Gloves in cold water

[coldwatercanada]

I base glove wearing on how long the dive is. If its quick little 20-30 minute dive i usually forgo, where it its a longer dive ill wear them. My only comment is as long as the cold water doesnt render your fingers numb and use less( Ie. bad arthritis or frostbite) i don't see why you'd have too?

 

[Bandaid6]

Wow thanks for the input guys! I am used to the surprised look from other divers and the "how do you do that" comments but not the reaction I got from this guy that I generally respect as a knowledgeable pro. I have come to the conclusion that I just won't DM for him if he continues to be offended by such a silly preference.

As for the time question my "fun" dives usually last 45-60 minutes, truth is after a few minutes in water my hands don't bother me much. I've been down to 130 ft in mid 40s water with no issues.

 

[FinnMom]

you might try wearing light gloves with the fingers cut off half way. It will give you a little more warmth than no gloves, but will still leave your fingers free for gear adjustments.

Exactly what I was thinking! We used to do this when fishing the first few weeneds of the season in nearly freezing conditions. It's amazing how much comfort you can get out of having the wrists and finger joints covered. Just cut the fingertips off of a maybe 3mm wetglove. I've also seen some sold like this. It's hugely warmer than no glove at all and yet leaves you with nearly the same dexterity.

 

[Peter_C]

Eh, just leave your hood off too, and they will know you are crazy and not mess with you! :crazyeye:

 

[coldwatercanada]

lol 2-3 mill "warm water" gloves are an option too. Mild warmth lots of protection!

 

[TMHeimer]

If you are OK with your hands bare who cares? Some people get funny ideas. It is much easier to mess with students' fin straps, masks, etc. with bare hands. In fact, both me and the instructor were doing this last week. It's tough for the students since they are wearing 3 fingered mitts. I reserve those for when the water temp. gets below 40F.

 

[Diver0001]

So I dive in the cold waters of the Puget sound, have a few hundred dives or so and about 100 dives ago I quit wearing gloves. My hands get a lil cold but they function fine and its fairly tolerable. I find it easier to adjust or repair students equipment in the water and I'm less apt to grab stuff I shouldn't. I've recently started getting dirty looks and snide comments from another "pro".
Can anyone offer a valid reason to wear them other than comfort. What problems could arise that I haven't thought of?

I kind of understand what you mean because I like the added sensitivity of wearing thin gloves myself. I have 2 pair of 2mm gloves that I wear. When the water is over 17C I wear just one, and between 12 and 17 I put the 2nd pair over top of them. Both ways are more comfortable and offer better dexterity than standard 5mm gloves and the layered solution is just as warm. I'd recommend trying a pair of 2mm gloves and see how that works for you, even if it's just for the experience of having tried it.

If I'm not mistaken, water temperatures in Puget sound are about 12C in the summer and about 8C in the winter, right? There's just no way I would personally be able to tolerate diving without gloves in that kind of temperature but if you can and you have sufficient dexterity and strength then I don't see any real problems associated with it. I will say that if you have this ability there's a pretty good chance you're not the same species of animal that I am, though

R..

 

[Dr. Lecter]

there are some dive destinations (Hawaii, eg) were gloves are not permitted, to keep people from touching things they should not touch.

Off-topic, but where in HI did you encounter that rule? I wear gloves on Oahu when diving wrecks/sites where I'm likely to be crawling through lava tubes, and have never heard of them being disallowed. Indeed, if a dive shop told me I wasn't allowed exposure protection because of it potentially encouraging bad habits, I'd politely tell them where to stuff their concerns.

 

[FM1520]

I wear 3 mil gloves here in San Diego but more for protection than warmth although the water is usually in the 50s a good part of the year.

 

[g1138]

Gloves provide comfort, protection from abrasions, and make it more likely that you'll have circulation in your hands for better/quicker finger movements (as opposed to cold hands).

Of all things you can do while diving to get snide comments about, not wearing gloves comes very very low on my list.