CAST YOUR MIND BACK TO YOUR LAST cold-weather dive outing. Do you remember that horrible feeling as you pulled a cold, wet hood over your head for a second dive and then struggled with that “grippy-when-wet” internal lining on your gloves as you struggled to get them on or off?
Australian-based Probe reckons it has a solution to such problems in its iDry fleece-lined wetsuits and accessories, which are now available in the UK. The diver test team put Probe’s hood and gloves through their paces.
Quick-Dry Technology
Probe has developed a hydrophobic fleece that repels water. It has a pink, wool-like texture that is used to line the wetsuit product range and is labelled Quick-Dry.
The outer skins are constructed using Probe’s Super-stretch neoprene, while the seams are blind-stitched and double-glued to reduce water penetration.
The Design
The iDry 5mm hood is fully lined with the Quick-Dry technology fleece. The face opening has a soft glide-skin seal and is 3D-contoured for a good fit, while the back of the hood features a gel gripper print to help keep a mask-strap in position.
The gloves are made from 2mm Super-Stretch neoprene with a full Quick-Dry fleece lining. The seams are vulcanised to provide extra durability and the palms have a gel gripper print to aid traction when wet. Both products are finished with subtle screen-printed red and blue livery.
In the Water
The team visited Wraysbury on the morning that the moon covered the sun to provide a rare solar eclipse. What wasn’t so rare was the fact that I volunteered to stay on land and take the photos while Alex and Bruce took the gloves and hood for a dive in the clear 7°C waters at London’s house-reef.
I was feeling a little guilty asking Alex to test 2mm gloves when in reality the minimum thickness in these conditions should have been 5mm, so I kept his own 5mm three-finger mitts on standby just in case.
After 40 minutes of exposure his mitts had stayed in my pocket. A tribute to the Probe iDry gloves or to Alex’s perseverance? As it turned out it was the former, with him reporting that his hands had stayed as warm as he would have expected from the thicker versions. The hood was perfect for the conditions.
I turned the gloves and hood inside-out, gave them a shake to dislodge the water drops and stood them up on a bench while the boys drank a well-earned cuppa.
After only half an hour the pink Quick-Dry fleece was living up to its name. It was bone-dry to the touch, even though the neoprene was still sodden on the outside. Next dive it was Bruce’s turn to give the gloves a go.
After the second dive he reported having colder hands than he had expected, though he wasn’t thinking of stopping the dive to get a thicker pair. Again, the hood performed as well as anticipated.
Conclusion
After the dives, both the guys commented on how easy the accessories were to don and doff, especially when wet.
They also remarked on the soft feel of the fleece against their skin and the high degree of dexterity the gloves offered compared to their own. I look forward to checking out other products from this range of soft-lined quick-to-dry dive gear.
PRICE: Hood, £40. Gloves, £42
MATERIAL: Super-Stretch Neoprene, Quick-Dry fleece lining
SIZES: Hood: S, M, L, XL Gloves: XS, S, M, L, XL
COLOUR: Black, red and blue livery
