Glove promo is over/post reviews here

[DebbyDiver]

Roy, they were not unliveable today (with the larger pair) so I won't do that. I am really starting to love these things. It was fun to see the other people on the boat saying "OMG those look SO COOL" and watching the 13-yo boy enjoy them. I may have given him the smaller pair, but he'll be out of them in two weeks and I'd rather give them to someone who is a more frequent diver who can give more testimony. Just know that a 13-yo boy thought they were the coolest EVER...one thing he mentioned is that he was underweighted on the first dive and the gloves helped him maintain his depth.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Hey, I dove with them today and using them is getting to be more intuitive. for the first time, I pretended that I didn't have legs and used them to swim into the current and they were awesome! I'm really starting to LOVE them for precision micromovements and I think they will become part of my permanent dive kit although still a bit too hot.

On the other hand, cold water divers need such a glove with thermal protection so you need to work on that!

But more fun, I still have the too small pair and I lent them to a young teenage boy on the boat. Well, he and his brother and everyone else on the boat thought they were the COOLEST things ever. The boy dove both dives with them and LOVED them. He went on and on about how cool they are and I spoke with the other people on the boat about them. Our first dive was a wreck with a LOT of silt (Hog Heaven) and I was able to move about effortlessly without stirring it up. Also I tried grabbing the wreck in rusty places and had NO problems. I also caught and dispatched a lobster with no problem.

The 13-yo boy said that he caught and puffed a pufferfish and to tell you that the puffer spines went through the gloves...I told him hey, you aren't supposed to puff the puffers dude!!! Well his mom, a former dive instructor who loved to puff puffers for her students said to let you know so...I'm letting you know. :blinking:

 

[pafindr]

So far I have used the gloves on 4 dives.
I decided to really put them through its paces before I gave a review.

I really wanted to test out the dexterity of the gloves so I wore them while setting up my gear. For the most part I didn't notice I had the gloves on. I could buckle, clip, strap, turn on my air, don my gear, adjust my gear, and remove my gear. One big issue that I found during the process was when I would clip something I was continuously getting the glove's webbing caught in the clips. On the surface this isn't a big deal but under water it can be really bad.

While diving, normally I dive with my arms crossed and use my fins for turning and propulsion. On the first dive with the Darkfin gloves I dove the way I normally do but used my hands only when I needed to make slight adjustments. This worked great, you can really make turns with little effort. On a 60min dive at 30’ I used about 1800psi.

My second and third dives I used the gloves as an addition to propulsion, i.e. using my legs and arms to propel myself. Of course I couldn’t keep this up for very long and could only dive like this for short bursts until I could get my breathing back under control. By the end of each 45min dives I was exhausted and I used up 2100psi.
On the last dive with the Darkfin Gloves I went back to my normal diving and used the gloves only when I needed to make slight adjustments. This dive was about 45min and I used about 1500psi.

For simple adjustments the gloves are great and if you are using them for that purpose they’re great. I see them being great for photography but I do not recommend these gloves to divers that think they can get around faster or if they don’t have at least decent buoyancy control.

As to their construction they are pretty tough but I may have worked them to hard. On the left glove (I’m right handed) the webbing is beginning to separate from main part in between the thumb and first finger.

 

[Roy McKinney]

So far I have used the gloves on 4 dives.
I decided to really put them through its paces before I gave a review.

I really wanted to test out the dexterity of the gloves so I wore them while setting up my gear. For the most part I didn't notice I had the gloves on. I could buckle, clip, strap, turn on my air, don my gear, adjust my gear, and remove my gear. One big issue that I found during the process was when I would clip something I was continuously getting the glove's webbing caught in the clips. On the surface this isn't a big deal but under water it can be really bad.

While diving, normally I dive with my arms crossed and use my fins for turning and propulsion. On the first dive with the Darkfin gloves I dove the way I normally do but used my hands only when I needed to make slight adjustments. This worked great, you can really make turns with little effort. On a 60min dive at 30’ I used about 1800psi.

My second and third dives I used the gloves as an addition to propulsion, i.e. using my legs and arms to propel myself. Of course I couldn’t keep this up for very long and could only dive like this for short bursts until I could get my breathing back under control. By the end of each 45min dives I was exhausted and I used up 2100psi.
On the last dive with the Darkfin Gloves I went back to my normal diving and used the gloves only when I needed to make slight adjustments. This dive was about 45min and I used about 1500psi.

