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.
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.