Dry glove system comparison

[*Floater*]

Regarding seal wear, I'll just add that the SI TECH rings are so easy to remove and reinstall that I remove them right after finishing the last dive of the day.

SI TECH also makes the Viking Bayonet rings with the same attachment design, so they should be just as easy.

I knew someone who left SI TECH rings on for over a year and ended up with significant and premature seal rot.

By having them mounted only for short periods, I get no seal wear or rot from the mounts.

Dave C

That's an interesting approach. One could wonder whether the stress of installing and uninstalling the rings could stress the seals more harm than just leaving the rings on...?

FWIW the SI-TECH rings were a lot harder to install on my 3mm compressed neoprene drysuit (with big cuff dump), than on a shell suit I had. Of course, next time I do it, I'll unscrew the cuff dump first, plus I think I have the technique down now...

 

[muddiver]

I use the Viking bayonet system on my Viking Extreme. The suit appears to have some pretty thick wrist seals and I found that the blue ring that the bayonet instructions stated to use were too big. I actually use the next smaller ring and they fit great and are eaiser to install. I have aslo twisted the glove rings on tighter than TSandM said and I find them really tight after a dive. So, don't over tighten the glove ring to the cuff ring before you dive. A little silicone on the O-ring is also helpful, just don't over do it and get it on the suit.

 

[dave4868]

That's an interesting approach. One could wonder whether the stress of installing and uninstalling the rings could stress the seals more harm than just leaving the rings on...?

My frequent installing and uninstalling of the SI TECH rings doesn't seem to harm the latex at all.

If it matters, I'm using the blue sealing rings with my DUI latex seals. They're a good fit, that is, just tight enough to prevent the docking ring from being pulled directly off.

For uninstalling, I use the typical "rolling" method where the latex essentially pulls the sealing ring out. Minimal stress on the latex. Installing requires more of a "pushing", but even then, the latex is partially rolling around the sealing ring as gets seated.

FWIW the SI-TECH rings were a lot harder to install on my 3mm compressed neoprene drysuit (with big cuff dump), than on a shell suit I had. Of course, next time I do it, I'll unscrew the cuff dump first, plus I think I have the technique down now...

Not sure I'm understanding you correctly. Is it just the dump preventing you from getting your fingers behind the sealing ring to push it into place? Seems to me you'd only need a half inch of space between the sealing ring and the edge of the sleeve.

If it's the dump getting in the way of sliding the blue sealing ring down the sleeve to the wrist seal, I have a solution: I just feed it in from the wrist opening by carefully spreading the latex wide enough. The trick is to not to break the sealing ring by inadvertently releasing the latex too soon.

I insert the blue sealing ring in through the wrist hole just because it's quicker. Haven't broken one yet.....

Dave C

 

[Seadeuce]

Sorry to jump in here, but which system works best with neoprene cuff seals?

Seadeuce

 

[*Floater*]

Not sure I'm understanding you correctly. Is it just the dump preventing you from getting your fingers behind the sealing ring to push it into place? Seems to me you'd only need a half inch of space between the sealing ring and the edge of the sleeve.

If it's the dump getting in the way of sliding the blue sealing ring down the sleeve to the wrist seal, I have a solution: I just feed it in from the wrist opening by carefully spreading the latex wide enough. The trick is to not to break the sealing ring by inadvertently releasing the latex too soon.

I insert the blue sealing ring in through the wrist hole just because it's quicker. Haven't broken one yet.....

Dave C

You probably have a better method for installing them than I do. I followed this slideshow demonstration that somebody sent me (which isn't a hard way to do it either - took only a few minutes my (ex-)shell suit): Dry Glove Installation

The stressful part on my other suit (compressed neoprene) was reversing the sleeve after I had put the ring in place, and pulling it through the cuff opening - but it was probably due largely to the following factors: not removing the cuff dump (regular Si-Tech dump at cuff, not the small kind of cuff dump), bad technique on my part, and wrist seals that were failing to begin with (glue was already coming off). I'm sure the next time I do it (after I finish the seal replacement), it will go a lot smoother.

 

[Mitchell]

I use the Viking bayonet system on my Viking Extreme. The suit appears to have some pretty thick wrist seals and I found that the blue ring that the bayonet instructions stated to use were too big. I actually use the next smaller ring and they fit great and are eaiser to install. I have aslo twisted the glove rings on tighter than TSandM said and I find them really tight after a dive. So, don't over tighten the glove ring to the cuff ring before you dive. A little silicone on the O-ring is also helpful, just don't over do it and get it on the suit.

