11 replies to this topic

[uwfan]

It sounds interesting, but I've never tried drysuit...what would be the options for a newbie? I certainly wouldn't want to hold back more experienced divers, but my curiousity is peaked.

If you are interested in drysuit diving, I see you are posting from Colorado. I know A-1 Scuba has offered drysuit training and dives in local waters, so I am fairly certain other shops must offer the same or similar. Let me know if you would like me to look into it for you.

Hmm...I guess I am remembering being in either a 6mil or a 7 mil in cold water for my open water in a quarry in Texas in the middle of March. Two things come to mind, how cold my hands (and frankly my whole body) were and the difficulty putting on the hood. What kind of head covering do you use with a dry suit and how thick of gloves do you use? Just trying to decide what I might be getting myself into - I like skiing if I'm properly dressed, and I lived in a cold climate when I was a kid, but I want to be warm and I'm not sure how realistic it is to expect that when diving dry.

Is this creating a new thread or should it be included here?

[Dive_Girl]

While our suits are two-piece 7mm, the hood, boots, and gloves to go with these are typically 5mm. Many of us that still dive wet gloves with drysuits who can tough out the cold water wear really good quality 3mm wet gloves to keep our dexterity. Most everyone else in drysuits dive dry glove systems. The most popular in our area, are those that are simply latex/rubber dry gloves pulled over rings - the stretch and grip makes the seal. Under the rubber gloves the diver wears thermal liners (they sort of look like the cheap-o one-size fits all 5-fingered knit gloves).

There's a newer concept on the market (at least I think it is newer, but stand to be corrected) called wrist seal dry gloves. The wrist seal dry glove can be used on any type of drysuit or wetsuit. You can see what those look like here (scroll to the bottom).

[uwfan]

Thanks for the helpful posts. How well do these gloves work keeping you warm in the water? I know from living in cold climates at some point a mitten or glove will not keep fingers from being so cold they start to go numb. Is this the case in somewhat cold (not ice diving temps) water? Can you dive for an hour and have hands that stay warm. I realize it's an individual thing (especially since I realize Wenchie often dives dry even in warm water...er, warm to me), but what are your experiences?

[Geek]

What it takes to keep warm varies from individual to individual. With a drysuit, I'll use varying thickness hood and gloves depending on the temperature. If you are about to purchase a drysuit, you might want to consider zip seals so you can easily switch to zip gloves if you ever want to go with dry gloves.

[peterbj7]

I've done many drysuit dives, some of them in extremely cold water (as low as 28F) and some of them very long (rebreather dives lasting up to 3 hours). I bought a pair of 5mm wet gloves and used them once - couldn't feel anything through them. I also tried dry gloves and couldn't get on with their clumsiness and again lack of dexterity. Virtually all my drysuit dives have been with a 2mm hood and 2mm gloves, and I find that ample. I'm not saying I'm toasty-warm, but it's quite acceptable and I can feel and hear. When I had a new drysuit made they provided me with a 5mm hood, which I never even took to the water - for me it was far too thick and claustrophobic.

What is far more important is that your abdomen is warm (a good quality and well-fitting drysuit), and that your head is covered to restrict water flow across it. Even a plastic shower cap, properly secured, would significantly reduce heat loss from your head (not that I've actually tried it!).

My suggestion is that you try the thinner options first, as the thick ones do have significant downsides.

[Cold_H2O]

I dove the cold waters of Puget Sound for 11 years (dove year round) with standard 5mm wet gloves.
I found my hands only got cold if I didn't move them much ( holding a flashlight for a long period of time)

When I last dove Puget Sound the water temp was 40 degrees F.
I found my wet gloves warm enough.
In the past I have added an additional layer of gloves (thin polypro ski liners) under my wet gloves.
Never felt the need to switch to drygloves.

One SD member has been known to dive gloveless in the cold waters of Puget Sound.

[Dive_Girl]

Thanks for the helpful posts. How well do these gloves work keeping you warm in the water? I know from living in cold climates at some point a mitten or glove will not keep fingers from being so cold they start to go numb. Is this the case in somewhat cold (not ice diving temps) water? Can you dive for an hour and have hands that stay warm. I realize it's an individual thing (especially since I realize Wenchie often dives dry even in warm water...er, warm to me), but what are your experiences?

The warmth of your hands in dry gloves is not isolated to the warmth of the thermal liner, it is also the air inside the dry glove that keeps the cold water slightly away from your digits.

My suggestion is that you try the thinner options first, as the thick ones do have significant downsides.

I personally agree with this. Find your comfort zone.

One SD member has been known to dive gloveless in the cold waters of Puget Sound.

I'll tell you what though - I did not dive gloveless in Clear Lake. I actually pulled Medium 5mm gloves OVER my small 3mm gloves and dove with 8mm!! The guys had to put on my fins because my hands were balls of neoprene, but they were sort of warm! LOL

[peterbj7]

I did my PADI Rescue Diver course in a flooded quarry in middle England in late November, with air temperature well below freezing and water probably around 36F. I started out with my 5mm gloves, then switched to the 2mm ones as I couldn't undo buckles I couldn't feel. I still couldn't manage and finally removed the gloves completely. I was bitterly cold but I could cope. Out of the water I dried my hands and THEN put the gloves on!

I did ice diving (not a course - just diving under ice) in the Arctic (north Alaska) with my 2mm gloves, and never felt the need for any more.

[georoc01]

It depends just how cold the water is. My 2mm work for most enviroments, but when the water starts to get really cold (< 60 degrees), I did buy a pair of pinnacle 5mm gloves which seem to work really well and still gave me enough movement that I could still use my hands effectively.

[cmt489]

Given how cold I am prone to get, I went straight to dry gloves. I find for the warmth they provide combined with the increased dexterity over 8mm gloves, they are great. There are a couple of downsides, however. The worst one I find is that it is almost impossible to properly don yourself. I have, on occassion, also gotten water in them when not sealed quite right but, even so, I found that my hands did not get particularly cold.