Posted by brianc on January 10, 2001 at 08:48:28:
In Reply to: gloves & Hood help posted by N.Alabama on January 08, 2001 at 23:21:50:
I dive in N. and Central CA with temps. typically +/- 50F. I started out using dry gloves, but found them too fragile around the rocky shores typical here. Such gloves where the cause of my only open water flood - so far. I also found that on shallow dives, I constantly was raising up my hands to get some air into the gloves. I now wear Excel 5.4mm titanium lined gloves. I am very comfortable in those. My hood is an attached 7mm wet hood. The attached hood does make the neck seal a bit tight at first, but it really seems to add warmth.
You may want to look into using argon for your insulating gas. It will help keep your body from losing heat so fast. That will help your hands and head.