OP
elmer fudd
Contributor
I think I might just buy one and try compensating and venting in the old fashioned way first and then if I can't get that right add valves later.
What do you think of Hydroglove drysuits?
- Thread starter elmer fudd
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JanK
Contributor
David: I understand your reaction. No hard feelings 
I have a really good 15 page word document written by a pair of divers and researchers at our naval institute. And it's already in English so it just needs to be HTML-ified. I will write to them for permission to post the document here in a new thread. Hopefully they will agree.
Personally, I'd like to know more about those Slovenian pioneers of diving you mention, and the gear they designed. Our vintage forum has so many experts on the American history of diving. We don't have enough contributors able and willing to post information about diving history on the European side of the Atlantic. Feel free to start a new thread about early scuba and snorkelling in your own country.
I have a really good 15 page word document written by a pair of divers and researchers at our naval institute. And it's already in English so it just needs to be HTML-ified. I will write to them for permission to post the document here in a new thread. Hopefully they will agree.
Hydroglove
New
I know a few people have installed pneumatic valves in there ( Hydroglove ) suits with great success. Doing so defeats the vintage qualities of diving such a suit and adds risks of its own. Be careful if you go that route.
Bill
underwaterfrank
Registered
Noting the comment about ear squeeze risk above, remember you can get these suits also without hooded jacket. The jacket without hood has a much tigher neck seal, and then you don't rely on the face seal as with the hooded jacket. Just wear a separate hood, either the hydroglove or another type. As with a Viking suit for example you can get a separate fleece type of hood to wear under the rubber hood, which prevents the ear squeeze.
Then of course, you still have the risk of body queeze but if you don't go deeper than say 20-30 feet that is not likely to happen, and if you do go deeper you can indeed install valves. just make sure you are trained to use drysuits so you know how to operate the thing.
In my opinion Hydroglove suits are a hidden gem if you just need to stay warm and dry in snorkeling or very undemanding diving environments. I only just discovered these suits last month and they are so easy to slip-on and so flexible to wear. The downside is they are fairly thin rubber so don't go rubbing your legs and arms on oyster beds or rusty steel shipwrecks.
Hydroglove could make some changes that would overcome a few of the disadvantages:
- use a heavier gauge rubber for the trousers to make them more robust
- increase thickness on the feet portion by a factor of 4 or 5 so they have the strength of boots that you actually walk on without needing to use rock boots
- make the hooded jackets with tighter fitting necks so that acts as a neck seal
- maybe offer a full body suit with a dry zip across the shoulders or even better across the front to make it self-donning (would cost a bit more though)
Even with all those changes they could still manage to sell a suit for not much more than $250 and that is great value for diving dry. (plus cost of a couple of valves if you decide to use them). You can afford to have a spare suit and still spend less than $500.
And for those who think these are too "vintage", dive one first and then you will feel how great they are. A lot of the current gear is actually a lot less comfortable than what us "old divers" were wearing 30 years ago. Things like trilaminate drysuits...no stretch...hard folds...5 to 10 times the cost of a Hydroglove.
This is absolutely the most comfortable drysuit you will ever own, especially if you wear comfortable and stretchy undersuit gear underneath.
The whole suit is probably less than 10 pounds in weight and fits in a bag the size of a laptop case...nothing better in the market as far as weight and size goes especially if you want to take it with you on a plane trip!
Some of the comments about looking like fetish gear are rather silly also. Grow up people, there are people with fetishes for just about anything out these, from shoes and boots, to leather gear and masks. No way to avoid wearing something in your closet that will attract the attention of someone out there, unless you dress like a total nerd. if you happen to like this stuff, well I suppose that is a bonus for you.
I know I almost sounds like a Hydroglove sales rep here, but suits things are a truly surprising discovery for me! There is room for improvement, so i suppose that could be optional models for poeple who really want to stay with the full vintage model.
Then of course, you still have the risk of body queeze but if you don't go deeper than say 20-30 feet that is not likely to happen, and if you do go deeper you can indeed install valves. just make sure you are trained to use drysuits so you know how to operate the thing.
