Ultima Dry Glove System question

[MaxBottomtime]

I pre-stretch the O-ring before putting it in the glove. I've set up two sets of Ultima rings in the past few weeks simply by placing them flat on my desk and stretching the gloves over the rings. Took about ten seconds for each glove. I'm now able to quickly change gloves without tools or jigs. This, after years of sweating and cursing at PVC gloves. I love the 720s!

 

[Deep South Divers]

Yep, basically my technique also.

I still want to make a video of the technique because I found that if I hold my hand/fingers a certain way, it makes things a whole lot easier.

 

[rock92]

I still haven't used mine in cold water, but I did get to use them over multiple dives last weekend in the Florida springs. They worked great with no leaks and excellent dexterity and robustness.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The way I'm doing it now is similar to this video except I lay the ring flat and hold the end away from me with two fingers while I stretch the glove over the ring. It's much faster with the 720s. I don't know if I could do it with PVC gloves.

 

[Deep South Divers]

Same here... I lay the ring down flat and walk the glove onto the ring, using the fingers of one hand to hold the glove in place.

I agree that the 720s are stretchier and therefore easier to install than PVC 660s.

The orange gloves in the video are the SHOWA 460 - which is essentially a "furry" acrylic fleece lined 620. It is a thinner version of the 660, so not as stretchy as a 720 but not as stiff as a 660.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I also noticed that the Diving Concepts glove O-rings are a slightly larger diameter than the Ultimas. I'm glad I saved the old ones when I sold my DC ring sets.

 

[Deep South Divers]

Any problems with them holding gloves in place even though they're larger?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

None at all. They are barely larger but due to the thinner, stretchier nitrile of the 720s, they close tight enough on the Ultima rings. The Ultima O-rings seemed to need more stretching to get onto the rings.

 

[Degenerate]

A few thousand dives so far, and only a handful of leaks... Like, when I hole a glove on a chainsaw blade (happens, but surprisingly rarely - they're pretty tough... And when it does, only the tip of that finger or whatever gets wet). I have never had a leak at the glove/ring interface, and I've never had a leak at the ring/ring interface.

I once had a leak at the ring/suit interface. I was underwater with the chainsaw and in an odd position due to the current and weird cutting angle. My shoulder and elbow were flexed hard and pulling on the drysuit and glove, which forced the seam open a little along the backside of my wrist. I got about a tablespoon of water in through the seam before I jumped (sudden cold spot), and that jump resealed the area and I didn't have a problem again for that dive.

When I got home I pulled the suitside ring off of the suit, cleaned everything up and put it back together. Turns out that I'd had a wrinkle in the wrist seal (which is trimmed down in my case) the whole time... Which really was the core cause of the leak.

I'm amazed at how resilient the system is that I was able to dive for so long with a bad seal on the suit - and not have a leak.

...So no, I don't think you'll have a problem with leaks.

Just to be sure - your suit came originally equipped with SiTech QCS Oval rings, right? Not the round ones? You pulled them (and the wrist seal) off and replaced them with the Waterproof Ultima Dryglove Ring system, right? With a wrist seal between the suit's soft ring and the Waterproof suitside hard ring (that the glove clips to)? The system should fit snug, but not hard at all. I always notice a little "snap" sound when I have installed mine. Did you hear the "snap?" It's more prevalent with silicone seals than with latex seals... But present with both.

I, too, have gotten pretty good at installing the 720s on the rings. It takes me just a minute or two, and without tools at all. Since getting the technique polished, I've been planning on making a video - but have been too busy to put it together. I'll do that today and post it so that y'all can see what seems to be working here.



Yes, absolutely... The thinner and stretchier 720s are WAY easier to install on the rings than the 660s. Huge difference - and frankly, a big reason to be a fan of the 720s right there.

I'm not really worried about it leaking either, was just trying to make a point of how simple the system was.
My suit is the new WP D7X Nylotech that was released after DEMA, amazing suit and it does indeed come with the SiTech oval rings.
Changed the oval ones to the Ultima with the help of one of your videos, much appreciated, those rings ain't going nowhere unless I want them to.
I think the 720's have so much better feel overall than the 660 so I doubt I'll ever try mounting them, gotta pick up some more 720's for backup though

 

[a878bob]

Thoughts on th wp D7x would be appreciated.