regs, bcd then drysuit?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@KenGordon

When’s the last tine you went for a dive up here? For over an hour? A good percentage of the people up here dive some sort of dry glove system. Those that don’t tend to dive for shorter periods of time. And many give up because they are tired of being miserable.

semidry gloves help, but I wouldn’t say warm hands or missing a dive due to a seal failure are minor. We do lose a lot of heat through our hands.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Call me a chicken, but I'm a lot happier with my dry gloves than I ever was with wet gloves in my local water at 48F/9C - 56F/13C. Vancouver/Seattle is 1000 miles North of here, so it's gotta be pretty chilly up there. If the main downside to drygloves is coughing the 200 bucks or whatever it is, well, that's a drop in the bucket

 

[ontdiver]

Unless you are certain about your tolerance for the cold, dry gloves are the only way to go.

 

[Marie13]

Dry gloves are a necessity. How is this even a question?

 

[formernuke]

Dry gloves are a necessity. How is this even a question?

Some people up here don't use them, they prefer thick wet gloves.

Everyone is entitled to there own preferences...... and I'm entitled to think they are crazy.

 

[lexvil]

I’ve so far avoided this chicken or the egg thread, you’ll end up with all of them the order is mostly not important but;

If you are going to enjoy diving locally a drysuit should be pretty high on the order list and if you can rent locally that’s ok, so long as you can get one that fits well, to buy one look at Seaskin, these are custom fit at an amazingly low price, not a whole bunch more than a high quality wetsuit in many cases.

I had the chance to buy a new aircore suit last year (great price) but was just to fussy to put on, my buddy did buy it and although he likes the way it dives he has been chasing seem leaks every week until he just painted all seems with aqua seal, this is the Canadian made liner. He is about to order a Seaskin.

Regulators are easy and if you stick with a major brand you can save a lot buying used, know the pricing available for new and you’ll recognize a deal when you see it, but it’s more risk over new for sure.

Back plate and wing is a great way to go, used will save a bunch of $$, as for ready make b/c I think the hydros pro looks pretty good and isn’t to floaty, I have not tried one myself, you can find fair deals used but still will cost a lot more than a basic b/p w.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

@ghostbuster
As another cold water Canadian diver I will echo the advice on the Abyss and BARE drysuits; I owned and dove both (my son got my BARE and I bought a new Abyss); I really like my Abyss and BARE is no longer a Canadian company but owned by Huish. If you can rent a drysuit then I would do that until you can buy one. Also, swap meets are awesome, I've bought a drysuit (BARE Tech, unused,) a side mount BCD (dove 6 times) and other stuff at half or less than new. I dove wet gloves for two years and was fine but am enjoying my dry gloves now.

Used regulators can be a find but Apeks/Aqualung have parts for life in Canada. My son and I both have the DS4 and XTX40 set which are great rec regs. The main concern is to get cold water rated and ideally environmentally sealed regs, regardless of brand. Buying from the USA, with our dollar and duty isn't always your best price option.

There are wing inflate BCD that don't have a plate as well if that isn't your goal, such as Zeagle, Dive Rite etc and they can be configured for back mount doubles. My Dive Rite Nomad can be configured for single, double back mount, side mount (current use) or rebreather.
Best of luck.

 

[KenGordon]

@KenGordon

When’s the last tine you went for a dive up here? For over an hour? A good percentage of the people up here dive some sort of dry glove system. Those that don’t tend to dive for shorter periods of time. And many give up because they are tired of being miserable.

semidry gloves help, but I wouldn’t say warm hands or missing a dive due to a seal failure are minor. We do lose a lot of heat through our hands.

I have not dived there, but I do dive in 10c and colder water often and longer than an hour. But not for about three weeks now.

I, and most people I dive with, use 5mm gloves. The people using dry gloves get more hassle from them than from people wearing gloves get from wrist seals.

I just received a new suit that has dry gloves and field replaceable everything. Mostly that is so when I am away or in the middle of no where I can fix it myself and I hope that in 3 or 4C water I will have warmer hands. It is rarely that cold in the sea here.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I have not dived there, but I do dive in 10c and colder water often and longer than an hour. But not for about three weeks now.

I, and most people I dive with, use 5mm gloves. The people using dry gloves get more hassle from them than from people wearing gloves get from wrist seals.

I just received a new suit that has dry gloves and field replaceable everything. Mostly that is so when I am away or in the middle of no where I can fix it myself and I hope that in 3 or 4C water I will have warmer hands. It is rarely that cold in the sea here.

I don't know anyone who technical dives with 5 mil gloves. All the recreational divers I see with 5 mil gloves suffer. Diving is supposed to be fun.

There's a guy locally who dives in a shorty in summer (10-12 degrees C at that time). People have a huge variance in their tolerance for cold. When I taught for shops, students either in 7 mil wetsuits or dry suits invariably were given 5 mil gloves and with one exception (6'5" 280 lb firefighter) their hands were incredibly cold after the first dive. The second dive they suffered, this is despite me providing a huge water cooler filled with hot water for in between dives.

It isn't about circulation issues, it is about tolerance for cold. You do know that the body when cold shunts blood away from the extremities when cold, right? That's just physiology.

 

[KenGordon]

I don't know anyone who technical dives with 5 mil gloves. All the recreational divers I see with 5 mil gloves suffer. Diving is supposed to be fun.

There's a guy locally who dives in a shorty in summer (10-12 degrees C at that time). People have a huge variance in their tolerance for cold. When I taught for shops, students either in 7 mil wetsuits or dry suits invariably were given 5 mil gloves and with one exception (6'5" 280 lb firefighter) their hands were incredibly cold after the first dive. The second dive they suffered, this is despite me providing a huge water cooler filled with hot water for in between dives.

It isn't about circulation issues, it is about tolerance for cold. You do know that the body when cold shunts blood away from the extremities when cold, right? That's just physiology.

Wear a proper suit and undersuit, eat properly and so don’t get cold in general and then your hands will be much better. If your extremities are shutting off you are too cold at the core and that needs to be addressed.

Like silly computers, over specified drysuits are poor advice. A decent suit which fits well and is dry is the most important thing. In recent years dry gloves, silicone seals, front zips, plastic zips etc have become common but are mostly an unnecessary expense. People who do get cold easily or are diving in very cold water will benefit, but 10C really isn’t too awful for most people.