From: RKCNZ Sent: 4/07/2008 4:37 p.m.
G’day,
While having a look through the Powerdive web site I noticed a reference to “Kevlar diving gloves”. If there is one single piece of equipment that a professional dredger wears out often, and regularly needs to replace, its his gloves! Gloves made from Kevlar sounds like they could be of use to a dredger. Has anyone ever used Kevlar gloves? My guess is that they would be expensive ... so they would need to last a long time to be economical.
The gloves I have at present:
img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/NZGOLD/Equipment/cromAAAA_18.jpgI sometimes cover these gloves with inexpensive plastic gloves (of the type bought from any hardware store) to protect the neoprene from wear. However doing this can reduce finger movement and make picking up rocks a little more difficult.
The following are from three previous posts I’m made relating to wet suits used for dredging. “The wet suit on Trademe looks suitable for dredging and if it is true that "Because of the titanium layers the suits are a lot warmer than standard neoprene. A 2mm titanium gives 60% more warmth than 2mm neoprene. Because it is thinner it is less buoyant so not so much lead will be needed to be carried " it would be a good buy. It would certainly do the job when used with a HWS. Its very much like the one I have at present except mine is thicker. My suit is a one piece wet suit made from neoprene in two thickness's. The chest area of the suit is made from neoprene 5mm thick with the other areas of the suit made from material 3mm thick, with the hood separate from the suit. I prefer a hood of only about 2mm in thickness so its comfortable to wear for long periods underwater and is easy to wear with a face mask".
"When I walk into a dive store these days I'm always amazed at the latest designs of wet suits available ... which have improved out of sight since I first started dredging".
"What you need to be sure of when considering what wet suit to purchase, is, that you need a suit that permits free arm movement and is not bulky. You don't want a suit that makes it harder to pick up and move rocks. Having a wet suit that's not bulky is more of an issue with gold dredgers than it is with the sea divers that all wet suits are made for".
"When the Australian professional dredgers first started using wet suits 7mm thick back in the 80s they thought it would be the answer to keeping warm and they also thought that they would no longer have to use a HWS. Their suits were 7mm all over, and the thickness made arm movement difficult. So, they were warmer, as they expected ... but were more easily fatigued as their arm movement was restricted. And although a wet suit 7mm thick is good in theory, in practice its not practical".
"Replacing wet suits is a big expense for professional dredgers who will spend 6 hours a day in the water and dredge for a minimum of 100 days in a season. So, a dredgers wet suit needs to be reasonably tough. One way to make wet suits last longer is to wear a pair of cheap overalls covering the wet suit. Its not something I would bother with however as the overalls add some weight (they absorb water) and can restrict movement a little".
"The wear points for wet suits are the elbows and knees. And these areas have to be regularly repaired (which is simple enough to do) so you do not have to replace a suit every month ".
"My personal preference is to stick the end of the hose down the back of my wet suit, entering the gap between the hood and the back of the neck of my wet suit. I have always used wet suits with the hood separate from the suit top, so the space is there to insert it. By positioning the hose behind me its always well out of my way, and, usually, can't be accidentally pulled out. And to remove the hose all I have to do is reach up with my left hand, grab the hose and pull it out ... which can be done in seconds".
"And I've found that by having the end of the hose directed against the small of my back, the hot water is best positioned to freely circulate through the top of my wet suit. Each time I move, to lift a rock or direct the suction hose, I can feel the hot water circulating".
"Its only the top half of your body you need to aim to keep warm. The most significant areas for heat loss on a mans body are the chest and the top of the head. A wet suit hood will keep much of the heat from escaping from the top of the head, with the hot water from the HWS keeping the chest area warm".
"If you don't use a HSW, the first areas of your body to get cold are the extremities (hands and feet) where the cold is keeping the blood from circulating. And whenever I use a HWS I never feel debilitating cold in the hands or feet. Interestingly, its been very different when I've used a Dry Suit, as the hands and feet get so cold its impossible to continue ... even though the dry suit is keeping the body reasonably warm".
"The wet suits I've used with a HSW have always been conventional two piece suits. A suit I've always wanted to try with a HWS is one of the latest designs of semi-dry suits. In theory, a one piece semi-dry suit would circulate the water more freely and contain the heated water more efficiently as the warm water would only exit the suit at the arms and legs. And the cold river water would not enter the suit as easily as it does with a two-piece suit. Something worth trying!"
"I used to wear a Lycra "tropical" diving suit under my two-piece wet suit when using a HWS to help protect against being badly burnt if the HWS failed. But that was probably an unnecessary precaution".
The following photo is of one of my old two-piece wet suits
img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/NZGOLD/Equipment/cromAAAA_15.jpg?t=1215137546The following photo is of knee pads I use with a wet suit:
img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/NZGOLD/Equipment/cromAAAA_9.jpg?t=1215137660 Most of New Zealand's professional dredgers have experimented with using dry suits at some time and the consensus is that HWSs are a much more practical means of keeping warm that using a dry suit.
Regards,
Rob (RKC)