For simple adjustments the gloves are great and if you are using them for that purpose they’re great. I see them being great for photography but I do not recommend these gloves to divers that think they can get around faster or if they don’t have at least decent buoyancy control.

As to their construction they are pretty tough but I may have worked them to hard. On the left glove (I’m right handed) the webbing is beginning to separate from main part in between the thumb and first finger.

Thanks for a well thought out review and for taking the time to seriously evaluate Darkfins from a "time under water vs. gas used" standpoint. So far this is the closest thing to actual DATA I've have gotten.

Just a couple of questions.

First, In what way did you use the gloves to aid your fins in foward propulsion? in other words, what position were your hands in and what sort of motion (method)did you use?

Second, Were you intentionally trying to go faster than you normally would have simply to test the increase in propulsion that the gloves claim to give? Or were you simply finning with the gloves as an accent to your fins and cruising at normal swim speeds?


Some divers, after seeing the latest video we released from Weeki wachi springs, Got the impression that our intent for this glove was to make you swim faster while diving. While we claim that by design, Darkfins CAN enable you to move through the water faster, make faster turns and fast reverse motions, we don't suggest you do so unless for some reason you need to.

I'm glad to hear from most, that Darkfins are great for fine trim adjustments an micro manuevers. If in fact you were using Darkfins to actually go faster then I can see the dramatic increase in gas use. This could be compared to a car using more fuel driving at 70 miles per hr instead of 60 miles per hour. To go faster in any case will require more fuel and the only benifits of the increase in speed is you get where your going faster. I realize however that unless your a navy seal or something that your objective is to stay under as long as you can and enjoy the dive.

That said, I've noticed that when treading water your only objective is to keep your head above water. How fast you do it isn't important. When using Darkfins to tread water I get about a 1 to 3 ratio (1 stroke w/Gloves vs. 3 strokes w/o gloves) in number of strokes it takes to stay up.

Now let's assume for a minute that you are going to swim (dive) 100 yards out to a reef. In normal diving form at a normal speed without Darkfins, you reach your desination in 10 min. On the next day you swim to the same destination under the exact same conditions except this time you use the gloves in addition to your fins and intentionally worked your legs a little less. I'm GUESSING you would there in the same amount of time. I wonder if you would have used the same amount of gas? And would your legs be less tired?

Are you still awake out there?

This kind of stuff makes me crazy!

But thanks for the review

 

[Roy McKinney]

Roy, they were not unliveable today (with the larger pair) so I won't do that. I am really starting to love these things. It was fun to see the other people on the boat saying "OMG those look SO COOL" and watching the 13-yo boy enjoy them. I may have given him the smaller pair, but he'll be out of them in two weeks and I'd rather give them to someone who is a more frequent diver who can give more testimony. Just know that a 13-yo boy thought they were the coolest EVER...one thing he mentioned is that he was underweighted on the first dive and the gloves helped him maintain his depth.

WOW!

After two years of work that one post made it all worth wild!

 

[pafindr]

Thanks for a well thought out review and for taking the time to seriously evaluate Darkfins from a "time under water vs. gas used" standpoint. So far this is the closest thing to actual DATA I've have gotten.

Just a couple of questions.

First, In what way did you use the gloves to aid your fins in foward propulsion? in other words, what position were your hands in and what sort of motion (method)did you use?
I tried several strokes. Frog stroke where you put your hands infront and bring them to your sides, dog paddle, and a windmill style.

Second, Were you intentionally trying to go faster than you normally would have simply to test the increase in propulsion that the gloves claim to give? Or were you simply finning with the gloves as an accent to your fins and cruising at normal swim speeds?
Not really trying to go faster but I did go faster depending on the stroke I used. My intention was to just use the gloves to help my legs.


Some divers, after seeing the latest video we released from Weeki wachi springs, Got the impression that our intent for this glove was to make you swim faster while diving. While we claim that by design, Darkfins CAN enable you to move through the water faster, make faster turns and fast reverse motions, we don't suggest you do so unless for some reason you need to.

I'm glad to hear from most, that Darkfins are great for fine trim adjustments an micro manuevers. If in fact you were using Darkfins to actually go faster then I can see the dramatic increase in gas use. This could be compared to a car using more fuel driving at 70 miles per hr instead of 60 miles per hour. To go faster in any case will require more fuel and the only benifits of the increase in speed is you get where your going faster. I realize however that unless your a navy seal or something that your objective is to stay under as long as you can and enjoy the dive.

