dry gloves vs neoprene mitts...

[wardric]

... Or why I will never buy dry gloves.

On a boat dive, we were 5 drysuit divers of which 4 used dry gloves while I prefered my trusty 3 fingered neoprene mitts. After the dive, I found out that of the 4 "dry gloves" users, 4 had leaks That's 100% failure. Fortunately, the water was still warm (about 46F).

Some weeks later, I had a shore dive with a buddy who also had a big leak this time in cooler water (around 41F). My mitts never failed me, even during long ice dives in 32-39 F water

In a group of divers, if some use dry gloves, do not ask yourself if one of them will have a leak, ask who it's gonna be

p.s. of course many of you will probably say they never had a failure, and I believe that. But i've seen too many divers having problems with dry gloves that I'm not tempted at all to spend any money on them.

Any toughts?

 

[Rainer]

My thoughts are that I've 0 for 4 with my dry gloves. Can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong... Time to go back to wet gloves? Or just keep plugging away at dry gloves?

 

[Mo2vation]

Thoughts? Sure:

1) Many people do not maintain their dry gloves correctly. Lubing the Oring, making sure the rings are in good shape, etc.

2) Most people don't know they have a hole in their glove for most of the year (I mean a slow seeper) and then the water goes from the high 50's to the low 40's THEY KNOW NOW!!!!

3) In colder weather, with thicker undergarments and thicker liners, stiffer Orings the gloves are tougher to put on. Its likely these people have some of the liner caught in-between the Oring and the Suit ring.

I do 200+ dives a year in my DC dry gloves - I dive them year-round in SoCal, as I'm a photographer and I get leaks through my wrist tendons when I re-position the strobes, etc.

The only "leaks" I've ever had (and there have been 3 in over 400 dives) were caused by me clamping the yellow liner in-between the glove ring and the suit ring. In each case, I simply surfaced, went to the back of the boat or to the entry point, re-set the glove and I was in business.

I've had two punctures. One because I was lame (moving a big sharp rock to tie off my spool for some drills...) and the other because, uh, well, I was lame.

I'll never dive wet gloves with a drysuit again. I love the improved dexterity, the warmer feet and of course a dryer dive.

---
Ken

 

[wardric]

Thoughts? Sure:

1) Many people do not maintain their dry gloves correctly. Lubing the Oring, making sure the rings are in good shape, etc.

2) Most people don't know they have a hole in their glove for most of the year (I mean a slow seeper) and then the water goes from the high 50's to the low 40's THEY KNOW NOW!!!!

3) In colder weather, with thicker undergarments and thicker liners, stiffer Orings the gloves are tougher to put on. Its likely these people have some of the liner caught in-between the Oring and the Suit ring.

I do 200+ dives a year in my DC dry gloves - I dive them year-round in SoCal, as I'm a photographer and I get leaks through my wrist tendons when I re-position the strobes, etc.

The only "leaks" I've ever had (and there have been 3 in over 400 dives) were caused by me clamping the yellow liner in-between the glove ring and the suit ring. In each case, I simply surfaced, went to the back of the boat or to the entry point, re-set the glove and I was in business.

I've had two punctures. One because I was lame (moving a big sharp rock to tie off my spool for some drulls...) and the other because, uh, well, I was lame.

I'll never dive wet gloves with a drysuit again. I love the improved dexterity, the warmer feet and of course a dryer dive.

---
Ken

Warmer feet?

Cant be reason 2 here coz the water never gets over 45 at depth, even during the warmest summers. But reason 1 and 3 are common. I've also seen many punctures. You are convincing and almost make me wanna try some dry gloves, but i'm used to 3 finger mitts and can use all my camera functions, as i'm a photographer wannabe

as for the dryer dive, well i'm always dry except from the neck up and of course the hands.

 

[gcbryan]

If you use the Viking system (installed at the factory) the only way you can ever get a leak is if you punch a whole in the dry gloves. This is because there are no O-rings or rings to take on and off. You simply stretch latex gloves over a large plastic ring that is permanently attached to the suit.

 

[sharkattack]

I switched to dry gloves over a year ago and refuse to go back. The 1st time I used them they leaked. I adjusted the glove and haven't had a problem since. If you are pinching your liners in the o-rings then your liners are to big or long. We use some small gloves from REI. Nice and warm

 

[Mo2vation]

I switched to dry gloves over a year ago and refuse to go back. The 1st time I used them they leaked. I adjusted the glove and haven't had a problem since. If you are pinching your liners in the o-rings then your liners are to big or long. We use some small gloves from REI. Nice and warm

I hate the yellow strechy things. I used lined gloves for a while because of the ease, but dumped them in favor of the unlined.

'Chica gave me these princess gloves - New Zeland Possom.

The Possom is Awesome!

I love them. Soft, warm, dry well, form fitted. And very, very silly.

They're the current fav liners. And my Peet Glove Dryers rule. I have two sets of gloves, so one is always on the dryer. Never an issue.

---
Ken

 

[Falco]

I've got roughly 60 dives this year on my dry gloves and I've had one leak (1.67% failure), but I've been warmer than with wet three finger gloves on everydive (100% success), I've had more dexterity than with wet three finger gloves (100% success) and I'm able to put them on and off faster than with three finger gloves (100% success). In my case, the decison to keep or go back to the tree fingered wet gloves is pretty easy.

 

[300bar]

Dry cloves do not come close to perfect but i've swaped the yellow inner cloves to
3 mm neopreen and now they work (wet but) fine, even in colder water(9C)
they keep me warm and happyand I will/have to dive all winter


2nd dive new cloves

Thank goodness my drysuit is DRY


I'll never wear wet cloves again even when they have a leak

 

[wardric]

all right, I know, people hate 3 fingered wet gloves

I admit I usually put on regular gloves whenever the water temp allows it but i am fine with the 3 fingered mitts when they are needed (water below 42F)

It's encouraging to see all these success stories. I guess I may have been mislead.