Dry gloves with good seal with dry suit?

[cskudder]

Anybody found dry gloves which seal well with a dry suit?
I sail all winter in water + air down to low 30's *F. I've been using neoprene gloves, but water infiltrates from the wrist and the seams. Once the hands are wet, they're cold, and it's only a matter of time til I gotta quit.

 

[Wavedancer]

Not a real popular thread, it seems...
However, APS may have the dry gloves you are looking for:

http://www.apsltd.com/c-3974-aps-dry-gloves-latex.aspx

 

[cskudder]

Wavedancer thanks for the link. Yeah it's pretty quiet right around here...

Have you (or anybody) used these, or anything else for that matter, in real cold water?

thx again-

 

[Wavedancer]

I imagine that one would want to wear another pair of gloves on top.

But hey; Laser sailors were born to suffer, especially while frostbiting...

 

[49208]

Wavedancer is bringing up the downside (IMHO) to trying to keep hands dry while frostbiting. The latex (or dishwashing, or even the nitrile coated work gloves) typically don't offer much warmth by themselves so you end up needed a polypro liner glove as the first layer, then the waterproof layer (I would suggest not tucking them in the drysuit, but instead on the outside, and a duck tape wrap if needed)

Now you are at two layers, and if you don't want to risk wearing thru the waterproof layer, an additional layer on top, ie normal sailing gloves that protect the latex glove from rips in the palm or fingers..

With 3 layers, I've found my hands to be less mobile, cramp more easily and can be a challenge to pick up a dropped line.
Again, this is all personal preference and everyone is different, but I found no more then 2 layers, not worrying about dry hands, and just violently shaking my hands when they get cold (to encourage blood flow into the fingers) works well for me. Also, making sure rest of your body is warm to the point of sweating (especially feet and head) helps..
YMMV

 

[laserxd]

I've heard good things about these, haven't tried them yet
http://www.landfallnavigation.com/nrsreactor.html

I've worn these with a drysuit sailing in ~0F, you can put your cuffs over these in case you go for a dip, these have decent grip and better dexterity than neoprene gloves
http://www.apsltd.com/p-20139-atlas-hot-tamales-warm-gloves.aspx

A few tips that I use to keep warm are:
-Keep your core on the warmer side
-wear a good warm windproof hat (your body will restrict bloodflow to your hands if your head is cold!)
-wear gloves that allow good bloodflow (too tight = frosbite, litterally)
-wear a neck gaiter/wamer / aquafleece/spray top that covers at least part of your face, (over your drysuit)
-wear good wool socks, or maybe hot socks/poly pro's with neoprene socks inside your drysuit (when you sweat water will accumulate in the latex boots, latex doesn't provide any warmth in freezing temps)
-you can get away with more in light air conditions, being wet + heavy air = max heat loss

 

[cskudder]

Long delay but picking up the thread-
LaserXD- thx for your tips- I'll +1 especially on keeping the core warmer than usual, looser gloves, and a really good waterproof hat. I use a "sou'wester" style Kokatat that shields my face and crucially my neck from wind+spray. If I can turn my head away from the spray in time, it's essentially complete protection.

On the gloves, I bought these-

http://www.tactics.com/xcel/drylock-5mm-3-finger-lobster-wetsuit-gloves/black
Not cheap - $55, but I sailed with them yesterday for the first time + they were great.

The gloves themselves are 100% waterproof and VERY warm. They sealed VERY well at the wrist with the drysuit cuff- the wrist cuff on the glove is quite tight relative to the size of the rest of the glove. I was out for 90 minutes in water 38*F, air 55*, wind 25-30kts gusting to 35-40, waves 2+ft and rolling whitecaps, so VERY wet, LOTS of spray and lots of moving around. One cuff leaked a very little bit at one point but other than that they were just plain dry.

The lakes were frozen all winter here, just broke up, so there was no real cold water+cold air sailing. These gloves were TOO warm for the air temp yesterday until the waves/spray really came up. So I'm pretty sure they'll be warm + dry for the 35* water+air days.

I also got 7mm boots to go over the latex socks of the drysuit, and they are also very good- with thick wool sox inside the drysuit, completely solved cold feet.