I see you guys are all joining in and having fun with this project. That's great!
I wanted to drop in and let you all know my rings and gloves have been performing flawlessly. Since using mine now for a couple of months, I have some observations.
1) With the rings in place, the wrist seals will be more susceptible to chaffing and pin holes when handling the suit and allowing the arms to reach the ground when donning/doffing. If my arms are out of my suit at any time, I have gotten into the habit of hanging the dry suit arms around my suspenders. This keeps them tucked against my body up around my waist and in a safe place.
2) Depending on your chosen dry glove, the glove may be susceptible to easy tears. I also get cold easy. So, I have fretted over a solution for both issues. To protect the dry glove and keep my hands warm, I chose to wear a neoprene glove (3mm for 72f @ depth works for me) over the dry glove. I just came back from several days of diving (13 dives) in south Florida (wreck and reef
). See the trip report
here. My hands never got cold and they were well protected. I never had to change either of my dry gloves once for anything.
3) Even in the mild warmth of Florida at this time, I am able to don/doff both dry gloves with 3mm neoprene gloves on my own. I place the latex glove in the neoprene glove ahead of time. Then, I just slide the latex glove onto my hand and over the ring up to the dry suit arm material. Then I put my hand through the vac belt and up to the ring. I get one side of the belt in the ring groove and then hold that side by placing my wrist against my suit. Then, I grab the other side of the belt and let my finger slide under the belt and around the circumference of the belt until all of the belt is on. It works pretty fast. To ensure a good seal, I work the belt into the slot in the ring so that it's flat. I haven't experienced any leaks so far with this system.
4) To remove the dry gloves, you don't need to make futile attempts at grabbing the vac belt and lifting it. I just grab the excess latex glove and peel it towards my fingers. It pulls the vac belt off nicely. I can then pull the gloves off my hands.
For those of you don't need the warmth, I have bought a set of those Palmera leather gloves (kinda like batting gloves) found at DiveRiteExpress to wear instead of the 3mm neoprene. This should protect the latex glove very well and give plenty of grip and dexterity. Of course, you could just dive wet gloves. However, I might use this technique with a heavy Thinsulate glove as a liner inside the latex glove for very cold water. As long as I'm warm, that's all that matters.
I am the point where I've got the dry suit completely dialed in. It's such a sweet feeling to be on the ascent line and wiggle your
dry toes.
I've got another test coming up. I'm headed to the Pacific Northwest in March. BBBRrrrrrrrr!!!!! I am thinking of a different strategy (briefly mentioned above) for keeping my hands warm in this temp zone.
Cheers,
Richard
My Upcoming Dive Trips
02.25.06 - Rescue Class Open Water
03.10.06 - Puget Sound (Ski & Dive trip)
03.??.06 - Flower Gardens [Hammerhead Migration]
04.??.06 - Utila ???
Thinking about it...
05.27.06 - NC Wreck Diving (U-352, Papoose, and Caribsea)
06.23.06 - NC Wreck Diving (City of Houston, Normannia, & John D Gill)
07.04.06 - Bonne Terre Mine (a miner's delight) {tentative}
08.19.06 - Gulf of Mexico
10.13.06 - Catalina Island & Jazz Fest (...the California kelp)
