Dry glove system for Santi smart seals

[laikabear]

The squeeze is real. I normally dive in temperate water, so I don't use drygloves. However, on my first trip to a cold destination, I needed something but figured a less expensive interim solution would get me through the trip. I gave these a try: Drygloves with Seal. At about 60 feet, all was okay. By about 90 feet my belief was confirmed that this is not a serious solution for drygloves. (Not to mention these are a PITA to don.) Air is insulation. The deeper one goes, the more squeeze, and the less insulation. So, I think one can get away without glove equalization to 60 feet or so, but then the deeper you go, the more squeezed and thus colder your hands will get.

Oooh, good to know! The Santi system is really easy to don. I think it would be no problem to stick a couple of coffee stirrer straws or something similar under my wrist seals. I'll have to keep an eye out for some for when I do deeper dives.

 

[taimen]

This far I have used the type of dryglove Lorenzoid linked. It seals directly over drysuit wristseal and absolutely doesn't equalize with anything I haven't had issues with squeeze down to 110ft and water temperature here is always below 45 F at depth. That type of glove is very common here, and many divers use them for really deep dives down to 100 m. Thus it must be the underglove which makes the difference. You must use thick undergloves that somewhat resist compression and provide insulation.
That style is really a PITA to don, even with your buddy helping, and that's why I decided to try Santi smart glove once it became available.

 

[stuartv]

One of my dive buddies has Kubi rings on her Santi and she has to use a pry bar to get the gloves off.

She needs to lube the O-ring on the Kubi glove ring. Kubi SAYS you don't need to lube that O-ring, but, well, if I don't lube mine they are a b!tch to push together and worse to get apart. Lightly lubed with some silicone grease, they push together easily and come right apart. And I have never had a leak with my Kubi rings (other than holing a glove once), so I don't see why Kubi says not to lube them. Maybe they are worried that if your sleeves are too short, it would be too easy to extend your arm and pull the glove rings apart (i.e. disconnect the glove ring from the wrist ring)?

 

[taimen]

Santi says you should lubricate the ring with silicone grease every third dive.

 

[npole]

Your glove will squeeze if you still have the wistle seals (to use your drysuit without the gloves..), it can be severe to the point that it would limit your finger movements. I just put my inner (cotton) glove under the seal and that's enough to let some air travelling between the glove and the suit so it get compensated.

 

[mmerriman]

Your glove will squeeze if you still have the wistle seals (to use your drysuit without the gloves..), it can be severe to the point that it would limit your finger movements. I just put my inner (cotton) glove under the seal and that's enough to let some air travelling between the glove and the suit so it get compensated.

I put a short length or surgical tubing in my seal on deep dives to equalize the gloves. on dives less than 50 i don't bother.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I put a short length or surgical tubing in my seal on deep dives to equalize the gloves. on dives less than 50 i don't bother.

Someone should invent a system with tubing and some sort of valve or tubing clamp that can be easily closed in the event a glove floods.

 

[stuartv]

Water would still leak around the tube itself.

Once the glove is flooded bad enough that water is coming in my sleeve enough to care about, it seems like it would be just as easy to just pop the glove/wrist rings apart, pull out the tube or bungee or whatever, to let the wrist seal fully seal, then push the glove rings back together. At least, with my Kubi rings I think it would be that easy. Haven't tried it, though....

With a very small tube, piece of bungee, whatever, the water that comes through into the suit sleeve is pretty small.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Water would still leak around the tube itself.

Once the glove is flooded bad enough that water is coming in my sleeve enough to care about, it seems like it would be just as easy to just pop the glove/wrist rings apart, pull out the tube or bungee or whatever, to let the wrist seal fully seal, then push the glove rings back together. At least, with my Kubi rings I think it would be that easy. Haven't tried it, though....

I would want to practice that maneuver.

With a very small tube, piece of bungee, whatever, the water that comes through into the suit sleeve is pretty small.

So air travels freely through the tube or whatever, but water would travel more slowly? I need to think about that one. Not intuitive to me.

 

[stuartv]

It's not like you need a huge wind through your wrist to equalize your gloves. A coffee stirrer straw or a piece of bungee or even some trapped undergarment breaks the wrist seal enough to let the air equalize fine at the speeds that your ambient pressure is changing. Remember, a lot of people don't even feel the need to equalize on a dive less than 60'.