Blowing air in my hood when clearing

[grouchyturtle]

I've read all the posts about putting holes in your hood. Well I have a Hederson, which already has a vent in it.

When I clear my mask somtimes I blow a huge bubble in the top of my hood.

Do I need to make more holes?

Could it be that maybe since I have a small skinny head, my hood covers more of my face, that someone with a human sized head, thus overlapping more of my mask's skirt?

 

[Cave Diver]

Sounds like you're already on the right track.

You may need additional vent holes. I put several in my hood because it didnt come with any and I had no idea how many I really needed.

You might also have problems from overlap as you mentioned. After you put your hood and mask on, try taking and pulling the edges of the hood back away from your mask skirt some. If the skirt is trapped under your hood, whenever you clear your mask, the purged air will go straight into your hood.

You may also try tilting your head back more. If your hood doesnt fit your face real snugly, and you aren't looking up, air can easily get trapped by your hood when you exhale.

 

[MISFIT DIVER]

The hoods that I have bought do come with a vent hole in the top. They never seem to be a enough. I have six holes in my hoods and never get the "conehead" thing anymore. I would also suggest that if you are going to put more holes in the hood, I found putting them further back from the middle helps alot. Are you sure that hood fits you properly and is not to big? It always seems to be a trial and error thing. Good luck

 

[IceBergSlim]

This Air in Hood issue irked me a great deal for a while...I was a cone head with my mask flying off at depth. Finnaly I just cut a few holes on the hood and now I have no problem. I can say that I felt no diminishment of thermal protection from this "hood DIY". But, What do I know..? All I can say is that I am a conehead no longer and can keep my mind on more important things..

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A hole is perhaps the wrong word - a 1/4 inch slot with an exacto knife is more than enough. More of a hole than that and things get cold in cold water.

Also it helps if you feel exactly where the peak of the cone head is when you are diving which helps get the slot in the right place.

You can also eliminate a cone head by putting your head down a bit, pushing on top of the the hood and forcing the air back out of the hood.

I also put my mask on before my gloves. This allows me to use my fingers to feel exactly how things are situated around the mask. and to make sure the hood and skirt are not trying to occupy the same part of my face.

The other obvious solution is to find a better fitting mask that will go a whole dive without clearing.

Rent before you buy a specific model is an option. If not, have a mouth piece in your mouth when doing the traditonal checks to see if it fits in the store. Doing it without a mouthpiece in your mouth is not real effective and you often end up with a mask that leaks around your upper lip and nose.

If your face is just really hard to fit, getting one with a purge valve is another good option and masks with purge valves are coming back into fashion.

 

[grouchyturtle]

I put 3 small slits on the top and no more cone head when clearing.

I also tried stretching the edges of the hood a little, so hopefully I get less overlap with the mask next time I dive.

 

[blackice]

DOes anyone have any photos of a hod with holes or slits?

I have the same problem that air get trapped up there when I exhale some times and I find myself turning on my back and letting it out.

thanks, =-)

 

[Bob3]

How's the overall fit of the hood? How much of the hood overlaps on the side of your mask? The better hoods come with a "unbound" face opening so they can be trimmed.
A small button valve can be installed on the top of the hood if you have one of those "sorta-dry" hoods, lets air out & won't let water back in. You should be able to find them for about $10 or so.

 

[Rick Murchison]

There seems to be a bit more to the problem here than meets the eye... When you clear your mask, with a little practice you should be able to do so with little or no air escaping around the sides and especially from the top of the mask, and therefore shouldn't be introducing much air into the hood in the first place. In addidion to what you've already done, I suggest you try experimenting with your mask clearing method to see if you can reduce the bubbling from the mask where the skirt is under the hood.
Specifically work on two areas - (1) the amount of air you're using to clear - all you need is enough to displace the water that's in the mask, and you really don't need to blow a bunch of bubbles into the water from the mask at all - try blowing slowly through your nose, and stop blowing when all the water's clear. (2) use your hands to gently apply pressure to the mask in such a way to ensure a good seal on the mask skirt everywhere except along the bottom edge of the mask, which is where the water's going to drain out of the mask as you introduce the air to displace it.
If you'll work on refining the mask clearing you'll end up with much less air in the hood to deal with in the first place, with the added benefit that your mask clearing will be much more efficient and easier.
Have fun..
Rick

 

[JohnF]

Bob3 once bubbled...
How's the overall fit of the hood? How much of the hood overlaps on the side of your mask? The better hoods come with a "unbound" face opening so they can be trimmed.
A small button valve can be installed on the top of the hood if you have one of those "sorta-dry" hoods, lets air out & won't let water back in. You should be able to find them for about $10 or so.

I was going to suggest cutting the face opening back but you beat me to it, so here's a couple of other thoughts.

On my newest hood I took sharp scissors and pinched the hood between two fingers, then cut a 1/2" V in a couple of spots top and back of the hood along the centre line. No unsightly soldering gun burned holes (which do fray over time I've found) and the little V works like a flap and seems to work well to relieve pressure.

The other thought is for the grunszter (when he's not diving really cold temps) to try one of the new beanies now available. I'm seeing more and more of them out there, enough in fact that you aren't as likely to get hooted at for the dorky looking headgear. 8)

JohnF