Dry Gloves, easily removable

[raftingtigger]

Have you embraced your inner blue side?

If smurf gloves HAD an inner blue side I would be using them. I am trying them on my back up suit without the wrist seals - OK that is assuming I ever use the back up suit again. I like knowing that if my glove leaks the suit isn't going to flood.

To be clearer. To use the smurf gloves I have to put them over then inside the flexible ring. This forces them off every time they are pushed in. Not something I want to deal with with the suit on. Therefore I put the gloves in place BEFORE donning. So far I haven't figured out how to push my hands through the wrist seals with glove in place, so no wrist seals. With the dish gloves they go through the flexible ring and then on the outside of it. Every time they are installed they don't tend to move because of all the friction (and less bulk). Also I can take the glove on/off without risking water in the suit.

However still playing with it. My DIY projects are NEVER done.

 

[fjpatrum]

I have big hands too (its a bit of a squeeze to get them through the Viking rings), but the XL 'Smurf' gloves are working for me. They are plenty big, even with the insulator inner-glove.

Have you embraced your inner blue side?

I haven't tried any of them yet. I was just saying that I can't fit any "off the shelf" kitchen gloves, though the ones I've seen are usually S/M L/XL, which never actually reach the XL size as far as I can tell. Do you know what brand of gloves you're using specifically so I can look for those?

 

[JohnN]

I haven't tried any of them yet. I was just saying that I can't fit any "off the shelf" kitchen gloves, though the ones I've seen are usually S/M L/XL, which never actually reach the XL size as far as I can tell. Do you know what brand of gloves you're using specifically so I can look for those?

Give this a try: 495 GLOVE PVC BL REMOV LIN - Seattle Marine

They are the: 495 Atlas Glove Pvc Blue Removeable Liner

About $18 a pair

 

[raftingtigger]

New Style! These work with installed latex seals

Needing a project (just like another hole in my head...) here is my latest dry glove ring system. This design works with the standard glued in latex wrist seals. It doesn't even stretch the latex seals very much. I have tested the system in my Jacuzzi using a second glove as the dry suit. I have not tested them in a real suit yet - as I no longer own a suit with suitable seals (ergo the jacket standing in as a dry suit in the photos).

The testing went well. With the single seal position it is possible to blow the glove off, but it takes some work. I doubt it would happen while normal diving. If it did in an overinflation state it might be a good thing. Even if you do blow a glove off the wrist seal still protects the integrity of the suit proper. In the double seal position you will rip something before the rings part OR it leaks.

Pictures first, then a blow by blow construction guide.




Parts needed:

1- 3-1/4" length of 3" ABS pipe
1- 3" slip-slip ABS pipe connector
4- #152 o-rings
8- #337 o-rings
1pr - heavy duty kitchen gloves without lining

Tools needed:

Lathe or drill press. I used a midi wood lathe, flat jaws, and a grooving tool I made from HSS steel from Harbor Freight ($4.99) 5 Piece M2 High Speed Steel Mini Tool Bits for Metalworking Lathes
All lathing was done using a standard tool rest and hand held. Finishing was to 600 grit.

Lathing can be done on a drill press or with a pen mandrel by making a wooden (or plastic) insert and lathing it to the inside dimensions of the pipe pieces. That was my original technique. Do ALL the work on an end of a piece before removing it from your lathe - unless you are better than I am (quite possible) pieces don't install absolutely concentric and every time you re-install the piece you have to lathe it concentric again.

I like to work on the full 3" long pieces and after lathing the o-ring grooves then cut them in half to make the right and left rings. After lathing one end I flip the piece so I can work without hitting my knuckles.

Glove rings (the part the glove attaches to), makes a pair

1 - 3" slip-slip ABS connector. This slips very tightly over 3" pipe

Lathe 2 grooves 6mm wide by 2.5mm deep near one end. Leave about 3-4 mm between grooves. Smooth well and finish to 600 grit. Flip the piece and do the other end. Cut the pieces apart removing the small inside ridge in the process. Round and sand the cut edge. I remount the rings and do this on the lathe, but precision isn't important here.