In my opinion Hydroglove suits are a hidden gem if you just need to stay warm and dry in snorkeling or very undemanding diving environments. I only just discovered these suits last month and they are so easy to slip-on and so flexible to wear. The downside is they are fairly thin rubber so don't go rubbing your legs and arms on oyster beds or rusty steel shipwrecks.
Hydroglove could make some changes that would overcome a few of the disadvantages:
- use a heavier gauge rubber for the trousers to make them more robust
- increase thickness on the feet portion by a factor of 4 or 5 so they have the strength of boots that you actually walk on without needing to use rock boots
- make the hooded jackets with tighter fitting necks so that acts as a neck seal
- maybe offer a full body suit with a dry zip across the shoulders or even better across the front to make it self-donning (would cost a bit more though)
Even with all those changes they could still manage to sell a suit for not much more than $250 and that is great value for diving dry. (plus cost of a couple of valves if you decide to use them). You can afford to have a spare suit and still spend less than $500.
And for those who think these are too "vintage", dive one first and then you will feel how great they are. A lot of the current gear is actually a lot less comfortable than what us "old divers" were wearing 30 years ago. Things like trilaminate drysuits...no stretch...hard folds...5 to 10 times the cost of a Hydroglove.
This is absolutely the most comfortable drysuit you will ever own, especially if you wear comfortable and stretchy undersuit gear underneath.
The whole suit is probably less than 10 pounds in weight and fits in a bag the size of a laptop case...nothing better in the market as far as weight and size goes especially if you want to take it with you on a plane trip!
Some of the comments about looking like fetish gear are rather silly also. Grow up people, there are people with fetishes for just about anything out these, from shoes and boots, to leather gear and masks. No way to avoid wearing something in your closet that will attract the attention of someone out there, unless you dress like a total nerd. if you happen to like this stuff, well I suppose that is a bonus for you.
I know I almost sounds like a Hydroglove sales rep here, but suits things are a truly surprising discovery for me! There is room for improvement, so i suppose that could be optional models for poeple who really want to stay with the full vintage model.
OP
elmer fudd
Contributor
Thank God I live near saltwater!
I did end up buying a HG suit last fall and I probably did about 20 dives in it.
Here's the good and bad as I see it.
Good: price, size, flexibility, simplicity.
Bad: durability or lack thereof, lack of valves.
As others have mentioned, the suits are very affordable, very flexible and they fold up into a tiny package. They're also primitively simple. Simply roll the top and bottom up together and there's no zipper needed. There are no valves either, which I did find to be an issue. Adding air's not too tough, but dumping it is. I found that every time I dumped air like they showed in the video that some water would get in. Putting on a drysuit hood over the HG hood minimized this, but it also made it difficult to dump air. If you only did a single dive at a single level it was manageable, but for multiple, multi-level dives I found it miserable. It got too wet.
They also should have suspenders. I found my suit wanted to sag without them. They're an easy thing to add though. I glued a couple loops of inner tube rubber to the inside of the suit and then used some plastic slides and some nylon webbing.
Hood squeeze is also not much of an issue. You quickly learn to add some air as you descend. The suit reminds you.
One thing you have to remember with these suits though is that they absolutely need more careful maintenance than a modern suit. If you're in the habit of hosing off your suit, hanging it up to dry and then putting it away a couple days later or leaving it there until your next dive, you'll likely find a dry crinkly suit a couple sizes smaller than you left it. The suits need to be washed, dried and then rolled up and put away in a bag as soon as any residual moisture has evaporated.
If I were to get another HG drysuit, which I might, I would get one without a hood and I would add valves to it. Not exactly vintage, but sometimes practicality trumps historical accuracy.
VooDooGasMan
Contributor
I do believe that is jacque, cause all you see in the mask is a big nose.
VooDooGasMan
Contributor
I like how frank has a firemans style tank on.
underwaterfrank
Registered
Also probably worth a note is that the Hydroglove system allows you to wear a double layer suit (2 suits over each other) because it is so flexible. While most people would not do that for the whole suit, it is actually worth wearing just a second pair of the trousers so you have double thickness over the legs and lower abdomen, where damage is most likely to occur. At the same time it acts a a protective layer over the "roll" seal of the primary layer suit. Just leave the top portion of the second layer of trousers flat (straight at the top) so any air trapped between the two layers can bubble out.
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