drysuit gloves: opinions anyone?

[enchantmentdivi]

They say that the rings are smaller diameter than other systems which actually sounds really appealing. I wonder who the OEM is?

Just make sure your hand will actually fit through the rings. My husband hasn't been able to find a dryglove system [that he likes] that are actually big enough for his hand to fit through.

[trevorrowe]

That why I've stuck with wet gloves--I always hear about someone's dryglove system leaking. I'm curious about what you've done, but I can't picture it. Can you snap a photo to share?

The viking bayonet system allows me to keep my drysuit seals intact. If I puncture a glove or (not sure how this would be possible) fail to lock the gloves into place properly then the leak would at best give me soggy hands. I know other drysuit ring systems allow this.

Before I switched to drygloves I remember dives my hand would get so cold I would loose quite a bit of dexterity. I am greatful those days are gone.

[scottsax]

i always hear about people always hearing about leaking drygloves.

+1

[airsix]

I have the Quick Cuff system on one of my suits and the things always leaked. However, the suit was bought used and for all I know they weren't installed properly.

My right glove got damp the first dive out, but in the 30 dives or so since neither has leaked a single drop.

@Spatman, The quick cuff is supposed to be slipped into the suit sleeve about 1.5" and glued in place. I was concerned about fit because obviously the sleeve has to be large enough to fit over the quick cuff but not so large that the fabric has to be gathered. The Whites Fusion (mine at least) was a perfect fit for the quick cuff. I even called Mike Pedersen at Dive Right In Scuba and asked "You sure these are going to fit?" before ordering them for my particular suit. They were a perfect fit and if the sleeve had been 1/8" larger or smaller I think there would have been issues. I'd suggest calling about your own specific suit before ordering.

I'm also a big fan of the Viking classic rings because they're dead simple and reliable. The downside is they're a PITA to don. I got tired of looking over at everyone standing chest deep in the water patiently waiting while I tried to get my glove cuffs stretched over the rings. I came up with an effective stretch-over-the-top-rotate-arm-pin-against-leg-stretch-other-side procedure but I finally broke down and got a set of rings that aren't like steer wrestling.

[seainggreen]

I have the DC rings with the wrist seals intact, and use Deep See neo gloves. Good mobility and they're nice and warm. In the summertime I've forgotten to wear liners and my hands were just fine!

No problem gettin them on but for some reason my right one has become a pita to break loose. I use the orange atlas gloves and light polar fleece liners (read cheapo store gloves)

Two things to fix this:
1. Use seal-saver or o-ring lube on the o-ring that lives on the glove part of the system every few dives and be sure to wipe out the channel that the o-ring lives in.
2. In order to keep from jamming on my DC rings to get them off, I use a $.50 plastic paint scraper from home depot. You simply and gently wedge it between the glove and ring, apply lever motion, and voila, the glove comes right off. Mine lives on a boltsnap that lives in my "dive tub" that goes diving with me.

Happy diving!

[dewmercer]

If you've zip seals you can just pull a generic glove over the rings and that seems to work great if the glove is tight enough. Wear a liner of some sort under the rubber glove.

[inflex]

That why I've stuck with wet gloves--I always hear about someone's dryglove system leaking. I'm curious about what you've done, but I can't picture it. Can you snap a photo to share?

So I got one of these things at the local home depot:




Take the metal fasteners off, and cut the coupling into 2 halves.

Stick one half of the coupling into the wrist seal like this (note the nice groove from where the metal fastener was)



Pull glove over the seal and add the vacuum band (which is sized to fit the groove). Gloves are inside out so the smooth rubber side seals against the latex--I wasn't able to find a pair that was just smooth rubber in the couple stores I went to that day.

[scottsax]

These are the DC rings I use: http://www.divingconcepts.com/link1.htm

And here is the installation instructions for keeping the wrist seal intact. I really should have looked at this before I installed the rings, it would have made life so much easier! http://www.divingconcepts.com/link5.htm

These are the gloves I use on the rings, along with a thin polypro glove liner: http://www.deepseeinc.com/products/dry_comfort.html

Here's one of the things I love about NWDC: everyone has a different, creative way of doing things, and they love to share information.

