Who makes the best Gloves and Booties?

[MSilvia]

I use very simple neoprene socks with Converse All-Stars "Chuck Taylor" canvas sneakers over them... one size larger than I would normally wear. They're great on pavement, sand, boat decks, climbing down rocks, on gravel, in warm weather, when ice diving... you name it. I even use them with my dry suit. Mine are black on black, but you can get them in pretty much any color or pattern you want, and you can even design your own online if you're so inclined.

For gloves, I use 5mm Akona 5-finger gloves with kevlar, unless it's too cold for that, in which case I go with blue "smurf" gloves and the Si-Tech ring system.

 

[Rockhound76]

I have a pair of carpet soled booties from the 70's that are still serviceable. My regular booties are a pair I bought from Performance on clearance more than ten years ago. They still look new. Okay, NOT NEW, but nothing is wrong with them.

I bought my son a pair of Tusa booties earlier this summer and they look pretty robust. We'll see how they hold up. Both these and my regular booties are hard soled, which I highly recommend.

For warm water gloves, I dive with Hobie full finger water ski gloves. As someone suggested, I use black-dot garden gloves over them when I'm likely to be holding on or working with something rough. They've lasted about 8 years and just now need replacing. For cold water (it's a relative term, I know. I mean below 65 degree water temp egrees around here), I use a pair of USD 5-finger gloves. They'v e held up really well, but I haven't used them much. No need.

 

[Belga]

I have recently purchased the MARES TRILASTIC GLOVES. Image for Mares3/2mm Trilastic Gloves
They fit great and I can utilize my snapbolts and finger spools very easily. They did well on a lake dive with very low vis, I had to guide my way on the bottom using my hands and was very happy to have them. They tend to run big so size down.

Carolyn:sharks:

Must agree with Carolyn that the MARES trilastic is a fantastic glove. They are very flexible while still keeping you relatively warm (dive tempature of 16 degrees celcius), BUT i will never buy a set again. The rubber 'skirt' tears very easily at the stitching and the MARES rep would not replace mine after numerous phone calls and even my local dive shop calling them.

Ive decided, just to be spitefull i guess, never to buy MARES products again.

 

[CompuDude]

I go for dexterity in gloves, not puncture resistance, I my preference for 3mm Henderson InstaDry gloves probably is not good for you. Best dexterity this side of bare hands, and very warm for their thickness. Note that I've heard the 5mm versions are not as comfortable or dextrous. Puncture resistance is definitely not their strong suit, however.

For boots, again, I agree with the InstaDry recommendation. Boots tend to STINK, between foot odor and nylon retaining moisture and smell, and the InstaDry solves both of these issue. They dry fast, and there is no nylon to retain odor, so they just don't get that funk. Nice hard soles and comfortable... to me. YMMV.

 

[RJP]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be doing mostly shore diving, but I might occasionally be on a boat.

Thanks for the help!

You didn't say - and doesn't look like anyone asked - but where will you be diving? Cayman islands or Lake Ontario or somewhere in between. Water temp will have an awful lot to do with the proper selection of booties and gloves.

Why not stop into your LDS and ask them for their recommendation. You can also try them on to ensure proper fit, which is critical. An ill-fitting pair of the best gloves in the world won't do you any good.

(PS - you really SHOULD buy them at the LDS after trying stuff on. Or you could offer the owner a tenner for his time!)

 

[pwscottiv]

You didn't say - and doesn't look like anyone asked - but where will you be diving? Cayman islands or Lake Ontario or somewhere in between. Water temp will have an awful lot to do with the proper selection of booties and gloves.

Why not stop into your LDS and ask them for their recommendation. You can also try them on to ensure proper fit, which is critical. An ill-fitting pair of the best gloves in the world won't do you any good.

(PS - you really SHOULD buy them at the LDS after trying stuff on. Or you could offer the owner a tenner for his time!)

LOL, yeah, I actually did go in and buy about $300 worth of stuff at the LDS. When he wouldn't take my money for his time a while back, I decided that I would at least buy something. I bought my gloves, booties, hood, and some other stuff through them. I'm not really all that happy about the selection they had and I'm regretting that I didn't just buy them online, because I could of got stuff that was way better for the same price that I paid for mediocre products at the LDS. I can only hope that the gesture of me buying stuff there won't be lost... It was pretty annoying to know I paid about 30-40% more by going to the LDS.

I am going to be mostly diving on the Pacific Coast, North of San Diego and South of San Francisco. Which includes the Channel Islands.

 

[PinkPADIgal]

Seasoft makes pretty nice gloves which are ideal for our west coast water. I love my Dina Hide 5mm which is perfect in 50 degree water. They also make 3mm which would be great for California. If you are diving dry and need a boot for your drysuit, I would go with Whites' boots. Otherwise, the best wet boot I have found is the Seasoft 7mm Ti Stelth. It has a sneaker sole on it, and will keep you toasty warm in waters 38-60 degrees.

 

[D_B]

I have to say that once you've tried boots with real soles and arch support, as apposed to booties, you'll probably not switch back
I have the seasoft stealth ones as well ... http://seasoftscuba.com/images/STB_large.jpg hey, the US military uses them, must be reasonably durable
and I have the seasoft Ti Pro Edge kevlar gloves in the 3/1.5 ... http://seasoftscuba.com/images/EK_large.jpg .. the 1.5mm between the fingers helps with dexterity .. I could use the 5mm though, at 50* or so, it's a little too cold for that thickness .. OK at a little warmer

 

[*Floater*]

I have to say that once you've tried boots with real soles and arch support, as apposed to booties, you'll probably not switch back
I have the seasoft stealth ones as well ...

hey, the US military uses them, must be reasonably durable

Those boots look cool but they also look like they might take more fin pocket space than regular booties. How do you think they'd compare to regular 6mm booties like this?

Do you happen to know how they fit jetfins?

 

[D_B]

Yes, they take a bit more room
I have booties too and my foot goes another inch into my fins with them (not Jet fins .. size XL because I have wide feet) ... you can see how far my boots go into my fins .. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/DonBeary/DB.jpg ... with boots they stick out, with booties the're flush with the end of the fins

I think that after diving a pair of boots, you probably like them better than booties, even just walking around on deck is easier, and even more so on shore dives