NORTHERN DIVER DRY GLOVES
Second edition Dry Glove Ring System
Northern Diver supplied me with a
set of their second edition Dry Glove Ring System. I had been attracted to the
system ever since January 2014 after a dive in a quarry. My hands were freezing
when a lady diver touched my hand and said feel how warm my hands are. Now I
have to admit that I was impressed and I set off in pursuit of a pair to
review. There was some delay on me getting my hands on them as the 2nd
generation of the product had just been produced. The main difference I noted
from the original set was that rather than being supplied with the thick blue
smurf glove the new set is supplied with a thin pair of chemical resistant
black outer gloves. They were thin and I wondered if they would cope with the
rigors of diving.
Securing the system to my drysuit
One of the things that I really
liked about these gloves is that they can be fitted to any drysuit with either
neoprene or latex seals. This is enabled by the clever set of rings that
accommodate different thicknesses of seal. The system comprises 2 ring like
components that fit together over the drysuit seal. Fitting them together they
compress a third ring onto the inside of the drysuit seal. I must admit that I
found it a real challenge to fit the system to my neoprene seals on my Otter
Drysuit. At one point I was about to give up and send my suit to Northern Diver
to have them fit the glove system. I did however speak to Al Wright of Northern
Diver who gave me a few helpful tips that enabled me to eventually fit the
seals. No sealant is required if you fit the system to latex seals. For
neoprene seals you do require to build up multiple layers of sealant to form a
clean seal for the ring to seat onto. Accurate positioning and application of
the sealant is required and to be honest the amount of sealant supplied with
the system is barely enough and I required around twice the supplied amount to
do a good job. There are good videos on YouTube produced by Northern Diver that
explain the process for both types of seal. Fitting the system to latex seals looks
a breeze by comparison.
Donning the gloves
I have often been on dive boats
and looked at divers trying to don their dry gloves. It always looked a huge
hassle to me. This is probably due to earlier dry glove systems being very
bulky with thick inner liners. When it
came to fitting my gloves for a dive I found it no problem at all. The Northern
Diver ring lock system is very simple. The ring has an open and locked
position. Once the glove is inserted in the housing, the ring is set to the
locked position and a secondary lock stops the locking ring from moving. To
remove the gloves it’s a push of a button and a twist of the locking ring. Once
this is done the gloves can be pulled off or if you fit them just right they
will pop off if you flex your wrist.
In the water
In the water I found the gloves
to be very dexterous and I had no problems operating my camera’s buttons and
levers. The dry inner liners were fairly thin and did keep my hands fairly
warm. I will have to ensure that I can transfer air from my suit into the
gloves to equalise the pressure and keep my hands warm. One niggle I found was
the stitching on the dry glove liners. Putting the gloves on, I found that the
stitching was fairly prominent and could be felt running along the side of my
fingers. I found this a little uncomfortable initially. That said once I was in
the water it didn’t bother me at all. The outer gloves performed very well.
I was certainly took more care with these
gloves than if I was wearing standard neoprene gloves but I did grab onto my
fair share of rocks and wreckage. These thin gloves coped with everything I
threw at them and I did not experience any leeks or tears.
Conclusion
I found these gloves a pleasure to use once I had
successfully attached the system to my drysuit. It was a challenge getting them
fitted to my neoprene seals but perseverance paid off. These gloves can be
fitted to neoprene or latex seals which is excellent as not all dry gloves systems
can do this. They are not permanently secured to your drysuit and can be
removed should you wish to use standard gloves in the summer months. That said
the system can stay on the suit and standard gloves can still be used. It is
still the drysuit seal rather than the dry gloves that form the seal at the
wrist. The ring system is a little bulky around the wrist but in the water I
found they did not impede me at all and were very comfortable to use, if fitted
properly.
Pros
The gloves are flexible and dextrous. They are easy to use
and most importantly keep your hands warm. The gloves themselves are easy to fit and
remove.
Cons
Fitting the ring system to thick neoprene seals can be
challenging. The amount of sealant supplied by Northern Diver in the kit is
barely enough to do a good job.
I would recommend this product.
2nd generation NORTHERN DIVER DRY GLOVES rrp £69
as per the Northern Diver Website.
Contact
tel 01257254444
