Gloves for diving So. California

[ornate_wrasse 0]

Hi all,

 

I'll be diving in Southern California for the very first time in early June, Catalina Island to be exact.

All my diving with my rig (D70S in Subal Housing) has been in warm, tropical waters. I certainly haven't needed or used gloves for warm water diving. I also have dived Puget Sound (water temperatures in the high 40's) but have never dived with a camera in cold water before.

 

I did see some gloves that cover part of your hand leaving the fingers free that looked like they were marketed for uw photogs in colder water, but I don't know if that'll be enough.

 

My question is: What kind of gloves (thickness, etc) work well for uw photogs in Southern California in June?

 

Thank you!

 

Ellen

[Seriola 1]

Ellen, What did you use in Puget Sound? 7mm? I'd go with something in between that and your typical tropical diving gloves... I think they pretty much sell just 3mm and a few 5mm gloves in SoCal. The water can be really warm on the surface(up to 76F) and really cold on the bottom(down to 50F) off Catalina.

 

Cheers,

Wyatt

[fotofish 0]

Hi,

I've always used 3 mil gloves. Anything thicker and I loose too much feel. Unless I'm going under ice 3 mil is all I use in cold water.

 

Stephen

[tdpriest 115]

Hi all,

 

My question is: What kind of gloves (thickness, etc) work well for uw photogs in Southern California in June?

 

Thank you!

 

Ellen

 

Well, how tough are you?

 

I dived the Channel Islands without gloves, but I don't wear gloves unless the water is less than 50 Fahrenheit...

 

For cold water I use a pair of 3mm gloves with the fingertips cut off, and the seams sealed with a dab of wetsuit glue - not aesthetic, but cheap.

 

Tim

 

B)

[hoovermd 0]

I've worn gloves ranging from nothing to tropical to 5mm at Catalina.

I find bare to be pretty tough.

Tropical is nice. Thin enough to feel things but adds just enough insulation to keep the fingers from getting numb.

[ornate_wrasse 0]

Ellen, What did you use in Puget Sound? 7mm? I'd go with something in between that and your typical tropical diving gloves...

 

Most of the time I used drygloves when diivng in Puget Sound so my hands weren't even wet at all. However, I've never dived with a camera before when diving in cold water. So it's hard to compare.

 

Well, how tough are you?

 

For cold water I use a pair of 3mm gloves with the fingertips cut off, and the seams sealed with a dab of wetsuit glue - not aesthetic, but cheap.

 

Probably not as tough as you I like your suggestion of using 3mm gloves with the fingertips cut off and using wetsuit glue to seal the seams. I don't care what they look like as long as they're functional.

 

I've always used 3 mil gloves. Anything thicker and I loose too much feel.

 

I think it would be very hard to work with the 5mil gloves based on what you and others are saying.

 

Thanks all for your very helpful responses.

 

Ellen

[mrbubbles 0]

I last dove north channel islands in december. Water temp was 52 to 55. My hands were fine with 5mil gloves. By the way thank god for dry suits.

[jlyle 8]

SeaSoft makes some very durable gloves (5mm). Try shooting with the gloves before you cut off the finger tip. You may find that thick gloves are not a problem.

[ornate_wrasse 0]

SeaSoft makes some very durable gloves (5mm). Try shooting with the gloves before you cut off the finger tip. You may find that thick gloves are not a problem.

 

Hi Jim,

 

Do you use these gloves when shooting with your Olympus camera? 'Course, from what I've seen, most of your diving lately has been in warm water, like in Indonesia

 

Do you have a link where I could buy these gloves?

 

Thanx,

 

Ellen

[DocScott 0]

I use a pair of Henderson 5mm gloves. I feel that they keep my hands warm and I have not had problems using them with my Subal housing so far. I have used them in Sourthern and Northern California as well as Port Hardy.

[jlyle 8]

Hi Jim,

 

Do you use these gloves when shooting with your Olympus camera? 'Course, from what I've seen, most of your diving lately has been in warm water, like in Indonesia

 

Do you have a link where I could buy these gloves?

 

Thanx,

 

Ellen

 

Hey, Ellen.

 

LOL, I shoot barehanded in warm-water, but I dive with 5mm gloves here in So Cal. Lately, it's been mid-fifties at depth. I've not had any problems with using the controls on my rig while wearing thick gloves. We dive dry. One of my boat-buddies likes warm-water gloves; the other one wears 5mm.

 

Leisure pro has the SeaSoft line. Their products are expensive, but last forever!

 

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q...=1&ie=UTF-8

 

SeaSoft will be at the Scuba Show in June, here in SoCal.

Edited March 7, 2008 by jlyle

[acco205 0]

I use 3mm in june. no problems here, thats around the time the water starts warming up. I only burden myself with the 5mm during the colder months where surface temps are in the 50's and my hand would otherwise get cold before the dive begins.

[Cerianthus 55]

In the temperate waters of the Netherlands I generally use 5mm gloves, or no gloves when it's warmer. I never had the idea that gloves were limiting changing the controls on my Ikelite housing.

[danclem 1]

Try checking out the Northern Diver 5 mm four way stretch gloves. I dive/photograph in Puget Sound (also D70s/Subal), but have used these in California and the Galapagos.

 

For photography flexibility is the issue. These work really well, although they do not hold up as well as some of the stiffer neoprene.

 

Have Fun!

 

Dan

Edited March 8, 2008 by danclem

[sgietler 1]

I use 5mm gloves year-round (pinnacle) in so-cal, and I've had no problems controlling the camera.

 

have fun diving catalina in june! how long will you be there for?

 

scott

[davephdv 0]

I use 5 mm gloves year round in Cal waters. Don't have any problem with dexterity with them.

 

Catalina is warmer. You should do okay with 3 mm gloves there.

[ornate_wrasse 0]

I use 5mm gloves year-round (pinnacle) in so-cal, and I've had no problems controlling the camera.

 

have fun diving catalina in june! how long will you be there for?

 

Hi Scott,

 

I'll be there for a Saturday dive out to Catalina on the boat The Great Escape. It's my "warm-up" for my trip to Indonesia in September.

 

I've heard very good things about Pinnacle wetsuits, so I imagine their gloves are top quality, too.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

BTW, I took a look at your gallery. You've got some fine images in there. I like how you group them into Macro, Wide Angle, Fish Portraits, etc. There was especially nice work on the Macro shots!

 

Ellen