Advice from an instructor - wear gloves or else

[MauiScubaSteve]

And "others": How 'bout we give him a break?? We all goof, and he obviously paid a pretty high price for his mistake.

I am most probably the "others" you are referring too; since we are O'hana you can single me out if you like.

This spring I slipped on the swim step while boarding after tying up for the first dive. Both ladders were up and the site briefing was in progress so I was trying not to interrupt. I banged my shin HARD, but since I'm a MAN and since my 5mm wet suit was not damaged I just gritted my teeth and bared it. 2 dives and 2 hours later when I took off my WS I saw that it was a serious gash that should have gotten stitches.

If I report it as a work related injury we (the crew) probably all have to do urinalysis. I am one of the uninsured, so I can't afford to get proper medical attention, but I know how to take care of a wound. Butterflied it on the boat, cleaned it real good at home and used liquid bandage with a butterfly at home. Worked 4-5 trips per week for most of the long, slow, wet healing.

I should have stitched it myself but thought I could get away with gluing it with the liquid bandage. During the period of healing, wearing full foot fins in caverns and using no gloves in current/swell I had plenty of scrapes/cuts and more redness around those than usual. I knew I was on the edge of staff or worse so I kept every abrasion as clean as possible.

It finally healed but it left a wide scar. All the other injuries also finally healed. I even got wet at the boat ramp and dove a couple sketchy shore dives (with regards to water quality). I know there are different corals that are more problematic in Florida; I did a couple hundred dives off Key Largo in spring '01. Still lack of proper wound care was the cause of this, not the lack of gloves!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I am most probably the "others" you are referring too; since we are O'hana you can single me out if you like..... Still lack of proper wound care was the cause of this, not the lack of gloves!

Nah halemano, I really didn't want to do that (single you out), because I always enjoy your posts, agree with you 99.9% of the time, and even this time I totally agree that lack of common sense and proper wound care was the problem for the OP, not lack of gloves.

I just felt that the OP had "suffered" way out of proportion for his error. Man, six days in the hospital is a lot, even if it was largely self-inflicted.

It is important for new divers to read this kind of stuff (this is in the new divers section) so they can learn from others mistakes, and felt it was good that the OP posted his "goof", even though I didn't agree with his conclusion (that lack of gloves was the real problem).

And, I'm very sorry to hear you got hurt too! I really don't like hearing about any of my "virtual" dive buddies (especially O'hana) getting hurt.

Aloha (and Best Wishes)!

 

[Tigerman]

Yeah, hes suffered more than reasonable for his error, but that error was NOT to dive without gloves, yet hes suggesting everyone should dive with gloves because of what happened to him. Its attacking the issue in the wrong end..

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Of course if you're doing a wreck penetration or a wreck penetration course, lost line recovery procedure means running your exposed fingers all over the wreck.
With gloves you can't feel the lost line.

Really? I did my wreck penetration class wearing drygloves and we managed our lost line drills just fine. I'm sure it's easier without gloves ... but in a lot of waters going gloveless simply isn't an option.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[RJP]

Really? I did my wreck penetration class wearing drygloves and we managed our lost line drills just fine. I'm sure it's easier without gloves ... but in a lot of waters going gloveless simply isn't an option.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yup, couldnt dive for more than a minute or so here in NJ without gloves.

 

[AfterDark]

I've been using sailing gloves for years, when thermo protection isn't an issue. They provide good protection as they are for handling lines and rope some of which could go zipping along your palms, and the fingertips are cut off so you can touch things underwater and find out what it feels like, we learn a lot by touching. They also allow for fine work, untying knots, adjusting straps, equipment. Most boating stores carry them. They come with different lengths of the fingertips exposed I use the 3/4 length so just the 1st joint of each finger is exposed.

 

[miketsp]

Really? I did my wreck penetration class wearing drygloves and we managed our lost line drills just fine. I'm sure it's easier without gloves ... but in a lot of waters going gloveless simply isn't an option.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yup, couldnt dive for more than a minute or so here in NJ without gloves.

I've been using sailing gloves for years, when thermo protection isn't an issue. They provide good protection as they are for handling lines and rope some of which could go zipping along your palms, and the fingertips are cut off so you can touch things underwater and find out what it feels like, we learn a lot by touching. They also allow for fine work, untying knots, adjusting straps, equipment. Most boating stores carry them. They come with different lengths of the fingertips exposed I use the 3/4 length so just the 1st joint of each finger is exposed.

I do have a set of tipless, sailing gloves for warmer water and a pair of normal leather / neoprene gloves with just two fingertips cut out on each hand for cooler waters but I must admit I'd never really thought about line-recovery in very cold water - where you want to keep your dry gloves intact. That's a good incentive to make sure your line is run reasonably tight and routed away from rough surfaces where you'd have a hard job feeling it through gloves.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

Yes it's a good idea to wear gloves whenever possible. Some tropical destinations do not allow the wearing of gloves while scuba diving. You really need to learn to manuver without touching anything. That's why gloves are banned in many places, they don't want you to touch anything.

 

[Papa_Bear]

The glove is a tool and protection just like a skin! I wear gloves when ever I can except caves! In reality if you touch the reef it is better for the reef if you do wear gloves! Less transfer of Viruses and bacteria than the human hand, but never touch tropical reefs, or you will never hear the end of it hear! But we keep forgetting about personal responsibility and the bigger problem! FINS!

 

[*dave*]

But we keep forgetting about personal responsibility and the bigger problem! FINS!

Fins don't kill reefs, people do. More specifically, people with crappy skills and poor SA.