Glove promo is over/post reviews here

[Clammy]

You cannot produce more thrust with your weaker arms and smaller hand fins when compared to your stronger legs and bigger foot fins. That's a red herring.

Again, I don't doubt that there are benefits. I'd just like someone to enumerate them. More thrust isn't one.

Seriously inefficient propulsion (which these gloves are likely to promote) leads to greater gas consumption and likely reduced bottom time. I just don't see how that equates to more fun.

Well yes, our fins will obviously produce greater thrust than our hands. What I'm saying is that for those that use their hands for propulsion to turn or stop, it will benefit them because they will be producing greater thrust with their webbed gloved hands compared to their non-webbed gloved hands.

Again, I'm just saying that people dive different ways. It's up to them if they want to dive the way we dive or some other way. Let them decide. Would I recommend this to a NEW impressionable diver? No because then they may never learn to use their fins properly. But there are divers that have been diving for decades with thousands of dives who use their hands. They'll probably always use their hands. This might be a good product for them. Then there are those that just vacation dive and have no desire to learn how to be more efficient develop certain skills. They'll probably always use their hands too. So this will help them as well.

You and me, we don't use our hands. This isn't for us, at least in terms of diving.

I figure if the argument has degraded to name calling and yelling in something that will boil down to personal preference, it's a waste of energy to keep arguing on both sides.

 

[Rainer]

Again, yes the gloves can help you make small movements. You can do the same with your current fins, though. How are these an improvement, not just a different way of doing the same thing (just less effectively)?

As for stupid fun, maybe. In that case, sure, to each his own (duh); some people like tying condoms to their ears. If that's your target audience, so be it.

To fight current, where you're going to just tire yourself out swimming with your arms (there's really no reasonable way to argue these are more efficient than using your stronger legs and bigger fins), not so much.

As a tool to help promote better trim (I don't drink and drive to reinforce sobriety), not so much.

More thrust is relative but for me, not the point either.

I suggested, for me, when I'm videotaping subjects, sometimes very small movements in many varied directions is the difference between a fair shot and a great shot.

I'm not the type of diver that hangs on to rocks or plants myself into the sand to get the shot. I do all I can to hover, hold the camera still and get the shot. Sometimes a simple sculling of one hand is all that is necessary to move me a few inches left or right. These gloves may help me, they may not but before I boo hoo the idea, I am will to give them a fair shake.

As for just plain fun, who really cares?
If they help a diver to do some flips, twists and wild turns while diving so what?
If they allow a diver to rest their legs after a tough run into a strong current, so what?
If they help a diver to make a hard turn to avoid a collision, how is that a bad thing.
If they reinforce the need to practice diving in good trim, how is that a bad thing?

You made a great argument that these gloves may not be right for a diver using a can light, but other than that, no other argument has made much sense.

 

[mksmith713]

I named a benefit....
It made my surface swims easier, leaving me with more energy for the dive.
I can see these being especially useful down here in So. Fla where most boat dives are drift dives.
Easier swims on the surface and maybe even use them as a wing at depth?
I remember diving with an operator down in Lauderdale a few months back and my buddy and I were quite a distance from the boat when we surfaced.
The Op didn't bother picking us up even though I had shot a marker (sausage) in preparation of our surfacing.
They had us swim back to the boat in current.
What a pain in @ss that was.
By the time we reached the boat, every who had already been picked up, were back on the boat, had finished their surface interval and were ready to drop back in.

These gloves might have made the swim back a bit quicker...

 

[Rainer]

Everything is about personal preference. No question there. I FULLY AGREE. I, and others, are just asking about the benefits of these gloves over traditional fins.

You give an example where these gloves work worse than foot fins, but better than bare hands. Ok, I guess that's true. It's also probably equally true that divers going crazy with their gloved hands are also going to be tiring themselves out and reducing their bottom time. From what I've observed, those who move around on scuba with their arms and legs tend to universally have shorter dives than those who do not. If that's fun for you, ok, great, I'm not going to knock it. If you actually enjoy being able to stay in the water for extended periods, good trim and streamlined propulsion might be things to consider...

Well yes, our fins will obviously produce greater thrust than our hands. What I'm saying is that for those that use their hands for propulsion to turn or stop, it will benefit them because they will be producing greater thrust with their webbed gloved hands compared to their non-webbed gloved hands.

Again, I'm just saying that people dive different ways. It's up to them if they want to dive the way we dive or some other way. Let them decide. Would I recommend this to a NEW impressionable diver? No because then they may never learn to use their fins properly. But there are divers that have been diving for decades with thousands of dives who use their hands. They'll probably always use their hands. This might be a good product for them. Then there are those that just vacation dive and have no desire to learn how to be more efficient develop certain skills. They'll probably always use their hands too. So this will help them as well.

