Diving throughout the year one of the common problems that I see is divers who are ubale to compete some skills due to a loss of dexterity as a result of cold water. Some divers choose to dive in 3mm gloves, some in 5mm, some in semi drygloves and some in drygloves. The extremities are the first area of the body to feel the effects of cooling and by preventing this cooling, you can increase the retained core temperature and warmth on a dive.

Like others I have tried the wrist seal drygloves and whilst the first goes on without too many issues, the second is very difficult to fit. Scubapro used to make a 5mm semi-dry glove which was really good at keeping you warm but which wore through the material quite quickly. They now make this glove with a kevlar material which unfortuantely reduced the dexterity even further.

Personally I like warm hands and so I invested in a set of rolock drygloves to fit to my protec explorer. The rolocks come with 4 rings, 2 for the suit and 2 for the gloves. The rings lock together by lining up the dots and twisting on, friction then holds them in place for the duration of the dive. Taking the standard Showa 660 gloves they can be fitted to a drysuit very quickly. The link for fitting instructions is here

Once fitted to the suit they preserve the inner seal so that in the event of a glove flood the entire suit is not compromised. Diving without an inner seal does mean that should the glove develop a leak there is the risk of a suit flood. In order to equalise the glove, which becomes compressed as the depth increases, their either the inner glove can be put on prior to the seal or you can use a small tube to enable gas flow through to the glove. I use short WD40 straws to equalise and in diving down to 60m have never had a problem.

The rolocks once locked on, if fitted correctly, will not unlock without a full twist on the wrist. Getting them in the right place normally means lining up the dots with the middle finger. For me they need to line up with the ring finger inorder to get a reliable lock. Though once locked on they do not move and I have a considerable amount of confidence in their ability to keep me warm throughout the dive.

I have used them extensively over the last 12 months from the NADC to Scapa and wreck diving on the south coast- you do need to be a little more careful where you put your hands in order to prevent cutting through the material but I have found them to be very reliable and extremely comfortable. Replacement gloves can be obtained from protec direct if you have large hands like me. Alternatively you can use this supplier for standard sizes.

Rolocks are more expensive than some of their compeitors such as typhoon and Northern Diver but they do have some major advantages in the speed of being able to replace gloves compared with the typhoon (or chekup systems) and the size of the rings when compared with ND. Niknaks are now doing the ring sets at £99 which is excellent value.

Whats happens if they flood ?

Well you do get a wet hand!

Diving in the NDAC last year at 45m in 6 degree water one of my gloves leaked as a result of some small holes (had been wreck diving the week before). Whilst the glove was full of water by the end of the dive, my hands were no colder than using a 5mm wetglove- the thermal protection is important here - I was diving with a 40grm thinsulate inner glove which prevented too much heat loss. Merlino wool also works very well-especially as an inner liner glove underneath the thinsulate. There was a small amount of leakage to the suit arm but again chosing the right undergaments meant that I was not chilled by this- a 400grm Santi does keep you warm.

Unless you experienced a total glove failure or rip then you should be no colder than a wet glove. I am now sufficiently happy that I will use the rolocks on deco dives in cold water- they are a good system which provided you are aware of the limitations permit great thermal protection for the hands.

I also prefer the rolocks to the zipseals now found on DUI suits. Zipseals have the advantage of a flexible ring system but they have no inner seal. With the rolocks if I want to switch to a wet glove then I can without any problems, with zipseals I would need to replace the entire seal with a latex seal prior to the dive. Whilst the rolocks have bigger rings this is not really a problem and I would recommend them to any diver looking to increase their dexterity and comfort whilst diving in colder waters.