Puerto Galera

[Halthron]

Gloves also lead to reef damage when worn diving.

No, they don't. They only cause damage if someone wearing them reaches out to touch the reef. Guess what? if someone who isn't wearing gloves touches the reef, the reef can become damaged. Guess what again, if someone wearing gloves doesn't touch the reef, no damage is done.

Wearing gloves causes SOME people to be less careful with their hands because of the protection they enjoy. Generalizing all glove wearers is wrong though.

 

[Matthew]

Roger that....the diver "must" follow the approved protocol of "DO NOT TOUCH". Training, training, training. Gloves are cool. They are really cool when you don't want to tear your hands up on descent/ascent line, picking up trash when diving, and best of all....in those moments when you have no choice but to grab blindly to save yourself, a buddy, or both.

These are, among others, all valid reasons for wearing gloves. I find one or more of these situations to be present in most of my dives. Gloves are for WARMTH and PROTECTION of the hands and I find stupid the generalization that people who use them intend to touch coral. Now why deny me the use of something I find very useful to me because other people might misuse it?

 

[chip104]

GLOVES ARE FOR SISSIES.














heheheheh...:1poke:

 

[Matthew]

It says: "Coral touching was also more common among men than women, and by those who wore protective gloves."

Then male divers should also be banned.

If you want to conserve the wonders of the reef you should not wear gloves even if you are a perfect diver. It is good to set an example to others that gloves are bad practice on a reef. They should be illegal everywhere.

Again do not equate wearing gloves with touching the reef. They may not be necessary to you, but many people who dive differently have good uses for them, it is narrow-minded to brand them as bad practice and therefore should be illegal.

 

[shugar]

Wearing gloves causes SOME people to be less careful with their hands because of the protection they enjoy. Generalizing all glove wearers is wrong though.

which brings us back to the whole korean divers thing?

Jag

PS
brucie, i have to agree with halthron, though: having a gun does not a killer make... being black does not a drug dealer make... being a brit soccer fan does not a hooligan make... wearing protection does not AIDS free make...

 

[shugar]

GLOVES ARE FOR SISSIES.














heheheheh...:1poke:

jeezus kryst... sometimes chip i wonder if you're out incurring some wrath of god or some similar diety

hahahahahahahahahaha

Jag

 

[shugar]

Then male divers should also be banned.



Again do not equate wearing gloves with touching the reef. They may not be necessary to you, but many people who dive differently have good uses for them, it is narrow-minded to brand them as bad practice and therefore should be illegal.

maybe there are no reefs where he dives? what i mean is: it might be a matter of perspective:

we are saying (among other things) that gloves may be necessary to hold on to something (in many cases a sharp coral) for support, safety or desperation - you guys must realize that in the philippines, in most dive sites corals and similar structures are all we have to grasp in an emergency

for others they probably see maybe one modest coral head in a sea of sand... maybe some rocks too... in this case, unless it's life-or-death, grab on to something else since damaging the 1 remaining coral means they have to travel to the philippines and dive here

think about it...

Jag

 

[jonix]

currents? how are currents in bonaire?

i agree with jag, we dive differing reef/ dive site topography and currents...what may well be a lifesaving thing for us may be totally non existent where others dive

@bruce: it gets pretty rough here at times..i remember hanging for dear life using a single glove on my right hand...found a rock and hung on to it

 

[clgsamson]

GLOVES ARE FOR SISSIES.














heheheheh...:1poke:

really? i wear gloves and i'm no sissy diver...

 

[Matthew]

It is common to hold on to rocks or crawl along the bottom (not on live coral) in very strong currents. A very common example is getting to cathedral, one of our most popular sites, in ripping current - you have to hold onto rocks here and there to be able to maintain your course. The other option is to go down the buoy, along the rope encrusted by all sorts of growth. I once bloodied my hands that way.

But in certain extreme cases I would choose to touch coral than get blown off the reef.