So. On with thin Decathlon undergloves (had them from skiing. £4 IIRC). £1.29 Sainsbury's tough rubber gloves on top (they are blue and green and have a nice tight wrist). Put drysuit on as normal with the wrist seal on top of the rubber glove. Then finished the whole lot off with a thin neoprene glove to offer some protection to the rubber.
I had the above setup on my left hand and a Poseidon 5mm cold water glove on the other so I could compare.
Guess which hand was warm and dry and toasty? The best £1.29 ever spent on dive kit.
So- questions I know I am going to be asked:
- Equalising. The underglove comes back on my wrist past the seal so they equalised with air percolating through the fleecy fabric
- Dexterity. About the same as 5mm glove
- Donning. Need talc as you have rubber on rubber sliding (steady on, Finless)
- Kitting up. Well imagine kitting up in 5mm dry gloves and they are about the same. You can leave the neoprene gloves off until afterwards if you like to add some dexterity. I needed help with my neck seal although a bit of practice might nail that
- Doffing. A bit of a pain but no worse than other dry gloves
All in all, an astounding success. For £1.29 I had warm, dry hands. See you all in Sainsburys tomorrow. The keys to choosing the right rubber gloves are:
- Tight wrist. Ones with a baggy wrist will cause creases and channelling.
- Smooth rubber outer. Obvious really. A textured palm is ok but the wrist has to be smooth.
- Some sort of "toughness". Marigolds would work fine but the Sainsbury's tough ones (blue with a green wrist) were about spot-on. You may want to trim off the green bit, actually, as the seal is made on the blue bit (but this may vary with your suit)