That said, I've noticed that when treading water your only objective is to keep your head above water. How fast you do it isn't important. When using Darkfins to tread water I get about a 1 to 3 ratio (1 stroke w/Gloves vs. 3 strokes w/o gloves) in number of strokes it takes to stay up.

Now let's assume for a minute that you are going to swim (dive) 100 yards out to a reef. In normal diving form at a normal speed without Darkfins, you reach your desination in 10 min. On the next day you swim to the same destination under the exact same conditions except this time you use the gloves in addition to your fins and intentionally worked your legs a little less. I'm GUESSING you would there in the same amount of time. I wonder if you would have used the same amount of gas? And would your legs be less tired?
I will be shore diving in the AM and can use the gloves in conjuction with my fins. I normally swim out on my back so it may be a little harder that way. I will let you know if I felt more tired than normal when swimming out.
Are you still awake out there?

This kind of stuff makes me crazy!

But thanks for the review

I embedded my answers

 

[christo651]

I used my gloves for the monster swim back to the boat. When the current gets moving you can get behind the boat real fast, most times I end up 100 yds or so and have to fight the current all the way back. I have tried the get a compass bearing and go to the bottom where the current is supposed to be less. My experience has been when going back down and still moving my bearing gets thrown off, probably by inexperience, I end up getting off track and doing many ascents and turns. I found it easier to just go a few feet below the surface where the fins are more effective than on the surface and swim like hell to get there, coming up every so often for a more minor course correction. So I went out yesterday in the gulf, and the current was ripping at about .5 kph according to nearby buoy data, during the time we were there. Anyway ended up behind the boat again, only this time I had the gloves from Roy. Even though the swim was hard and I still do not want to do the monster swim anymore, the gloves made a huge difference in getting back to the boat. Did I use more air, you betcha, that tank was getting sucked down so fast I had frost on the lines and the tank started to implode. Okay the last 2 were not true but I was using alot of gas. But I do not think I would haved used less without the gloves. The swim was made easier and alot quicker and I could make more headway against the current using what I would call a modified frog kick timed with a breaststroke with the gloves, I had a 13 cuft. pony clipped in front and a speargun, arm through the rubber, swimming into the current. Not a fun swim but made more manageable by the extra propulsion. They have earned a place in my dive kit. Did they interfere with the spear fishing, not one bit. I could load/unload the gun, carry it, use the safety, aim, pull trigger and kill fish, easily put the fish on the stringer, removed shaft and reloaded. So far I cannot think of any reason other than you just do not wear gloves, that they shoud become standard equipment. It was not spearfishing with webbed gloves or diving with webbed gloves, it was "oh yeah" I have webbed gloves, when you needed them and just gloves the rest of the time.

 

[Teamcasa]

...For the standard diver, they encourage using the hands in my opinion which is counter to every training agency I know of.

It's a good thing improvements in dive gear is not static or we would still be using the J valve, watch and horse collars.

 

[Randy43068]

It's a good thing improvements in dive gear is not static or we would still be using the J valve, watch and horse collars.

you are way off the mark Dave, and we both know it. Apples and orange comparison. I appreciate you wanting a product to succed and I do to. I don't and cannot buy into the argument of a product which encourages poor SCUBA practice.

We will have to agree to disagree on this issue.

I suppose you want to call me an A$$_hole because I have a different view? Or am I arrogant since we don't see eye to eye on this?

 

[*dave*]

If you're snorkeling or doing some other kind of diving, these may be the best thing since sliced bread. But not general scuba diving.. again, as I said previously.

Clearly, these aren't for you.... or me. But, if they can add some function to a diver's tool kit, without affecting my dive, I think they're great.

Most divers don't have a back kick and won't ever take steps to get one. It take an a lot of practice, even with the right fin. If they can slap on these gloves and get better control, why not? If they can control their arms and are using the gloves to tweak their movements, where is the problem?

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing these, but I have seen countless divers who could have benefited from them.

Roy,

Sorry to bag on your buddy in the video. I'm sure he's a fine diver, but the video does not demonstrate practical use of your product in a way that compliments what we teach in OW courses.

The biggest benefit of these gloves I see is that they allow a person to maintain position or even back up without much effort. While using the hands to accomplish this is less than ideal, it's better than nothing by far.