Gloves for chilly water suggestions?

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

This is my first year of diving in New England. Temperatures at depth have been as low as 46 degrees F, and now at the tail end of summer are still only 49-50 (I'm told this year didn't warm up like normal). I use a 7mm fullsuit with a 7/5 hooded vest underneath, 7mm booties, and 5mm five-finger gloves. I'm pretty comfortable in that get-up for the most part until about 48 or 49 degrees, but my hands start getting cold in the low 50s, and by the time the water is in the 40s, they're uncomfortable, especially if at those temps for any extended period of time. Does anyone have suggestions (other than diving dry) for gloves that would be better than just my basic five-finger, 5mm neoprene?

 

[JohnN]

These work well for me with water in the mid-high 40's: Dry Five Gloves

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Lined Dry Gloves with Wrist Seal - Seaskin Custom Diving Suits

 

[lermontov]

Lined Dry Gloves with Wrist Seal - Seaskin Custom Diving Suits

View attachment 427219

have you got these or is it just a link you've posted - if so how is the wrist seal if placed over the suit seal any issues with leaking

 

[king_of_battle]

I used 7mm gloves for a while up here. With that said, I recommend the dry gloves @MaxBottomtime linked to above. They should work with a wetsuit - believe me you'll never want to go back.

 

[shurite7]

Scuba XS makes a nice pair of neoprene gloves. The are considered drive gloves. For the most part they are semi-dry. I have found these work well in the cold mountain lakes here. The gloves allow for good dexterity as well.

You'll find there are lots of recommendations. It all boils down to trying different gloves to see which works for you. It can be time consuming and somewhat pricey. What works for one person, may not work for you.

 

[Diesel_Diver]

A lot of the guys up here wear the "lobster claw" gloves. We are in the low 50's here as well.

 

[Tug]

I'm local to you and what I did in the late fall was switch to the three finger mitts that Scott mentioned above. I'm not sure which shops locally carry them in stock, but years ago I think I bought my pair at Cape Ann Divers.

 

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

Thanks all, lots of gloves for me to investigate. Several questions:

1. Echoing lermontov -- does it pose a problem to have the wrist seals on dry gloves directly on your skin in order to use with a wetsuit instead of a dry suit?
2. Are the various dry glove options more fragile and likely to rip (hand part or seal) than neoprene gloves?
3. If I do end up getting a dry suit down the line, could these dry gloves with seals that go on bare skin be adapted to connect to the dry suit?

Thanks.

 

[king_of_battle]

the more i think about it the less sure i am of how well dry gloves would work with a wetsuit. I'm not sure how you could equalize your hands effectively - you'd probably end up with a bad squeeze once you're at depth. Maybe someone had an answer to that question?
To answer your other questions drysuit gloves can withstand an ok amount of abrasions but nothing like a neoprene glove. I went diving off Rhode Island last weekend in some decent current with my dry gloves on.... holding on to the wreck and shellfish attached to it left my dry gloves with lots of deep knicks. If you do go the dry glove path i believe you should be able to adapt most dry gloves to whatever drysuit you end up with - worst case you have 2 latex layers up against one another.
Again though - unless someone has a good method to equalize the gloves while you are in a drysuit I think I would stick to one of the other gloves mentioned above.