Dry gloves vs wet gloves for winter dives, I switched and regret waiting

After 3 winters fighting numb fingers in wet gloves on the Gulf of Mexico rigs, I dropped $180 on a dry glove system with a liner kit. Took two dives to get the seal right, but my hands stay usable for the whole shift now, and I can actually grip tools without fumbling. Anyone else made the swap and found the learning curve worth it, or did you stick with wet for the feel?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor7791mo ago

That 180 bucks buys you more than warm fingers if you do sat or deep stuff. I ran wet gloves for years on the north sea jackups and the real game changer was no more blown o-rings from moisture getting into the wrist seal. The learning curve is mostly about not over-tightening the rings, I snapped two before I got the feel. Once you get it dialed, you can actually do fine work like tying off lift bags without your hands going dead, and that alone is worth the switch.

gibson.avery1mo ago

Oh man, I gotta jump in here because that's mostly spot on, but the o-ring thing is a little off. The moisture usually gets in through the glove material itself or the cuff, not the wrist seal, at least in my experience with the older style dry gloves. Broken o-rings are way more about the ring getting pinched or twisted when you're putting the liner on, so you really gotta check the seating before you close it up. But yeah, the fine motor skills part is totally true, once my hands stay warm I can do stuff like clipping gear or sorting line I could never do with thick wet gloves. It's the small stuff that makes you never want to go back.