What to look for in Dive Gloves?

[SambaKing]

I live in Utah so the water can get a little cold. How many mm thick should my gloves be, and are their any other features i should look for?

[CompuDude]

Lots of different kinds of dry gloves. The kind I dive with my drysuit are plastic/rubber, no "mm" since they're not neoprene. The insulation comes from standard glove liners and such underneath, not the waterproof glove itself.

What sort of dry glove were you looking at?

[thor]

I think he said dive gloves.

I guess it depends how cold the water is and how tolerant you are of the cold. I dive with 5mm Henderson Gold Core and I find them plenty warm in water as cold as 50. Fit is most important. Snug but not so tight that it cuts off circulation. Try on as many gloves as you can. On cheaper gloves sometimes the inner stitching on the fingers can be uncomfortable, so be aware of that when you try them on. Some people prefer gloves that have velcro wrist closures, while others prefer zippers or none, or a dry glove type closure. If you are going to use the gloves to hold onto wrecks or pick anything up you might want to look at gloves with kevlar.

[aggie99]

I bought the instadry and I don't like them, they stick to your skin and are really hard to get on and off, the instradry feature isn't worth the hassle.

[emalebiga]

Originally Posted by aggie99

I bought the instadry and I don't like them, they stick to your skin and are really hard to get on and off, the instradry feature isn't worth the hassle.

I also bought the instadry 5mm and they have keep my hands comfortably warm in 46 degree or warmer water. They can be fairly hard to get off, but i learned that if you just pull the sleeve of the glove away from your hand to let some air in they become a lot easier to get off (comparable to any other gloves I have used). If you have a good fit they will let very little water in. The best thing is that the 5mm is thin enough to let you due pretty much anything you want with out filling restricted.

[aggie99]

Originally Posted by emalebiga

I also bought the instadry 5mm and they have keep my hands comfortably warm in 46 degree or warmer water. They can be fairly hard to get off, but i learned that if you just pull the sleeve of the glove away from your hand to let some air in they become a lot easier to get off (comparable to any other gloves I have used). If you have a good fit they will let very little water in. The best thing is that the 5mm is thin enough to let you due pretty much anything you want with out filling restricted.

I will have to try that, basically the method I have been using is to completely turn them inside out to get them off.

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by aggie99

I bought the instadry and I don't like them, they stick to your skin and are really hard to get on and off, the instradry feature isn't worth the hassle.

Instadry are the only wet gloves I'll use, given a choice. I use 3mm InstaDry's down to 50 degrees... not super warm at the coldest level, but great when it's just a bit warmer, and the dexterity can't be beat. Very important to me as a photographer. Thick gloves make it tough to control the camera.

InstaDry 3mm gloves are warm as most 5mm gloves, and offer the dexterity of 1mm reef gloves. The only downside is they don't last as long as other gloves... but that trade-off is worth it to me.

My bad on misreading "dive" for "dry"...

[Charles R]

I perfer the drygloves attached to my drysuit they are warm and dry.

[cmburch]

Xcel Titanium 3/2
I currently use the Xcel Titanium 3/2 about $35 good to 46F. It has a special lining making it easy to get on and off even when wet. The glove is pre-formed like the natural curve of your hand at rest. Important features for me are not restricting fingers or cuffs, no cold finger tips, no hot cuffs, able to grip items easily, not overly rough textured surface if I want to wipe my nose, comfort and performance. I am not sure why these thin gloves are warm down to 46F. Xcel also makes a 5/4 Titanium for colder temps.

[DOWNDEEP73]

I use Henderson 5mm Titanium Hyperstretch Gloves.