Posted by joe r on April 27, 2001 at 19:14:25:
In Reply to: Re: Din or Yoke, which is better? posted by Steve on April 26, 2001 at 15:54:21:
Din yokes are definately SAFER, they use a captured o-ring rather that the crappy seal a yoke uses. I am a tri-mix diver and an extended range instructor. I would never use a yoke for anything but a deco bottle (I carry a yoke adapter incase it fails and can pull a primary off another tank (din)) and maybe a simple dive where there is any easy ascent to the surface. I don't know any technical divers who would use yokes. (they call them a-clamps in europe) I would not let any of my students take even a deco procedures class with a yoke (unless they had an h valve(this allows 2 first stages to be attached to a single tank system with independent shutoff) and some other bail out system). I don't see it as a problem with easy recreational dives but If i were buying a reg I'd by it with a DIN fitting with a yoke adapter for when I go away and if din valves aren't available.
MOST of my regs are din (I have at last count 15 full setups, and frequently have my students use my spare gear rather than their YOKE regulators)
When I began cave diving (about 10 years ago) I used a single tank witha Y valve (similar to an h valve) and managed to bang my 1st stage against an overhang (I misjudged the passage) it blew the yoke seal and had to isolate it.. that was the last time I used a yoke in a demanding dive. I have had din valved bump into debris and have had no such problem