Dry Glove Insulation

[Storker]

I use ripped silicon seals in my system, so I just have open airway into the gloves

You're going to flood your arm pretty fast if you rip your glove.

That's one of the reasons I prefer intact seals and stick a short length of 6mm bungee between the seal and my wrist. If i rip my glove, I can take it off, pull out the bungee and don the glove again. My hand will be flooded, but I avoid flooding my arm - and perhaps even more of my suit - with 4-5 degree water. My undergarments are pretty good, but not that good.

The other reason I prefer intact seals is because I use wetgloves when the water is warm (>10-15 degrees).

 

[Chris H]

It seems there is a fine line between the thickness of the glove and the glove being too bulky to get in a dry glove. For the last several years I've been wearing a fleece glove that Patagonia used to make and I've struggled to find another pair I like as much. I did just get a pair of the Fourth Element Xerotherm gloves and they seem comparable, but I have only used them on one dive. I have fairly large hands, so I struggle a bit with something that is warm and also fits well enough to get into the XXL Atlas 660/Smurf Gloves.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I used XL 660 gloves for several years until last year. The nitrile 720s are stretchier than pvc gloves, more durable and I can easily fit my XL Xerotherm gloves inside. I haven't had a puncture nor any 720 pop off when I reach for the ladder the way the pvc gloves did. I'll never go back to the 660s again.

 

[Minion_Diver]

I do have equalization tubes in my gloves and they work for getting the warmer air into them. By the time I start putting more air into my gloves my fingers are past the point of return most dives.

This is definitely a start on what else to look at. For right now it is manageable, but was wondering what everyone else was using for liners in gloves.

 

[Storker]

By the time I start putting more air into my gloves my fingers are past the point of return most dives.

Have you tried starting putting air into your gloves earlier in the dive?

 

[michael-fisch]

After years of using many different solutions with verious results, none of them as warm as I wanted, I finally started using electrically heated gloves.
Currently using:
Beidseitig beheizter Taucherhandschuh "Dual Heat inDive"
and I love them.
Following tips:
If you are trying to use them under lined Showa Drygloves, buy the heated gloves a size smaller, XL Showas, Large hands, and medium heating gloves.
Don't forget to order the wiring harness.
If you are using real battery packs you will need a heating controller since it's easy to pump 60W into a pair of gloves at 14.8V - easy but not real comfortable.
Yellow Diving also makes heated gloves but I've never tried them.

Michael

 

[taimen]

Currently using:
Beidseitig beheizter Taucherhandschuh "Dual Heat inDive"
and I love them.
Following tips:
If you are trying to use them under lined Showa Drygloves, buy the heated gloves a size smaller, XL Showas, Large hands, and medium heating gloves.
Don't forget to order the wiring harness.
If you are using real battery packs you will need a heating controller since it's easy to pump 60W into a pair of gloves at 14.8V - easy but not real comfortable.

Do you keep the battery in your drysuit or is it possible to connect this to an external battery canister?

 

[michael-fisch]

I only use external batteries since I don't like the idea of what would happen to me if a battery inside the drysuit caught fire while I still had 2 hours of deco to do. Any way something like that ended, I'd probably be happier if I was dead.
Several buddies use smaller internal batteries and so far they are all unburned and alive, but I'm not that optimistic to take the risks of an internal battery.

Michael

 

[taimen]

I only use external batteries since I don't like the idea of what would happen to me if a battery inside the drysuit caught fire while I still had 2 hours of deco to do. Any way something like that ended, I'd probably be happier if I was dead.

Exactly. So they have connection system readily suitable for external canister batteries? Or is that something you had to construct yourself?

 

[michael-fisch]

Heating connector systems have been around in europe for at least 15 years, one of the more popular ones is sold by Santi
Santi Heizsysteme - Deepstop GmbH
I started out long before and use the SubSea connectors through a custom drysuit fitting mounted just under my SiTech inflator.
Battery tanks have 2 switches and 2 removable cables, the Subsea is for heating and the E/O is for lighting. I'm currently using a 23.8Ah 14.8V Gralmarine battery tank- but I spent years using a 14A AUL Spectrum that had been converted to 2x 12V 15Ah NiMH with 2 switches on the lid. Eventually I'll get the biggest Gralmarine battery tank and have 41Ah to play with.

Michael