be IN a wreck, just passing through some wide-open spaces. HIS words were "in" a wereck, not "passing through."
I can't speak to the OPs sensibility, of course, nor how is is going to dive in the Red Sea, and I am unswayed by hundreds of divers "passing through each week." What if just one of those divers, once a month, or once a year, had a yoke knocked off? Don't you agree the risk is higher, just not so high as to make it unacceptable to most, especially if they assume "it will not happen to them"?

I don't know how far "in" the wrecks we will go. It Is a week liveaboard. I am a good diver who is probably more safety conscious than most people. I get annoyed at folks who ignore their buddy and don't do predive safety checks.

I only do travel diving. Recently I spent 1 week diving in the Philippines and had enough of crappy rental gear. The DM tried to convince my buddy to dive with a faulty pressure gauge. ENOUGH. I am buying my own gear.

Everyone here has been helpful, but still no definitive answer. But, great advice on a tough BCD. Had not thought of that.

 

[DrMattWill]

I think we're all assuming he's not actually doing technical wreck penetration, like in tight spots with hazardous materials around. If he is doing that without the requisite training (the regulator question implies he has no technical training) then yoke vs DIN is the least of his problems.

You are correct

 

[MidOH]

Well, it's din then, if youre running backmounted doubles.

My singles rig is yoke because 100% of its travel will be to warm water yoke land. And its just a rec rig.