Cutting pads (not tips) off of 5mm gloves?

[joshua.d.vise]

Hi everyone,
I'm getting back into diving after a hiatus, and I have an equipment question for you.
I dive in Korea, where the water can be pretty cold, so I wear 5mm gloves. I also have a Cressi Giotto. I find that it is very hard to feel the buttons with the thick gloves on. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to cut a small hole in the pad of the index finger (the pad meaning the part opposite the nail, not the tip of the finger) so that I could feel things better. The hole might end up being penny sized, and this would allow me to feel things much more easily with that one finger. I think the hole would be small enough that I wouldn't have to worry about cuts or scrapes when touching other things.

What do you think of this? And please, the Giotto is all I am able to use right now, so please don't suggest new dive computers with bigger buttons. I'd love to get one, but I just can't swing it at the moment.

 

[Endler's]

Only 3mm, but warm: XS Scuba Touch

 

[Zane]

I wouldn't cut a hole into my glove

Maybe use an object to press the button, like a cheap bic pen or #2 pencil's eraser side?

 

[Searcaigh]

Only 3mm, but warm: XS Scuba Touch

This looks a good idea.

I wear cheap gardening gloves with the tips cut off on the thumb and forefinger for my local diving, but I know from UK diving that I need neoprene gloves and operating a camera with 5mm gloves is very challenging.

These look like a decent compromise.

 

[rongoodman]

Why would you need to push any buttons on your dive computer while in the water? The only reason I can see in the manual for doing so is to switch to a richer deco gas.

 

[paddydiver]

It'll be just as hard to feel the button with a frozen finger!

 

[Johnoly]

....pad of the index finger ...... might end up being penny sized, .......with that one finger.

Instead of cutting and making a leak in the glove........
You can mix up some 2 part hard 5 minute epoxy. 1st Use your bare finger tip and dip it in the mixed epoxy and touch your gloved button finger to create a penny sized flat disk. Let that harden. Mix another 2nd tiny batch of epoxy and get a pencil with a flat eraser head. Use this to transfer a 2nd mound of epoxy to create a "dot" on top of the 1st epoxy pad. Let harden again and use a nail file to smooth and shape the dot. If you are not sure where to put the 'dot', use a tooth pick to place a tiny dab of tooth paste on the middle computer button and press it wearing your glove with the 1st harden epoxy pad. then wipe it off and make your dot where the tooth paste transferred it's mark to the pad.

 

[lizardland]

My gloves permanently have holes in the fingers. Not deliberately, just wear and tear and probably from grabbing the fingers with my teeth when I'm trying to get them off because I have the brain of a 4 year old. I don't replace them until they are falling apart. I think it maybe helps marginally when pushing the buttons on my computer. Nothing bad happens from having holes in your fingers. Your hands won't fall off, dissolve or attract piranhas. Give it a go. If it works it works. If it doesn't, gloves are cheap.

 

[joshua.d.vise]

Why would you need to push any buttons on your dive computer while in the water? The only reason I can see in the manual for doing so is to switch to a richer deco gas.

I use the light to see the display.

 

[joshua.d.vise]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I ended up going with making a simple slit near the first knuckle of my index finger. The glove fits perfectly, and the slit is barely noticeable because of the stretchy neoprene, but when I pull on it, the slit opens into a hole and I can pull my finger through it, very much like the gloves in Endler's post. Can't wait to get back into the water!