Gloves Gloves serve two main purposes for kayaking and for diving. First, they keep your hands warm. This is important for your dexterity when handling scuba gauges and accessories. Also they protect your hands from blistering on a kayak paddle and from sea urchin pokes while scuba diving. Gloves come in several thickness but the most common material is neoprene. The thicker the neoprene, usually the warmer, but they can have less feel. There is also stretchy neoprene, which helps with that problem. Some neoprene gloves will have a kevlar or kevlar-type material that helps with the durability with the neoprene wearing out on the finger tips and we've found them to be effective. Most gloves will be designed so that they go over your wetsuit, or drysuit, sleeve.