Question for tropical divers: Gloves or no gloves

[tursiops]

There has been some interesting research on this, for example http://faculty.wwu.edu/~shulld/ESCI 432/BarkerRoberts2004.pdf.
The bottom line is there is more reef touching/coral breakage/environmental damage done by men than women, by photographers than by non-photographers, by inexperienced photgraphers verus experienced photographers, by those wearing gloves than by those with bare hands, and by those with poor buoyancy control versus those with good buoyancy. Coral reef managers, especially in Marine Parks, are trying to protect their resources.

Added: see also http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/usf:41416#page/63/mode/1up

 

[Lorenzoid]

No, I do not use gloves in tropical waters. My preference is for as little exposure protection as conditions permit. Part of what I enjoy about tropical diving is the freedom of minimal gear. If I don't NEED an item of gear, I don't take it. Also, in this age of airline travel in which every bit of weight counts, I am happy to leave the gloves (and extra pair of underwear, socks, etc.) at home. I wear a full wetsuit for protection against floating things like jellies, and I suppose covering my hands would make sense, too, but I am willing to play the odds. So far, I have not inadvertently touched anything.

. . .
For what it's worth, I always use gloves. My preference is for 3M Comfort Grip work gloves. Very thin, excellent dexterity, very 'grippy' on wet metal and skin tight.

These give an excellent grip on metal boltsnaps (I dive tech and sidemount),when climbing boat ladders etc... They also protect from skin abrasion, cuts and stings... all of which can happen without going anywhere near coral. When fingers get water-soaked and wrinkled they easily get damaged... and that can lead to infections etc.

Those are persuasive arguments for gloves in the tropics, though. I especially like the idea of a firmer grip on boat ladders. Never thought of that!

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I wear gloves 100% of the time. I feel naked without them. If diving a reef, I rarely touch it. When it is necessary to touch the reef, I am very careful about hand placement. Gloves don't allow me to touch things I shouldn't be touching. That's not why I wear them. They help keep my hands warm (I get cold very easily) and they also protect my hands when wreck diving, holding onto the anchor line in current, getting into the boat with water soaked hands, etc. The skin on the hands becomes very easily injured when water logged.

 

[2airishuman]

I generally dislike gloves and don't use them unless absolutely necessary, whether diving or doing something else. I do bring them along and have them available on tropical dives. I usually ask the dive op what they recommend. As noted upthread, some sites disallow gloves. On the other hand, there are some sites where it would be foolish to dive without them -- many artificial reefs are in this category.

 

[Diving Dubai]

My local diving is tropical.

Most choose to wear gloves, not for warmth put just for protection on lines and from rocks in current (I've seen too many bleeding hands that were unprotected in current here. it's also useful in the spring to be able to sweep away the swarms of jelly fish that hang out at the safety stop depths.

my thin ones always go with me on vacation, they may stay in my wing pocket - but if the conditions require it, then they are there

 

[divinh]

I just got my first pair of gloves, 1.5mm, even though they're for exposure. It was a compromise between warmth and being able to work my camera housing buttons and levers.

I mainly dive tropical. On a few instances, I've accidentally brushed a finger against some rock with crustaceans and found I got "paper cut". On one particular pair of dives, the mooring line was covered with algae(?) and my hands ended up green. (We were instructed to hang onto the mooring line for the safety stop due to current.) In those instances, I definitely wanted gloves.

As for touching things, I tend to stay away as a general rule. I will put a finger tip down to stabilize for a photo, in current. I'm not sure what difference it would make between bare skin and gloved in this case. I always find it odd to see people drop into a dive, head for the bottom and pick up starfish, sea cucumber, etc., swim for a bit and drop them in another location. Why?

 

[luscioman]

I used to not wear gloves just as stated so that I wouldnt touch things that i shouldnt. However now in Florida depending on the season I am usually checking for lobster or lionfish on ever dive and just out of practice wear gloves. In addition on dives like the Spiegel Grove etc. it is not nice to go up and down the bouy down lines without gloves due to the all the growth on them.

 

[Laurie S.]

I always wear gloves to protect my hands, and I do not touch what I shouldn't touch.

 

[Wingy]

I wear one glove diving. I have a ring my mother made that I can't get off that finger and I'm more worried about dealing with mum than dealing with a Cuda.

If I'm wreck diving I wear two gloves, ditto if I'm doing canyons/terrain diving

 

[covediver]

Many tropical locations have had this rule for a long time, especially in designated marine park areas.

I think people bouncing across the reef probably cause more damage but this conversation reminds me that I was once admonished by a youngster posing as a divemaster for a Florida Keys dive operation as I was donning a pair of cotton gloves out of habit more than intent to destroy. He stated gloves encourage people to touch the reef and that gloves were not allowed. I assured him that touching the reef was not my intention, gloves or not. I then asked him if that was the policy of the resort and he said authoritatively "yes it is". I then asked him why the resort dive shop sold three different types of gloves. His response was the universal "that's different" as he walked away.