[Nwbrewer]

That's a pretty cool solution. Initially I did the same thing with a 3" pvc pipe coupler, but I found that the seal would wear along the edge where it folded over the coupler on the wrist side (as opposed to the suit side). I also found that putting on the belts was a huge PITA and went to o-rings instead.

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php ... 240#p92447

So I got one of these things at the local home depot:




Take the metal fasteners off, and cut the coupling into 2 halves.

Stick one half of the coupling into the wrist seal like this (note the nice groove from where the metal fastener was)



Pull glove over the seal and add the vacuum band (which is sized to fit the groove). Gloves are inside out so the smooth rubber side seals against the latex--I wasn't able to find a pair that was just smooth rubber in the couple stores I went to that day.

[inflex]

Nice. Looks like you have a much higher quality and more robust solution. Did you make the additional groove to prevent the ring from moving around inside the seal?

I haven't had much problems with wear against the seal. The wear with the rings actually seemed significantly less than normal wear (without rings), probably due to the structure given to the seal. Also, I haven't had too much issue with the bands. The rubber rings give just enough to let me put a finger between the band and the ring.

[Nwbrewer]

Yeah, there are 3 groves in the ring. 2 for 0-rings holding on the latex seal, one for holding on the gloves.

[diverden]

i always hear about people always hearing about leaking drygloves.

I hear a lot about dry suit leaks but still dive one myself

[spatman]

i always hear about people always hearing about leaking drygloves.

I hear a lot about dry suit leaks but still dive one myself

ditto, with drygloves.

[Dashrynn]

I have the Quick Cuff system on one of my suits and the things always leaked. However, the suit was bought used and for all I know they weren't installed properly.

My right glove got damp the first dive out, but in the 30 dives or so since neither has leaked a single drop.

@Spatman, The quick cuff is supposed to be slipped into the suit sleeve about 1.5" and glued in place. I was concerned about fit because obviously the sleeve has to be large enough to fit over the quick cuff but not so large that the fabric has to be gathered. The Whites Fusion (mine at least) was a perfect fit for the quick cuff. I even called Mike Pedersen at Dive Right In Scuba and asked "You sure these are going to fit?" before ordering them for my particular suit. They were a perfect fit and if the sleeve had been 1/8" larger or smaller I think there would have been issues. I'd suggest calling about your own specific suit before ordering.

I'm also a big fan of the Viking classic rings because they're dead simple and reliable. The downside is they're a PITA to don. I got tired of looking over at everyone standing chest deep in the water patiently waiting while I tried to get my glove cuffs stretched over the rings. I came up with an effective stretch-over-the-top-rotate-arm-pin-against-leg-stretch-other-side procedure but I finally broke down and got a set of rings that aren't like steer wrestling.

I made an easy way to don those gloves with pvc and bungee cord. Just prestretch the gloves over the pvc,put hands through pvc into gloves, pull on bungee. off pops pvc ring and bam! Ready to go! Jan K has my old set.

[airsix]

I made an easy way to don those gloves with pvc and bungee cord. Just prestretch the gloves over the pvc,put hands through pvc into gloves, pull on bungee. off pops pvc ring and bam! Ready to go! Jan K has my old set.

Very good idea Dash.

[Sockmonkey]

i always hear about people always hearing about leaking drygloves.

I hear a lot about dry suit leaks but still dive one myself

ditto, with drygloves.

I hear a lot about drowning lately but I still dive (now and then).

-Eric

[BASSMAN]

I use the Viking classic ring system with the plumber/sandblasting gloves from Harbor Freight.
The rings cost about $80.00 (a few years ago) and the gloves from Harbor Freight are $6.00 a pair.
The key thing here is get good Rag Wool, liners, double thickness.
I like this system!