Need suggestion on Gloves and Hood for my drysuit in colder water

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Hostage

Contributor
Messages
219
Reaction score
14
Location
Rochester, NY
# of dives
50 - 99
I just got my USIA Deluxe Drysuit yesterday and it looks awesome. I currently have a 3mm hood w/ bib and gloves. I dove with them last season late summer. I live in Rochester, NY and I want to extend my season as that is one of the reason I got a dry suit. I am not interested in ice diving.

I am wondering what thickness I should go for my hood and gloves. I also see there are 3 finger gloves that can keep you warmer. It looks like lake Ontario is 42* right now and warming up. I am mainly interested in wreck diving and 1000 Islands/Alex Bay.

Regards,

Doron
 
Si-Tech dry glove system, so you can set them up with replaceable wrist seals. (They make a nice neck seal system too, and both will let you use silicon seals). An Otter Bay 12 mm hood is where it is at. Custom cut at a reasonable cost. You can research the name on this board for references. If someone recommends any other type of wet hood, they simply have never used an Otter Bay hood. Put the reg in mouth when you go to measure so you have slack in the jaw.
 
I wear inexpensive (10 euro) 7mm mitts and two hoods: a 5mm wetsuit hood that I had lying around and the Whites drysuit hood (included with the suit) on top of that. Kept me happy in 28F water for 40 minutes.
 
Doron,

If you want to stay with wet gloves - check out the Fourth Element line. As to a hood, any 7mm with a cold water collar. No, haven't ever heard of Otter Bay, but also haven't been cold with a 7mm... YMMV.
 
I have 7mm hoods from OS Systems and Edge. Both work well. As for gloves I don't care for the smurf gloves and ring systems. I have the XS Scuba dry fives and a pair of the new 4th elements. Have not used the 4th elements yet as the dry fives really work well. They have a double cuff and can be a bit of a pain to put on but they are neoprene and compress with depth. You can also pour warm water in them before the dive and doing that has allowed me to do hour long ice dives in total comfort. Almost. I forgot my heavy socks that day and my toes got cold. But everything else was warm!
 
Jim,

Once you dive them, please give a feedback comparison between the XS and 4th.

Thanks.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I am not looking for a "dry glove"; I have the latex seals on my wrists. I am guessing it makes more sense to have something thicker on your head as you don't move it much and then have something thinner on your hands, so you can have greater dexterity.
 
Si tech ring system w/Drygloves if you truly want your hands to be comfortable. For wet gloves, fourth elements are great and hoods are Nice too. They are more expensive but the warmest hood that I have used to date is the SANTI dual-layer hood.
 
They are more expensive but the warmest hood that I have used to date is the SANTI dual-layer hood.
The Santi is a 10mm hood, and the Otter Bay is 12mm. Is it more expensive than the custom made to order Otter Bay too? I know Santi builds nice products, but something to be said for buying from a small, local (Well to us anyway) companies.

http://www.otterbaysuits.com/wetsuits.cfm
 

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