I’ve been a bit obsessive about dry gloves lately and have purchased a huge swath of them to figure out what I like.
I really dislike black gloves so not too many of those were considered in this list. These are all gloves I’ve got sitting in front of me although I’ve not dived them all.
The glove I’ve got the most time diving is the Alphatec 87-208 Heavyweight Orange Latex glove. This glove is part of the same family as the 87-118s that are the default Kubi gloves. My wife, and friends have been using this almost exclusively for years with refrigiwear cold protection glove liners. In a few hundred cumulative dives we’ve ripped 1 glove on a light monkey canister. They work and seal fine on Kubi, Santi or SiTech rings and offer good dexterity, but when you start sizing up to put thicker glove liners in like the Santi Heated, Hestra Heli, refrigiwear thinsulate you start getting some extra material around the ends of the fingers. Thus, prompting this quest / ADHD rabbit hole.
Some macro thoughts on material:
Latex is stretchy and feels less likely to rip than nitrile and because of the stretchiness can be a tighter than an equivalent nitrile or PVC glove.
Anything that is "knit cotton" or "knit with a seam" (supported) is going to require a more complicated install on Kubi or Santi style rings.
Because of image limits I'll break it up over multiple posts below:
I really dislike black gloves so not too many of those were considered in this list. These are all gloves I’ve got sitting in front of me although I’ve not dived them all.
The glove I’ve got the most time diving is the Alphatec 87-208 Heavyweight Orange Latex glove. This glove is part of the same family as the 87-118s that are the default Kubi gloves. My wife, and friends have been using this almost exclusively for years with refrigiwear cold protection glove liners. In a few hundred cumulative dives we’ve ripped 1 glove on a light monkey canister. They work and seal fine on Kubi, Santi or SiTech rings and offer good dexterity, but when you start sizing up to put thicker glove liners in like the Santi Heated, Hestra Heli, refrigiwear thinsulate you start getting some extra material around the ends of the fingers. Thus, prompting this quest / ADHD rabbit hole.
Some macro thoughts on material:
Latex is stretchy and feels less likely to rip than nitrile and because of the stretchiness can be a tighter than an equivalent nitrile or PVC glove.
Anything that is "knit cotton" or "knit with a seam" (supported) is going to require a more complicated install on Kubi or Santi style rings.
Manufacture | model | Material | Color | thickness | Liner | Texture | Notes |
Ansell | Alphatec 88-394 | Latex | Natural Latex | 20mil | Unlined | Diamonds on palm | |
Ansell | Alphatec 87-208 | Latex | Orange | 28.7mil | Flocked | Diamonds on palm | This is what I've been using to replace the 81-118s because I do not line black gloves |
Ansell | Alphatec 87-118 | Latex | Black | 31.5mil | Flocked | Diamonds on palm | The traditional G17k marigolds |
Ansell | Alphatec 23-200 | PVC | Blue | 79mil | Knit Cotton | Rough Texture | |
Ansell | Alphatec 08-354 | Neoprene | Green | 55mil | Knit Cotton with a seam | Sandpaper | |
Ansell | Alphatec 87-029 | Latex | Blue | 50mil | Knit Cotton | Crinkle | |
Ansell | Alphatec 62-401 | Latex | Blue | 53mil | Knit Cotton with a seam | Rough Crinkle | |
Showa | 737 | Nitrile | Green | 22mil | Unlined | Rough | |
Showa | 717 | Nitrile | Green | 11mil | Unlined | Rough | |
Showa | 727 | Nitrile | Green | 15mil | Unlined | Rough | |
Showa | CHM | Neoprene / latex | yellow/blue | 26mil | Flocked | Zig Zags |
Because of image limits I'll break it up over multiple posts below: