Operating Equipment with Thick Gloves

[knowone]

Thinner gloves. Cut your fingertips off. Make hybrid gloves as manufacturers could be doing. Attach clip to shoulder 6 inches from spg and never touch it, or to the titanium cage of your gridiron helmet, with your lights and camera. Trim schmim. How do you look at fish and junk. Take more air so you can crane your neck.

 

[Saudi-Diver]

I find the mask removal and replacement drill a real pain with 5mm gloves, the skirt of the mask all ways sits on the hood and the combination of thick gloves and wet neoprene conspires to make it a real struggle to get the mask to seal. I have now done the grand total of 20 dry suit dives now. Getting better with each dive.

 

[yosemite_sam]

I do not wear gloves, I could never get used to them

 

[Saudi-Diver]

No gloves is not really an option in Loch Fyne, West Coast of Scotland. After about 50 mins. hands are beginning to chill in 5 mm gloves. Exposure protection and comfort levels vary between people, my buddy dives a Semi dry all year in Scotland and says the only downside is climbing in to it when its wet for the second dive. Yuk! Incidentally how robust are the Dry Gloves and how do you equalize the Airspace in them?

 

[yosemite_sam]

No gloves is not really an option in Loch Fyne, West Coast of Scotland. After about 50 mins. hands are beginning to chill in 5 mm gloves. Exposure protection and comfort levels vary between people, my buddy dives a Semi dry all year in Scotland and says the only downside is climbing in to it when its wet for the second dive. Yuk! Incidentally how robust are the Dry Gloves and how do you equalize the Airspace in them?

I dive off the west coast of Ireland, every bit as cold and I never wear gloves

 

[Doc Harry]

I use dry gloves. The blue smurf gloves with a pair of insulating gloves underneath.

Seems pretty clumsy when I first gear up, but halfway through the dive it seems perfectly natural and I don't even seem to notice the gloves. I think it just takes a lot of practice, making sure that your gear is in the proper location and the clips are large enough.

Warm dry gloves seems to make all the difference in the world when it comes to staying warm overall.

 

[fppf]

Yuk! Incidentally how robust are the Dry Gloves and how do you equalize the Airspace in them?

There not as robust as a set of Neo gloves. If your going to be handling a lot of crap put a set of work gloves over the dry gloves. I have poked very small holes in 2 sets of gloves so far. But I think one was a mfg. defect, the other was the good old zebra muscle with its razor sharp shell.

That said, I have found a wet dry glove with a pretty good slice in it is still warmer then wet gloves. Even if the glove starts to leak right away my hands are still warmer at the end of a dive then with wet gloves. Now if it totally floods out, then your going to be cold and quick.

To equalize the gloves you put something under the wrist seal. Anything works as long as it breaks the wrist seal a little, string, thumb loops, coffee stir, silicone tubing.

 

[Buoyant1]

I've been using 7mm Henderson gloves this spring (actually I hadn't been diving in Spring yet, it was STILL winter!) and had no problem adapting to them from the usual 5mm's I use for local diving. My bolt snaps have nice sized rings on them so I can at least grip them to get hold.

Just keep doing, it'll get easier!

 

[East West]

I have cut one inch off the end of each finger so the first joint is exposed without much warmth lost . It may look crude but very effective to keep your dexterity . You can do a thin glove first if you do not want your bare finger ends exposed .

 

[W8less]

Photo dives in Puget Sound 46 -48 d I use a 3mm on my right hand and a 5 on the left. Those little control push buttons are pretty close together. I do not notice any loss in dexterity with a 3 mm even on a long dive.

You will get used to thick gloves it just takes lots of reps.