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>It suprises me that after 25 years you have not figured out what type of gloves >to use.Maybe you don't have any proper 5 finger drygloves in the US? The ones >we use are called Nordic blue (think they are manufactured in sweden). Xerotech >in UK also makes good drygloves. With the proper type of gloves you can work >with small clips and rubber bands. I've played with latex type dry gloves for many years, and in fact we used Viking gloves in the Antarctic, where water temps were running sub zero C (about -1.5 to be exact). There, we wore the standard latex wrist seals and then also had the rigid rings and dry gloves with glove liners. One trick that we learned was to put a stir-stick from stirring coffee under the wrist seals so we could raise one hand up above our head at a time and inflate the glove to obtain some relieve from the squeeze. But actually, I seem to be warmer in 'Lobster Claws', ot 3 finger mitts. The lack of bulk between fingers 1 and 3 make them very comfortable but the dexterity of index finger and thumb is not much affected. In the digging environment, where I am literally digging like a dog in sand, the abrasion factor ruins dry gloves quickly. Plus when the dry glove is punctured, insulation value is immediately lost. Thus the trade-offs in this environment are not worth it. We fill the gloves with hot water from a thermos jug before donning, and my hands stay the warmest part of the system in mid winter. Having spent a year at Palmer Station and another year at McMurdo Station Antarctica, golves were/are sort of ann item of special interest, I assure you... ;-) I'm not sure that saying that I have not figured it out is not accurate. Antarctic waters are pretty cold.... >You say that your tools are a part of your weight system. If you drop a heavy >tool what happens then on deco if it is part of your weight system?. Since the hammer is maybe 3 pounds and the crowbar about the same, the net loss of either of both is really not that much. It is actually smaller than the weight change due to blowing 200 cubic feet of air our of a set of doubles, if you think about it. >You wrote: >"I do not use a canister light in the NE, as the wire (unless fitted with a >quick-pull >connector) poses an unacceptable hazard for anchor-line wrap during a bailout" > >Can you explain this. I fail to see the logic. I'm paranoid about being wrapped around anything when -needing- to leave. Especially in the splash-zone environment of the ladder. This is also a factor around the anchor line in rough seas. Really, our bottom time durations rarely require the battery life of a canister light and my Mini Aqua-Sun provides plenty of light and I can dump it and my goodie bag if things go wrong, thus eliminating -any- hanging crap in an instant if needed. Now, for the rebreather I'll be reconsidering since BT's will be in excess of the 50 minutes that the Aqua Sun gives me. I'll probably go to a canister light, but will want to install an EO connector or similar at the canister so I can detach the head if I need or desire to. >As for your tools you come extremely prepared on your dives i must say. >Hammer,crowbar and goddybag on every dive. Then again in a previous post you >say that you are so heavily laden that you have a hard time swimming. You make >this as an excuse for not stremlining your equipment as you can barley move >anyway. I can swim just fine. It's a matter of degree. I'm not set up to scooter into a caave. I am quite comfortable swimming from, say the stern of the San Diego to the box, diving, hannging, and then surface swimming back to the boat. For those not familiar with this wreck it's about 500 feet long. But to say that 'I can barely move' is not accurate. To say that I select higher drag items -on occasion- when their utility is clearly superior to another choice -may- be warranted under -special- circumstances. I never said anything else. >Your way of diving is very different to mine i must say. I agree that >there is no good way on carrying tools your gear will always be a mess. But >there has to be a limit to the amount of tools you carry on a deep wreck. If you >carry so much that it compromises your safety i would leave it on the deck. I think my way of carrying tools works fine. It adds zero total system weight and frankly I forget that it is there. I usually leave my cave reel on the boat too, and -only- carry my manila reel when I am planning a off-anchor deco under adverse conditions. If it's clear and calm, mid-summer stuff, I'll do a planned off-anchor deco from my cave reel too. I just have one -more- tool in my box to select from. Regards, Dave Sutton -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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