Dry Gloves???

[Chris H]

I have been using the Si-Tec quick glove rings since they became available and I’ve had reasonably good luck with them.  My drysuits have had the rigid rings glued in them so I have only used the Viking rings on borrowed suits.

Before the Si-Tec system I used rubber gloves pulled over the wrist rings.  I didn’t have very good luck with them and they often pulled off the rings.  This was partly due to my gangly arms in a suit that didn’t fit as well as it could have.  If I fully extended my arm while reaching for something, I often pulled the glove off the ring.    The other issue that I have had with the rubber gloves, that is better with the blue gloves, is that if you get a hole in the rubber glove during a dive, you know about it very quickly due to the large hole in it.  Because the blue gloves have a cloth inside, they are much less likely to have a catastrophic failure than the rubber gloves are.

If the O-ring on the Si-Tec rings is kept clean and lightly lubed they work really well.  If the O-ring rolls over, they don’t work at all, but you know it as soon as you get into the water and I usually have good luck reseating them.

I have big hands, so the typically bulky, rag wool gloves don’t work for me.  I use a fleece glove, made by Patagonia, which I have been very pleased with.  Unfortunately, I don’t think they are available any more.  The problem with the fleece gloves found at Menard’s or wherever is typically the bulk and the seams not making it possible to get them into the gloves.  I have also tried some gloves by Mountain Hardwear and a thinner pair from Patagonia that work OK but are not quite as warm.