Drygloves

Why drygloves rather than wet gloves

A wet glove floods and then relies on your body to warm the water sitting inside it. A dryglove seals against your drysuit cuff instead, so the water never reaches your hand and you choose what insulation goes underneath. On a long dive in British water that is often the difference between finishing the dive properly and thumbing it early because you can no longer work a clip.

Everything on this page is part of a system rather than a standalone glove. The seal is made at the wrist by a ring or cuff arrangement, and the glove is simply the part you replace when it finally wears through.

Ring systems and cuff fittings

Drygloves attach in several different ways, and the fitting has to match what is already on your suit. Ordering the wrong fitting is the single most common mistake we see, and it is an easy one to avoid.

SiTech blue PVC drygloves

SiTech's blue PVC drygloves are sold as a pair with a liner included, in three fittings: standard, bottle neck, and extended cuff for a wrist ring. Choose the one that matches your suit's existing cuff or ring arrangement. The PVC shell is the part that takes the abuse from wrecks, shot lines and shingle; the liner underneath is what keeps the hand warm.

SANTI SmartGloves

SANTI SmartGloves is a self-assembled ring set rather than a finished glove. It comes with the mounting ring, ring cover, locking ring and both O-rings, and it is designed to work with SANTI's own drysuit ring seal system. The gloves themselves are bought separately, and that is the point of it: you run whatever glove suits the dive and swap it without disturbing the rings.

Wrist seals and the modular cuff

SiTech silicone wrist seals sit behind the glove system. They are hypoallergenic silicone with around 40% more stretch than latex, which makes the suit easier to get into and puts less pressure on the wrist. They are also resistant to UV and ozone, and they are a genuine answer if latex leaves you with a rash after every dive.

Two things are worth knowing before you order. Silicone seals cannot be glued to a suit, so they have to be installed with a modular quick-change cuff. And they are sold singly rather than in pairs, so order two if you are doing both wrists. We stock them in black, in small and standard.

Choosing and fitting

Start with your suit, not with the glove. Find out what is on your wrists right now - a glued seal, a modular quick-change cuff, or a ring - because that decides which of these will physically fit. If you are already on a modular cuff you have the most freedom: seals and glove rings come off and go back on without a trip to a repair shop.

Sizing matters more here than it does with wet gloves. A glove pulled too tight restricts circulation and will leave you colder than a roomier glove over a decent liner. If you are between options, or you cannot identify the cuffs on your suit, ask us rather than guessing.