Vintage Double Hose

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHuyrg3PV-s[/video]
- Here's a video we made showing Rob and SwimJim diving full out Vintage with HydroGlove dry suits and double hose regulators. They adjust their buoyancy by puffing in and venting out air under their hoods. It seemed to work a heck of a lot better than my 5mm wet suit, safety rocks, and BC!

Can you guys go into what the water temperatures were, and what you used for undergarments? Did you wear neoprene booties over the drysuit feet? I know Rob and I figured out a bunch of tricks with these over the past two years, so it's good to keep sharing that stuff. I'm about to break mine back out for the "winter".

I know... I have said it before... but I am a big fan of Hydroglove drysuits. In fact I have two. I have one neck seal version (without an attached hood) that I have installed a DUI suit inflator on, and another with the attached hood that allows me to dive in the simple vintage style of adding air to the suit through my mask. Diving these suits with polar fleece type undergarments is at least as comfortable and flexible as wearing a 2mm wetsuit, but warm and dry is obviously much better in cold water.

My two DUI CF200X suits (one from 1983 and the other from 2001) just don't get used much anymore. They are great suits and very rugged, but they just can't compare in comfort and flexibility to my HG's.

You can always add regular or lightweight overalls over your HG for durability when the diving conditions warrant. I wear warm socks inside, and then add wet suit boots over the outside of the HG for protection against abrasion and puncture damage while walking around.

Surface temps were mid 50's. Bottom temps were around 42 or so. I wore the equivalent of about a 200 gram undergarment with snowmobile socks. I used my DUI rock boots over the feet so I could use my normal drysuit fins.
It was my first Hydroglove dive. It took about 60 seconds to figure out how to add air to the suit. Dump air? Look up. Not too technical. I took that suit down to 130 and was comfortable doing it. Rob did 177 as I recall.
Diving a Hydroglove is very close to diving with a swim suit. Low drag and you could move very easily. I was over weighted and that was a little bit of a problem. I had a new VDH mask. This is normally a very good thing. But the new masks are too supple for this application. A stiffer OEM mask would have been a better choice. Reason being that the hood caused the mask to flood. A stiffer mask would alleviate that problem.
I was cruising around at 130 fow and comfortable doing that. The material of the suit and the undergarments worked well together. I was never cold through out the entire dive. When I got out and had to deal with 40 mph winds, I got cold. ha. Great suit.

Jim

The Hydroglove is the bees knees for sure. The sleekness of it in the water really lets you swim at a good clip. I also think the reduced drag allows for much better air consumption. The fellow that sells/makes them is top notch and stands behind his product for sure. I have a spare brand new XXL hooded version available for sale or trade if anyone is inclined? It has never been even tried on.

I'm very interested in the simplicity of using the Hydro Glove drysuit. I understand how you are adding air to the hooded version. but am wondering how you would add air to the neck seal style?

Also, using a backplate and wing, I have become accustomed to adding air to the wing for ease of floating on the surface. How do you deal with staying buoyant on the surface with the Hydro Glove, without any added air leaking out?

My one hesitancy to ordering the Hydro Glove is that I have a rather long inseam length - 34". The size large pants which have close enough sizing otherwise, only have an inseam length of 31". Do these things stretch much, or am I just out of luck? I thought of maybe cutting off the boots and attaching a drysuit seal on the end of each leg. Has anyone done that?

Really enjoyed watching the video!

- Steve Sinksen

Rob's the resident expert on Hydro glove. IMO, in an open water/boat situation where you'd want to stay on the surface, you'd want to run a wing on your backplate. In a "Vintage" situation, you do your dive and then exit via boat ladder or shore. No lounging on the the surface. There for no wing required. When I first started diving in the 70's, I had a Mae West and used that for flotation if needed while moving towards the boat. When I got certified after a year of diving, I got a horse collar BC. I even had the power inflate. 1st class all the way! LOL

Jim

Steve the pants size IMO is much less critical. So, what I am saying is that you could buy the next size larger in pants if you need the length w/o risking a leak. Of course the true expert on the pants is the maker Mr Sewell. He has been very patient with me and helped me a long way on my 4 suits. Heck he even made the XXL because I pestered him like a fat kid in a candy store. I later lost some weight and had to buy a diff suit in XL, but at the price he sells them for I did not mind.
When u contact him tell him I sent you and remind him that we really want some colour options like yellow or green.

http://vimeo.com/24956743 This video was made by SwimJim and it really shows the Hydroglove at its best.