I find them tight as well after a dive. To bad they don't make a quick release tool. I'm sure someone inventive could make one. there are holes in the tab portions of the plastic. Any ideas would be great.

Also these are the best system that I've seen. Once they are on they are on.

 

[nereas]

The best dry glove is NO dry glove. They are quite easily punctured or torn, and then you could end up with a serious problem of a flooded drysuit.

Wetsuit gloves are infinitely more practical and more safe.

For warmth, I suggest better drysuit liners plus a small argon bottle.

 

[Hoosier]

I have used all DG systems mentioned above. I ended up with OS System.

I think Floater covered the most description very well.

As for the stress issue, on DG system, there are two factors that affect the wrist seal life, UV and way of don/doff.

If you are using the overcuffs, there is almost no chance that your wrist seal is exposed to UV because your wrist seal is always stayed inside of DR system. And, I put UV spray regularly when I put the wax on the zipper.

The most culprit is how to don/doff a wrist seal (it applies to any DR system). After attaching DR system, I noticed some dry rots and cracks on the wrist seal, specially on the part where O-ring is attached. I brought the wrist seal (zipseal) to DUI Demo Day and had a chance to evaluate it with DUI technical guru together. It was due to the way of don/doff, not DR system in itself. Don't pull out the seal! ALWAY OPEN YOUR SEAL FIRST AND SLIDE IN/OUT YOUR HANDs. I post this issue on the board a long time ago (search is your friend here).

I always recommend the overcuffs because

1. It really protects the seal from any external impacts, such as a scratch, puncture, or etc. You don't need to worry about your wrist seals when you take off the suit on the rough ground or boat.
2. Even though there is some leaking point under the overcuffs, it will help to block the leaking, NOT completely though.
3. It helps to keep your wrist warm on the cold water diving.
4. And, it is only $6.

Only complaint that I received about OS stem is that it is so hard to don/doff the glove ring. It is mostly due to the lack of grease on two O-rings on the glove ring part. If you put a grease regularly (once per four~five months), it is the easiest DR system to don/doff, even in a darn cold winter season. I had to help my buddies who are using a different DR system mentioned above at least once while they were donning the glove, but NOT with OS system.


Floater: I told you that you had better put the duct tape on O-ring are on the glove ring to extend your glove life. LOL~~~


That's true that the most convenient way is not to use DR, but OS DR is much easier to don/doff and warmer than any 5mm and 7mm wet gloves based on my experience.

As for the puncture, I am using $4~$5 neoprene coated glove from the local HW stores. You will be surprised how much tough and durable this cheap glove is unless you are a lobster diver. I have used the same gloves more than 8 month (almost dive every weekend. And, I don't mind replacing this glove anytime whenever I need to replace my car wash gloves...


Just my 2 bar.

 

[dave4868]

The best dry glove is NO dry glove. They are quite easily punctured or torn, and then you could end up with a serious problem of a flooded drysuit.

Can you explain a bit? My experience with drygloves for typical recreational diving has been much more positive apparently. Perhaps you're referring to urchin diving or metal salvage diving. You might have a point if that's the case....

Here are some of my experiences.

I recently used my SI TECH vinyl ("blue smurf") drygloves on four scallop dives and, all combined, picked up an estimated 500 scallops during three fast-paced hours underwater.

No cuts, no tears, no punctures, no leaks.

In several hundred shore dives, those same gloves suffered just one small puncture and slow leak, allowing about 3 ounces of water to soak the liner. After leaking for about an hour in the 35-degree water, that hand felt pretty darn cold.....maybe a little colder than if it would with a neoprene glove on.....

Even a rare major flood of a dryglove isn't necessarily going to flood the suit. The SI TECH system leaves the wrist seal intact, except for a venting tube which could be disabled.

Other designs which don't use an intact wrist seal might let significant amounts of water into the suit arm or beyond, but that won't necessarily be a "serious problem" except in very specific circumstances not typical of most recreational cold water dives.

Wetsuit gloves are infinitely more practical and more safe.

The practicality of neoprene gloves is debatable for cold, long dives that further reduce their dexterity. Safety of neoprene is certainly debatable for those circumstances.

For warmth, I suggest better drysuit liners plus a small argon bottle.

Maintaining the core heat will help the extremities to some extent, but exposure to cold can drastically reduce the flow of that warming blood right where it's needed most. Drygloves solve that problem very nicely.

Dave C

 

[muddiver]

I find them tight as well after a dive. To bad they don't make a quick release tool. I'm sure someone inventive could make one. there are holes in the tab portions of the plastic. Any ideas would be great.

Yes, it's called "channel lock pliers"