Ansell is our other sponsor. We have tested a ton of their summer wet gloves, and found a few that we liked... But never gone through their sealed gloves that could be used as drygloves.
I just looked through 27 pages of gloves that they make... And there's probably a dozen contenders for drygloves... Some of which are even blue nitrile with good cut and abrasion numbers. They have several PVC options that are almost identical to the SHOWA 660s.
That said - I'm honestly a little partial to the fit of SHOWA gloves. They just seem to be a little better cut than the Ansells. But hey, that's personal preference. The only way to really know is to order a sample set. All Ansells that I have used seem slightly shorter and stubbier than SHOWAs. I guess it's a matter of what fits you best.
I'm about over drysuit (and therefore dryglove) season... Tomorrow I dive for the first time in about two months (due to injury)... Doing some indoor pool work for the US Marine Corps. I'll be in a 3mm suit and a set of SHOWA STEX376s, which are my go-to for all wet-glove work.
This year SHOWA is making an STEX377, which simply has the nitrile dip a little further down the hand than the STEX376s... I've already ordered a run of STEX377s. I'm sure they're awesome.
For those of you in the PNW that never go out of drysuit season... I'm actually a bit envious - which is probably the first time you've heard that from a SE diver that thinks that 80* water is cold.
Y'all need to keep this thread going until I can rejoin the hunt for great drysuit gloves in November or December.
As of this writing, my favorite are the SHOWA 720s, and I'm very curious about the 281s - which show a lot of promise but are oddly short. I'm not sure if this would be a problem or not for me. I'm not a fan of furry gloves, so for me the 282s are out - I prefer to use a glove liner when I need some fluff inside.
...Speaking of which, kudos to the new Fourth Element Xerotherm glove liners. They're impressive - although I'm going to have to put a few dozen more dives on them to really shake them down and have a qualified opinion on them.
Sekeli, are these Ansell glove liners true liners, or just warm and thin gloves that work well as an underglove? Either way, what works, works, and I can tell you that Ansell makes some nice stuff. Are they wool? Acrylic? Polyester?