How To Best Use Scubapro Easy Don Dry Gloves?

[cleung]

I bought a pair of Scubapro Easy Don dry gloves and used them for the first time last week in fresh Ontario cold water. For the first dive, I had the seals of the gloves fit over the seals of my drysuit and the dive boat captain helped me smooth out the seals. I went down to 50 feet and although I experienced hand squeeze, it really did not bother me. So when I came back up, the captain concluded that the glove was airtight with nothing flowing in between my drysuit and the gloves. I used the supplied inner wool liner that came with the Scubapro gloves too.

For the second dive, we did the same thing except this time, the seal on my left hand glove was not smoothed out. During this dive, the glove did leak. My right hand which did have a smooth seal, did not leak. When I came back up, the left glove along with the liner was soaked but no water entered the drysuit so the seal of the drysuit held. So I'm guessing that in order for no leaks, I have to ensure that both glove seals are smoothed out. This second dive went only to 20 feet and I did not notice any hand squeeze.

So for the future, I'll definitely make sure both glove seals are smooth when they fit over the drysuit liner. But I have not implemented any equalization for the glove yet.

I heard that one can use a straw -- would this usually be placed on the palm side or back of the hand side? I also read that if I put on the inner liners before I put on my drysuit, then the liner would provide the airflow between the gloves and the drysuit without the need for the straw or tube. The liner would be under the drysuit seals.

My question is if I end up getting a glove leak, wouldn't water flow into my drysuit too whether I use a straw tube or fit the inner liner inside my drysuit seal?

The other option is just do nothing for equalization and continue to just make sure the glove seals are smooth over the drysuit seals. Then I wouldn't have to worry about water getting into my drysuit. For cold water dives, I don't intend to go past 80 or 90 feet so I don't really know if the hand squeeze would be unbearable compared to the squeeze I encountered at 50 feet which was really no big deal.

Any suggestions?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

If you have the seals flat you could try making a fist while holding your hands above your head. The tendons in your wrist may allow enough air to flow from the drysuit into your gloves to relieve the squeeze.

 

[Pkishino]

I always use my liner under dry suit seal and gloves flat over, never an issue. The seals are still tight enough so if a glove would leak it would still only leak very slowly through the liner,time to abort and surface

 

[rick00001967]

i tried these gloves. getting them on by yourself can be a challenge. i actually ended up just taking the ring system off the gloves and installed them on my wrist seals. then i just used pull over latex gloves with an oring around the ring for added security. never leaks. way easier to put on. hands are dry and warm.
if i dive below 30 feet i always use a small plastic tube under the inside of my drysuit wrist seal for equalizing the gloves. otherwise in cold water the squeeze will cause you to loose all the thermal properties of the inner gloves and you will have cold hands.

 

[Pkishino]

i tried these gloves. getting them on by yourself can be a challenge. i actually ended up just taking the ring system off the gloves and installed them on my wrist seals. then i just used pull over latex gloves with an oring around the ring for added security. never leaks. way easier to put on. hands are dry and warm.
if i dive below 30 feet i always use a small plastic tube under the inside of my drysuit wrist seal for equalizing the gloves. otherwise in cold water the squeeze will cause you to loose all the thermal properties of the inner gloves and you will have cold hands.

try using wrist warmers or longer gloves instead of a tube. I put on my liners before I put my suit arms on so the seal lies on top of the glove,no need for tubes and keeps the wrists warmer then directly on the skin

 

[cleung]

i tried these gloves. getting them on by yourself can be a challenge. i actually ended up just taking the ring system off the gloves and installed them on my wrist seals. then i just used pull over latex gloves with an oring around the ring for added security. never leaks. way easier to put on. hands are dry and warm.
if i dive below 30 feet i always use a small plastic tube under the inside of my drysuit wrist seal for equalizing the gloves. otherwise in cold water the squeeze will cause you to loose all the thermal properties of the inner gloves and you will have cold hands.

Which side of your wrist do you put the plastic tubes to?

 

[Marie13]

The Fourth Element wrist warmers are just lovely.

I never used the small straw that came with my SiTech system, but the instructions said to put the straw on the inside of your wrist.

Another option that I learned from one of Mike at DRIS' videos is to leave the thumb loop of your undergarment sticking out of your wrist seal. That's what I always did. Worked well enough. Those small straws were too fiddly for me.

 

[rick00001967]

Which side of your wrist do you put the plastic tubes to?

the inside. i have a very small diameter tube that is flexible but stiff enough that it simply slides under the seal. very quick and easy. takes 2 seconds.

 

[rick00001967]

try using wrist warmers or longer gloves instead of a tube. I put on my liners before I put my suit arms on so the seal lies on top of the glove,no need for tubes and keeps the wrists warmer then directly on the skin

my wrist seals are too tight to put the inner gloves on first. tried that. was cutting off the blood to my hands. whenever i need to replace the seals i will most likely try a slightly different seal that is a bit larger.

with the glove system i use my inner gloves lie on top of my wrist seals so the wrist is covered and stays warm. this allows me to don all my gear with full use of my bare hands. no worries about getting my inner gloves wet. but with the easy don scuba pro gloves, having the inner glove under the seal would be a lot warmer for sure.

with having the inner glove on top of the seal i don't have to worry about a major leak if i rupture an outer glove. my wrist seal for the suit will be sealed. i would get some water up the small equalization tube but far less than if my inner glove was under the wrist seal. i would also have the option to pull out the tube if i needed to.