You and me, we don't use our hands. This isn't for us, at least in terms of diving.

I figure if the argument has degraded to name calling and yelling in something that will boil down to personal preference, it's a waste of energy to keep arguing on both sides.

 

[Rainer]

Cool. Thanks.

Could you elaborate how they made the swim easier? I usually do my surface swims on my back kicking with my legs. How did these help you? Appreciate your response.

Also, anyone have any examples of how they help for diving (as opposed to pre/post diving activities; e.g. surface swims)?

I named a benefit....
It made my surface swims easier, leaving me with more energy for the dive.
I can see these being especially useful down here in So. Fla where most boat dives are drift dives.
Easier swims on the surface and maybe even use them as a wing at depth?
I remember diving with an operator down in Lauderdale a few months back and my buddy and I were quite a distance from the boat when we surfaced.
The Op didn't bother picking us up even though I had shot a marker (sausage) in preparation of our surfacing.
They had us swim back to the boat in current.
What a pain in @ss that was.
By the time we reached the boat, every who had already been picked up, were back on the boat, had finished their surface interval and were ready to drop back in.

These gloves might have made the swim back a bit quicker...

 

[Clammy]

The only one yelling and cursing is DebbyDiver, but in any case, who's arguing?

Everything is about personal preference. No question there. I FULLY AGREE. I, and others, are just asking about the benefits of these gloves over traditional fins.

You give an example where these gloves work worse than foot fins, but better than bare hands. Ok, I guess that's true. It's also probably equally true that divers going crazy with their gloved hands are also going to be tiring themselves out and reducing their bottom time. From what I've observed, those who move around on scuba with their arms and legs tend to universally have shorter dives than those who do not. If that's fun for you, ok, great, I'm not going to knock it. If you actually enjoy being able to stay in the water for extended periods, good trim and streamlined propulsion might be things to consider...

You're right, if someones goal is to extend their bottom time and be more efficient, they should probably look into better trim, streamlining, and other skills. There are many people who just don't care though. They just want to jump in, look around, and come up after 30 min. in some tropical destination with a DM. Let them do it and if it makes them feel better to use the gloves let them. Real benefit or not, it makes them happy I guess.

BTW, why do you keep using the condom in ear reference? There must be some story behind that, possibly involving alcohol?

 

[Rainer]

Real benefit or not, it makes them happy I guess.

Great advertising slogan.

DARKFIN Gloves: Real benefit or not, it'll make you happy...I guess.



Sounds about as appealing as a condom on your ear...I guess.

 

[Clammy]

Great advertising slogan.

DARKFIN Gloves: Real benefit or not, it'll make you happy...I guess.



Sounds about as appealing as a condom on your ear...I guess.

It's like the argument of whether nitrox actually makes you feel less tired or not. Whether it does or not, if you FEEL less tired, you still get to be more active and you still win!!


For the record, I'm not knocking the gloves. I'm just not going to be using them for my type of diving. I still want to try them out for swimming and snorkeling!

 

[shoturtle]

I receive my free pair last Thursday, I took them for a quick dip Saturday. These gloves does make the surface swim way easier, on your back or face down. Using the glove they will gives you a more thrust then just using your fins.

While underwater, the gloves made it quicker to turn because the added surface area gives you allot more surface area to push against the water. Ran into a bit of a current, with the gloves on it made swimming against it allot easier when with just my fins. The product preforms very well, when ever I had to use my arms, these glove just made thing easier form my first impression.

I also used them form snorkeling, and these gloves really shined, it made the dives way easier. I was able to dive down deeper with less effort.

I really like this product, and it would be something I would buy. Excellent product and at a steal of a price.

 

[Zippsy]

This is a prime example of someone making assumptions without having the benefit of experience.

Actually, my 17 yr old daughter and I (Note we have actually used the gloves) noticed no significant loss of dexterity in the gloves.

We operated a camera...

We operated a flashlight...

I removed a small ziplock baggie containing some of my Mom's ashes from the zipped pocket on her cummerbund, opened the ziplock baggie and released the ashes into the water.

We manipulated our gauges & dive computers...

She removed her regulator from her mouth & replaced it...

We cleared our masks...

I unclipped my Pony Regulator and switched from my Primary to my Pony...

Of course I didn't try to pick my butt or nose because there was gear in the way but I think you get the drift.

Don't say what can or can't be done wearing them until you've tried...

ahhhhh... but have you tried to interlace your fingers????