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Looking for Dry Gloves
- Thread starter Joris Vd
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Th G-Dive glove looks to me to be a SHOWA 495 glove that has the cuff custom dipped in latex to be used as a "pull over" type glove.
Even locally the dive shops are selling Atlas/SHOWA gloves at rediculous markups...a local shop wanted $59 for the SHOWA 495...the 495 is essentially the 660 with a removable yellow acrylic liner glove:
Showa 495 glove - Google Search
The sizing for the 495 and the 660 are a bit wonky, at least for me, so I have migrated to using the SHOWA 720 nitrile glove as recommended by another SB member.
The 660, the 495, and the 490 are essentially the same glove on the outside. On the inside this is how they differ:
660 - thin cotton lining (this is like a substrate for the glove to support the dipping process)
495 - same thin cotton lining but also has a removable acrylic inner glove (usually yellow)
490 - this glove has a non-removable acrylic liner that is similar in nature to the acrylic inner glove of the 495.
There is also the 460 and 465 which are essentially the same as the 490 and 495 but in orange instead of blue.
I have received samples from SHOWA of every glove mentioned in this post except the 460 and the 490 as I preferred the removable liner glove.
Looking at the DGX webpage you linked to, DGX seems to be sticking it to the customer on the price for these gloves, though they do have the overhead of typically having to buy a case (or more) of each size and I imagine that some sizes are slow movers. Still, I can't help but shake my head at the price these sell for online and at local dive shops.
-Z
I don't think anyone is recommending a system that "requires" using a tool to pry the gloves off after a dive. Though some of us have better hand strength than others due perhaps to age, gender, morphology, arthritis, etc, and due to this it may be easier for one person to separate the glove side rings from the cuff side rings, un-aided, compared to another person.
Also there is a bit of technique involved in separating the glove side ring where one needs to figure out how to brace the system while they pull them apart...this may go smooth or in the case when one might be pressed to get out of their suit to urinate after an extended dive in cold water might not.
If one decides to employ a tool to facilitate removal and make life easier for themself then god bless them. Dive and let dive.
Kubi and Ultima DGS are both great systems. As stated previously I use the Ultima DGS, and I dive with folks who use Kubi, Rolock, Diving Concepts, Si-Tech, Santi, and others.
They all have their pro's and con's...the only thing that is consistent is the notion to stay away from the Si-tech Antares setup...which is only relevant if one has the si-tech oval wrist system, for which there are better products on the market made to fit directly such as the si-tech virgo or the waterproof ulima dgs.
-Z
The thickness of the orange dipping on the 460 and 465 gloves is about 60% as thick as the blue dipping on the 490,495 and 660 gloves. If you are wreck diving or doing anything that puts stress on the gloves get the blue ones. Years ago when my local hardware store was selling the lined orange Showas I was replacing 3 sets every year. After they stopped selling them, and I had to order my Showa gloves, I started using the blue ones, which although costing twice as much as the orange ones hold up much better.
For a while I was using blue Mapa gloves that look exactly like the Showas but are a lot cheaper, I found out that I have never used a colder glove, and switched back to the Showas.
Michael
For a while I was using blue Mapa gloves that look exactly like the Showas but are a lot cheaper, I found out that I have never used a colder glove, and switched back to the Showas.
Michael
gcarter
Contributor
Be that as it may, if I am looking for a recommendation and I see several posts in a row indicating what to use as a tool to pry the gloves apart without any indication of some of what you have posted above, it is a pretty short path to questioning the recommendation of the system. This was not an issue of dive and let dive.
In case anyone hasn’t seen it, there is a thread that turned into a comparison of many gloves from Showa and other manufacturers:
Ultima Dry Glove System question
Ultima Dry Glove System question
Of course it is...gear configuration is a personal choice. I see folks make what I think are stupid choices all the time. For fox sake, I have 2 teenagers in my household and I am a retired military officer so I have played "dad" to some of our nation's finest on the high seas, and some not so bright. Just because you chose to infer something specific, albeit false, from what was posted here does not indicate anything wrong with the systems discussed nor does it indicate anything wrong with your thought process....perhaps a bit more Q&A to inquire a little more softly why one would choose the configuration they have and the method they employ to doff/don the configuration is warranted.
For one thing, the Ultima DGS is an incredibly secure system when properly locked together....one has to be very careless or blind to lock them together improperly. But that security comes with a price, and that price is that is a bit difficult to seperate. For some that means employing something that gives them more leverage, easy enough.
Funny, Si-Tech and Rolock users have complained that they sometimes have problems getting things connect properly so that their hands are dry, and that sometimes it is hard to turn the outer locking/release rings of the system.
Like I said, all the systems have their pro's and con's. Mileage may vary depending on personal experience.
-Z
Would love to share in your source of $4/pair for 720s....I have found them for around $7/pair but have not looked in awhile.
-Z
MaxBottomtime and I were (are) contributors in that thread.
Lots of good info in it, though it probably should have been broken into multiple threads a while ago so the topics discussed could be more easily searched and followed.
And I owe a debt of gratitude to deepsouthdiver (Seajay) for the persuasive suggestion to try the SHOWA 720 glove. I have been diving with the sample pair that SHOWA sent me a few months ago and they are holding up extremely well.
-Z
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