Cuff rings (the part on the dry suit sleeve)

1 - 3-1/4" length of 3" ABS pipe. Mark 1.5 inches from the ends. The remaining 1/4" is kerf space.

Lathe 2 grooves 6mm wide by 2.5mm deep near one end. Leave about 3-4 mm between grooves. Smooth well and finish to 600 grit.

Slightly decrease the pipe outer diameter of the ungrooved pipe until the Glove Ring slips on/off easily.

Lathe 2 grooves with centers 8mm apart. Each groove is 3mm wide by 1.5mm deep. Periodically install one of the #152 o-rings and try to slip the glove ring on. As soon as you can get it on, STOP. Sanding and polishing the groove will loosen the fit a bit. If you go too far you can start over, OR deepen it a little a put a rubber band inside as a spacer. When done the rings should fit together tightly but you should be able to remove them without any tools.

Flip the ring in the lathe and do the other side. Then cut them apart and dress the cut edges. Construction complete.

To install the cuff rings in your suit: Turn the sleeve inside out. Push the cuff ring with the smaller grooves facing the shoulder into the latex seal. Put a #337 o-ring over the inside-out latex seal onto the inside larger groove. Turn the sleeve right side out and put the second #337 o-ring over the outside of the latex seal into the outside groove (the one now closest to the shoulder).

Use the second pair of #337 o-rings to attach the gloves to the glove rings. Install the #152 o-rings in the smaller grooves and lubricate with soap, K-Y, or even silicon. The more lubrication, the easier it is to connect and disconnect the rings - use caution in the amount.

I will report when my Beta tester uses the gloves (2-4 weeks from now). Now off to work on some cuff rings to work with neoprene seals. For this my son is the Beta tester.

 

[mahjong]

What you've made is mighty similar to the OS Systems Dry Glove System: Dry Glove Installation Steps 1 | O.S. Systems

For this system, as well as the Viking Classic Rings, what we need are inexpensive Smurf gloves with a latex wrist gauntlet. Si-Tech does make these, called Prodi Gloves, but they run about $100 a pair. I know someone who makes them himself. I'll be trying it soon.

 

[raftingtigger]

What you've made is mighty similar to the OS Systems Dry Glove System: Dry Glove Installation Steps 1 | O.S. Systems.

:blush: mighty similar. Never had my hands on the above system, but then again I'm not selling them. You can learn a lot from pictures.

The homemade system I like the best is still the simplest and my first. It is important to get a sturdy pair of kitchen gloves - something I have found to be increasingly difficult. Also, I have inherited a pair of SiTech quick glove rings and have mated them with Smurf gloves - still haven't dove with those yet.

 

[Chilly_Dipper]

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Interesting but you can simply a set of gloves like these Comasec - gloves chemical protection : specialised : glove black heavyweight g17k ce complex design

When you pull them on you stretch them over the Sitech cuffs. This takes a little practice (especially the second one) but they make for cheap drygloves. We buy them locally from a marine supplier (Trotac) in bags of a dozen for $12 CAD. In point of fact SI Tech caught on and produce a similar (slightly heavier duty) version of this glove which gets sold for $40 at the LDSs.

Key is whatever glove you find MUST have a rib around the wrist portion of the glove.

 

[raftingtigger]

Interesting but you can simply a set of gloves like these Comasec - gloves chemical protection : specialised : glove black heavyweight g17k ce complex design

When you pull them on you stretch them over the Sitech cuffs.

Yep, a very good solution. It does require some sort of ring on the suit (as does my original post).

FWIW, I gave up on the complex system midway thru this post. I currently use a heavy, reinforced, dishwashing glove (TruBlue) from World Market (It is similar to, but more flexible than, the blue smurf gloves.) with the SiTech Quick Glove system. I found a used pair of quick rings. The original idea is still my backup pair. They go on easily, even the second one, but are a little harder but still very possible to remove by yourself.