Boys & Girls and the 'Hood

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CON8IV

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
218
Reaction score
1
Location
Loveland, Colorado
# of dives
200 - 499
Today, just before falling asleep, I was thinking back on my ongoing diving education. Not just academic, but real life things I had learned that was perhaps never talked about much in OW class. Thus, I wanted to write this in hopes of helping some new divers with questions about exposure/wetsuit/drysuit questions. Here goes:

Here in Colorado, we dive in cold water. When I first started doing this, I did it in a 5 or 7mm wetsuit and without a hood. Then with a hood that did not fit correctly. The hood helped keep me warm, but felt like someone was trying to choke me to death. So, I went back to "ice-cream headache" diving. Yuck! So, as many new divers do, I asked around and finally found a hood that fit properly. It was COMFY! so I could not wait to try it out in the water. It was love at first dive. So, lesson #1 when considering a hood: FIT is EVERYTHING. Lesson #2 goes like this. I found that when diving in water that was too cool for a steamer or even a 3mm wetsuit, I would put on the hood. Presto! It was like adding a whole additional level of thickness to whatever wet/exposure suit I was previously wearing. I look at it like this: a steamer used in combo with a hood is like wearing a 3mm wetsuit. The 3mm suit in combo with hood was like the warmth of a 5mm suit, and so on. The reason is simple and we've all heard it a zillion times. We lose most of our body heat through our noggin. You ever hear your Mom say, "If you want to keep your feet warm, put a hat on your head"? Same thing here.

To conclude: wearing a properly fitting hood in combination of a given wetsuit will give you much more versatility, possibly WITHOUT having to PURCHASE a whole different suit. Or at the very least, additional warmth for those long, shallow, cool dives. Try it, you'll see!

Oh, and a side note, the hood can protect your hair/head from sea lice if they happen to be around.
 
Hey Jaybird - thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts down about a hood. I will remember this, if I dive in colder water. BUT always have my hood to dive with - just in case! Good information! THANKS!!
 
Another benefit to wearing a hood is it bcomes very difficult for your "buddy" to kick your mask off if the hood is pulled on over the strap.
 
And a hooded vest, even a short 3mm chicken vest is the next leap since it mutes any back zipper seepage and further closes off the neck opening.
 
over, cause my mask goes on last by pulling it up from my neck.
 
I did my OW training in 4C / 39F water and so a Dry Suit and Hood (and gloves and underclothes and thermals etc!) were needed. I liked the hood for keeping my head warm, and on the surface it was dead comfy, in the water absolutely necessary!

Only problem was with the Medium size it was a good fit but didn't allow me to equalise properly as it blocked the smooth water flow in and out of the ears. (note: if this occurs just ascend a little and pull the hood away from your head and allow water in - works a treat).

When i tried the larger hood it allowed me to equalise but my breathing out filled the top with air and so i had to squish it down every so often :D

Ah the fun you can have on OW :D

On the second question - I wear my mask over my hood because that was how i was taught but it seems a better idea to wear it under - I shall give that a practise. I think they wanted to train me that way so that I was actually able to practise mask removal. If you do this though it might be worth just making sure you don't become unfamiliar with mask removal, and if the mask were to somehow crack or break (unlikely I know) it might be hard to replace with the hood over the strap.
 
It depends on the hood. with my drysuit hood it usually goes on over unless conditions are such that it would be better to have it under. Alot of chop, surf, swift current, etc. With my 2 mil hood it always goes over the mask strap.
 
jon m:
not trying to hyjack , but do ya'll wear your mask over or under your hood, and why?

Wearing it under will crate a cold water flow path down each side which matters in really cold water. The tension of the hood seal will also disturb the fit of some masks. Actually I don't even see you wou can have good face seal coverage while wearing it under.

Wearing it under does afford protection against loosing your mask.

Pete
 
If you're diving where a lost or kicked-off mask would put you in deep trouble, hood over mask, so you can't lose the mask. Otherwise, either way.

I read about a DORIA diver who credits hood-over-mask strap for saving her after another diver crashed into her, as she'd've been in major trouble if the mask had been knocked off in a dark and deep passageway.
 

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