Are dry gloves kosher?

[Matan]

water here is 15C at a really cold day, about 60F (?)

now, don't need no big fluffy gloves, 3mm are awsome

however, I tent to suffer from water ingress underneath my seals, which sucks after diving, especially a day with about 4 dives.

so, got dry gloves, wear nothing underneath them (the SHOWA KV660 inner liner is warm enough), and my hands are dry and warm, and I'm bone dry

must say, as they do tent to leak (using ANTARES) - having a wrist seal is a must IMHO and from my minor experience with them (so far one winter here - now counting almost 50 dives with drygloves). yet compared to a couple more years with wet gloves, I love the drygloves.

they are very durable btw, much more than I expected.

I will vote against using the ANTARES system, as it is not the most ROBUST thing I've purchased - maybe Halcyon can make dry glove systems? or SANTI? ^^

Matan.

 

[laurin]

I will vote against using the ANTARES system, as it is not the most ROBUST thing I've purchased - maybe Halcyon can make dry glove systems? or SANTI? ^^

Similar feelings, I had the Antares glove pop off in near-freezing (2 to 0 deg C) water about a year ago, with about 15min of O2 deco left. Luckily had a habitat close by to get into to replace the glove. Didn't learn from one incidence, repeated the same thing next dive. Still got all my fingers left... But since then I've been taking a serious look at the Nordic Blue ring system.

It's similar to the Viking system, but simpler and less bulky.

Glove punctures are simply a risk that has to be considered. You tend to learn not to fondle the wrecks in really cold water, which is good form anyway...

//LN

 

[Matan]

nordic blue ones are just gloves with a straight seal - just buy the sitech ones and pull them over the QCS oval rings

pop a glove out? didn't happen to me yet ...

 

[rjack321]

I have recently spoken to a friendly local bad ass diver with some serious DIR background, who apparently eats 200ft wrecks for breakfast, and he argued somewhat convincingly that one day, dry gloves will kill you when they fail while you have a deco obligation. He implied that real divers use wet gloves, and that this knowledge does not come from the Internet, but from decades of actual experience hauling lots of tanks into all kinds of scary places. I wonder why this aspect of equipment configuration has not (to the best of my knowledge) been standardized.

Who is this person? I thought I knew all the local DIR badasses. And they all use drygloves...

I have used dry gloves for a decade. I had one catastrophic flood due to a misaligned oring. It flooded right way but I was pissed and took the glove off underwater, removed my equalization bungie and put the glove back on wet. Wasn't the greatest dive of my life ever but hardly life threatening. If I had gotten out to fix it my out of town guests and myself would have missed slack on Dalco wall. For a ~60-65 min dive it was totally no big deal.

---------- Post added March 23rd, 2015 at 09:04 PM ----------

So, what's the actual risk? Is dry glove failure known to happen, or not really? I could imagine that while a neck seal is fairly secure, a dry glove can get punctured by a part of a wreck, pinched by a bolt snap, catch on something during a valve drill, get cut while you deploy a knife or whatever... not sure whether that increased risk is real, or purely theoretical. Also, on a mild tangent... speaking of failure risk, do you think some dry glove types are particularly more tear or puncture-resistant than others?

The orange ones are double pvc dipped and most dexterous, the blue ones triple dipped and slightly less dexterous. They really never rip, but get pinholes from barnacles after awhile.

I have never seen nor heard of a bolt snap ripping one. My boltsnaps have torn up my (bare) thumb in MX after many hours of exposure - never a glove.

 

[laurin]

The orange ones are double pvc dipped and most dexterous, the blue ones triple dipped and slightly less dexterous. They really never rip, but get pinholes from barnacles after awhile.

I have never seen nor heard of a bolt snap ripping one. My boltsnaps have torn up my (bare) thumb in MX after many hours of exposure - never a glove.

Most of my glove leaks have been due to different ring systems not working (user error usually). Pinholes and small slices seem to concentrate around the undipped area around the wrist, and are probably caused by using too much force when donning and doffing gear (getting help is a good idea instead of moar force). Another source could be the hard rings; they get dings and scratches in use that can damage the glove. Checking them out and sanding the sharp bits helps.

Pinhole leaks are not really catastrophical, unless we're talking massive exposures in freezing water. They're usually there for a while until I get fed up and change the glove or try a repair. Changing is the better option. Never seen a torn glove.

Btw, broke the holding tab on my Antares glove on last sunday and missed a dive, so it's probably time to give a try to the Nordic Blue rings.

//LN

 

[gsk3]

Orange Atlas/Showa gloves with Viking rings here (so there's an inner seal, with eq bungie). My only incidents have been on the surface when I can't get the darn rings off and I'm stuck in my suit looking like an idjit.

I used home depot paint stripping gloves that were obviously single layer for a few dives, and nary a problem, even with zebra mussel-coated surfaces in current.

Like Richard, I suspect a lot of the dry glove leaks come from people whose gloves cost $60 a pop and so they never get replaced until they leak. When gloves cost $2-3 per pair, they get replaced at the first sign of slight abrasion and so they don't wear through.

 

[Belmont]

I have short and stubby fingers but a wide hand. Dry gloves are always too long for me. Alas, I wear 5mm wet gloves that are slippery on my scooter handle. At least I dont have too much empty space at the tip of my fingers. I guess I'm lucky because I never get cold hands with my wet gloves. Did many two hour dives (including deco) in 40 degree water.

I tried one setup that I liked very much: knitted wool gloves inside latex surgeon gloves. I was in heaven, wet but warm and the most fantastic dexterity...until the latex ripped. I was doing some work on the bottom so it was expected. I figured they would last long enough if only scootering.

 

[ajduplessis]

Belmont, you should introduce yourself to rjack321. He does not know any 'badass' divers using wet-gloves :sarcasm:

 

[TSandM]

He doesn't know any "badass" divers in the Seattle area using wet gloves . . .

 

[kr2y5]

I'm not telling.