Dry Gloves & Cameras

[xyrandomyx]

I've recently bought my first drysuit. All good except that the wrist seals leak quite a bit. I bought the suit secondhand, but the seals were replaced, so I'm fairly sure there's nothing wrong with the seals. They seem to be the right size: tight, a bit uncomfortably so topside, but they feel fine once I'm in the water. More than a tiny bit tighter and I think they'd cut off blood flow to my hands.

TSandM suggested in this thread that dry gloves would be the solution: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/south-african-divers/469493-why-i-need-drysuit-3.html#post7095682 (she was correct that the undergarment was not the problem -- I though it might be sitting too far up my wrist, interfering with the seal, but I ruled that out on a dive yesterday by rolling the sleeve up).


My question: how easy it to use a camera with dry gloves? It'll be a little while before I take my camera with in my drysuit (still getting my buoyancy control to where it should be), but ultimately I'd like to. Are there some kinds of gloves that are better suited to using things like cameras? All the dry gloves I've seen look pretty bulky and unwieldy.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I have used these for the past six or seven years and they have help improve my photography. My fingers are no longer too cold and numb to push the shutter. They're are not bulky under water.
Cold Comfort PVC Gloves

 

[scubastingray]

Honestly adding dry gloves to fix a bad wrist seal just seems to be asking for trouble. Have someone local to you check out the seals and see if they can help you.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

For some people the wrist seals leak because of your physiology ... those tendons in your wrist move when your move your fingers, and can form "channels" that allow water to enter the suit. Look at your wrist and make a fist ... then flex your fingers one at a time while watching to see what it does to the tendons in your wrist. If they're perceptibly changing the shape of your wrist, that might be the issue ... in which case, the dry glove solution is probably the only way to stop the leaking.

As to your question ... I've been operating a camera with drygloves for about nine years now, with some success. It does take practice ... you lose dexterity and the ability to accurately manage the buttons ... but it can be done successfully. You can remediate the problem somewhat by choosing drygloves and liners that minimize the amount of insulation ... depending on whether or not that's appropriate for the water temps you dive in. I use the orange gloves rather than the blue ones because they're a bit thinner, and therefore provide a bit more dexterity. I also use rag wool liners, rather than the ones shown in Max's picture above, for the same reason ... they fit closer to the skin and provide adequate warmth down to temps in the mid-40's Fahrenheit (about 7 degrees Celsius) ... and that proves to be adequate dexterity for me to operate my camera buttons successfully.

620 PVC Dryglove

http://www.amazon.com/GI-Wool-Glove...98089599&sr=8-7&keywords=military+wool+gloves

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Darnold9999]

For the gloves to wear under the waterproof layer I looked to the ski and biking industries for thin, but warm gloves. Your local sports store will have a large selection. You just have to find the ones that will work for you.

I went with a pair of riding gloves that are quite thin, but that do provide some thermal insulation - and do it if they happen to get wet as well. If it is really cold I add a layer inside the gloves that I found for skiiers that adds a layer of air for insulation. (kind of a loosely woven thick thread that adds lots of air between your skin and the glove and does not hold water at all. If the glove floods they still keep your hands warmer than they would be with no gloves.


Wearing just the riding gloves my hands are mostly warm throughout the dive and I can easily manipulate the camera. By the end of a one hour dive my hands are starting to get cold. With the second layer hands are warm for the entire dive even in very cold water but manipulating the camera controls is not as easy. Still works, but the small buttons are hard to get to.

 

[Peter Guy]

I use dry gloves and shoot and sometimes it is hard to manipulate the right button. It also depends on the housing -- some are better than others. For example, I was using a Canon housing and bought an Ikelite one for the same camera because it had some things I wanted but the buttons were too close together for use with dry gloves, so it was returned.

Some things work, some don't. YMMV

 

[xyrandomyx]

Honestly adding dry gloves to fix a bad wrist seal just seems to be asking for trouble. Have someone local to you check out the seals and see if they can help you.

I very much doubt that there's anything wrong with the seals -- they're brand new. It is possible that they don't fit properly, but both my instructor for my drysuit speciality course and the person who put the seals on thought they looked like the fit was good. Now that I've ruled out the possibility that it's my undergarment interfering with the seals, I'm pretty sure the tendons in my wrists are to blame. I am going to try pulling the seals up a little higher on my arms on my next dive to see if that stops or reduces the leaking. The water and air temperatures are high enough right now that I'm not in a rush to solve the problem, it's really just a minor irritation. But next summer, when I'm diving in 45F/ 7C water, I'm definitely going to dry wrists and may need dry gloves to stay warm anyway.

Thanks for all the replies regarding using a camera with dry gloves. It sounds like I should just go for relatively thin gloves and then practice.

 

[scubastingray]

I very much doubt that there's anything wrong with the seals -- they're brand new. It is possible that they don't fit properly, but both my instructor for my drysuit speciality course and the person who put the seals on thought they looked like the fit was good. Now that I've ruled out the possibility that it's my undergarment interfering with the seals, I'm pretty sure the tendons in my wrists are to blame. I am going to try pulling the seals up a little higher on my arms on my next dive to see if that stops or reduces the leaking. The water and air temperatures are high enough right now that I'm not in a rush to solve the problem, it's really just a minor irritation. But next summer, when I'm diving in 45F/ 7C water, I'm definitely going to dry wrists and may need dry gloves to stay warm anyway.

Thanks for all the replies regarding using a camera with dry gloves. It sounds like I should just go for relatively thin gloves and then practice.

Sure thing, glad you've heard about wearing the seals higher. I have prominent tendons, and have to wear them a few inches higher. I think dry gloves are a great thing to have (something I plan on adding shortly), but it'd be better to address the problem than to apply a bandaid.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

The Atlas gloves come in multiple sizes and getting the right size is important to having good feel. I found their size chart is not very accurate. Fortunately the gloves are cheep so just order a range of sizes and see what works for you. The blue gloves shown above are Atlas 660, but there is also the Atlas 620 (orange) which is a bit thinner and gives a bit better feel. It might be less puncture resistant than the 660s however. Also getting a good fit on the liner will help with dexterity. I use a wool liner that fits just a little bit snugly With blue smurf glove I have no issue using a camera.

As far a leaking seals go it may be that your seals are just cut too loose or stretched out with age. I use latex wrist seals and neoprene for the neck seal where the extra insulation is a plus.

 

[Stoo]

I've used drygloves exclusively for the past 30 years, and been dragging a camera for most of that time. I wear thin latex gloves with liners and these are far more flexible than the thick wetgloves I'd need to wear to keep my fingers from dropping off. Our tamp at depth rarely gets above 39-42F all year...

As for dealing with leaking wrist seals by adding drygloves, I think it's a valid solution. As Bob (that Grateful guy) points out, leaking wrist seals are often the result of pronounced tendons in the wrist, and there is very little you can do about that. Mrs. Stoo is a very lean, 100# beast of a woman. Her wrists are extremely tiny and the only way to stop leaking was to add drygloves.

Just be aware that if/when you do add gloves, you need to be sure to have some way for air to move between the two to avoid getting "hand squeeze" or worse yet, "glove embolism" on ascent!

With regard to using a camera, if the glove fits properly, it should be fine.