Which family of drygloves is the best?

[MaxBottomtime]

I tried several types of dry glove systems with mostly poor results. DUI Zip Seals were difficult to get on without a buddy's help. The first one that worked most of the time was Diving Concepts. When they went out of business, Waterproof bought their design and improved on it. I used The Waterproof Ultimas for a few years until the glove rings began getting difficult to remove after a dive. I switched to the Rolock90s this year and have no complaints. They are easy to set up, easy to don/doff, and I haven't had a single drop of water inside, even without wrist seals.

 

[doctormike]

Pullover gloves and Viking rings.

Viking rings can be installed in any dry suit, either permanently (glue the rings to the sleeves), or just put them on non-permanently (they just fit over the sleeves, trapping the material between two rings).

I definitely recommend getting them glued in. That means that if you tear a wrist seal, you can just pop a new one in in a few minutes.

Then you pull those "dishwasher" style gloves over the rings ($13). Have been using this system for years after a number of struggles and failures with locking ring systems - I almost always dive wet, but it's nice to have the option. MUCH simpler than any locking system, very reliable. And if you ever tear a glove, just pull another one out of your bag and you are good to go.

Here's what you need:

Viking Cuff Ring Set | Dive Rescue International

Super Grip Black Dry Glove


And of course, some sort of glove liner. These are awesome.

G1 Glove Liner - Fourth Element

 

[RVBldr]

Used Si-Tec with pullovers on a Whites for a long time. Really simple solution with minimal failure points. I currently use the Santi system and that's doing very well - glove swap-out only takes a couple minutes each.

 

[isr_tt89]

Kubi - 100-120 dives, no issues.
You can use different gloves etc, can be replaced on the spot.

Just need to lube the outer o-ring with silicone oil once in a while.

 

[broncobowsher]

Kubi fan as well. Did a lot of research before getting them. Have some SiTech that I never used, they look like they were developed by the marketing department for all the wrong reasons.

The Kubi can be run with or without gloves, for those warmer dives where you want to go bare handed. The seals are easy enough to change, but the gloves are even easier. I poked a hole in a glove once climbing back on the boat. Few minutes later and I had the glove swapped out and the spare dry liners lined up for the next dive.

The multi size ring system lets you get a just big enough ring. Not a jumbo that is sized to fit everyone nor too small for big hands. The rings are not married to any glove, you can run different gloves to your liking on the same ring. No gluing them on needed.

I have heard of people fighting to get them on/off. Wedging spoons to pry them apart. You are doing it wrong. They are machined such that you don't just knock them off. You have to walk them out. It is a cylinder in a bore made out of metal. Not squishy plastic. From what I have seen of stuck Kubis, it is neanderthal operator error.

 

[Jimchris]

Been using Ultimas for years, across 3 suits. Makes the oval ring round. My favorite glove to use in combination is the Showa/Atlas 460 (built in liner). Royal pain to mount the glove to the ring but they're toasty warm.

 

[ontdiver]

There is indeed a fair share of operator error with dive equipment. Some of this is due to lack of practice, and some due to simple handling errors, such as getting something edge locked. Another contributor is the anxiety associated with getting ready for the dive and messing things up at the last moment. A classic example of this is the experienced diver entering the water w/o a weight belt.

 

[LordHavoc]

Thanks so much for the answers. Has anyone ever used these?

Which family of drygloves is the best?

I tried several types of dry glove systems with mostly poor results. DUI Zip Seals were difficult to get on without a buddy's help. The first one that worked most of the time was Diving Concepts. When they went out of business, Waterproof bought their design and improved on it. I used The...

scubaboard.com

They do not have any ring. Are they any good?

 

[DanFromDownUnder]

The dry glove setup on the Santi suits is pretty good, spent a week diving in 4c water with no leaks from the actual seals.

They were pretty easy to put on before a dive, and I used forth element globes under them.

One issue I had with the showa cs720 gloves I was using is they have what looks to be a cloth inner inner which allowed water to slowly travel inside the glove past the seal

 

[Curious_George]

My opinion is hard rings are always a compromise. They are bulky and uncomfortable. And, if you use hard rings on the glove side too, it’s 2x more complex and there are multiple potential failure points. The closest to workable out of the above ideas is @doctormike suggestion for using dishwasher style pullover the hard ring. The gloves are Ansell G17k and can be found for well under $10 per pair. And they will work over most any hard ring. If you are "poo-pooing" this choice it’s because you never tried it.

And to do it one better, if you use zip seals, the g17k will pull on right over the zip seals and seal perfectly. The only time we had a problem with them is giant stride. Also works with a rubber tube under the wrist seal so they can equalize. Use the wool military style liners and if you do poke a hole, they will still keep you reasonably warm.

It is not intuitive that this would work, but it does work amazingly well. I like to turn the G17k gloves inside out so I have white hands.

Also, the DUI zip gloves do work but a big hassle there too because you can’t take the gloves off unless you take the suit off. Stinks during the surface interval. Also no redundant seal. If a glove punctures, your whole arm will get wet.


A little shrink wrapped here because it was before I started using an equalization tube. This is with g17k pulled over zip seals.

And another example: