Dry Hood on dry suit, or Wet hood on Dry suit? which one and why?

[danw2002]

ok, all what do you use and why. Dry hood with your dry suit, and attached(don't know if there is anyother way) or Wet hood with your Dry suit and why?

 

[Bob3]

It doesn't hardly make sense using a drysuit & then have your head all wet, does it?
Repeated exposure of the ear canal is the cause of "Surfer's Ear", a thickening of the bone which blocks the canal, traps water & wax, increases chances of outer ear infection, makes it harder to clear, may require surgury down the road, etc...


They do sell a so-called unattached dry hood, but don't expect it to "really" keep ya dry.

Go with the attached hood. Even if it is a pain in the neck, your ears will thank you for it.

 

[wb416]

Bob3 once bubbled...
It doesn't hardly make sense using a drysuit & then have your head all wet, does it?
Repeated exposure of the ear canal is the cause of "Surfer's Ear", a thickening of the bone which blocks the canal, traps water & wax, increases chances of outer ear infection, makes it harder to clear, may require surgury down the road, etc...


They do sell a so-called unattached dry hood, but don't expect it to "really" keep ya dry.

Go with the attached hood. Even if it is a pain in the neck, your ears will thank you for it.

Unless you're wearing a full face mask that seals completely around the hood, having a latex hood (I assume that's what you're calling "dry") doesn't necessarily equate to dry diving.

I had a latex hood and my head didn't stay dry, nor does anyone else I dive with that has a latex hood.

I use a neoprene hood now, and it keeps me quite comfortable. Today I was in 45° water and it was snowing. Both dives were quite comfortable to me. My dry fingers and dry toes were much colder than my wet head was.

wb

 

[danw2002]

I wear a neo hood now with my OS dry suit, but it 'bubbles' up under the top of the head during the dive and I have to always push down on top of it, even though it fits tight at the start/end of the dive. I think for some reason my air discharge comes in from my regulator up the sides of the mask and works into the hood. And so this looses heat. so that is why i am asking the question. i am having new wrist seals put on, so now is a good time to add the dry hood if i am going to do it. do you put on a beanie under the wet hood, or just under the dry one? thanks all.

 

[wb416]

danw2002 once bubbled...
I wear a neo hood now with my OS dry suit, but it 'bubbles' up under the top of the head during the dive and I have to always push down on top of it, even though it fits tight at the start/end of the dive. I think for some reason my air discharge comes in from my regulator up the sides of the mask and works into the hood.

This can occur with NEO or Latex. Do you exhale much through your nose? I had a looser hood once that caught allot of my regulator exhaust, but you say yours it tight. Do you have exhaust holes in the top of your hood?

I have no beanie under my NEO hood.

 

[danw2002]

just a nose blower sometimes because of the cold....

cwd stated...... ...This can occur with NEO or Latex. Do you exhale much through your nose? I had a looser hood once that caught allot of my regulator exhaust, but you say yours it tight. Do you have exhaust holes in the top of your hood?

I think just the way everything fits, it just seams to capture the exhaust stream someway and puffs up the hood. putting it on ,it is tight to zip up, and fits very snug against the face before and after the dive. So fit is not, I belive, is an issue. strange eh? BTW been a diver for many years, but this is a new suit and hood. so the configureation is different. so i am hunting down ideas....

 

[Bob3]

Several mfgrs have little button hood valves, you just punch a small hole & install on the pointy part of your head.

I have the luxury of having a dry head, the hoods on both my Unisuits & Vikings keep it dry, except for the chin. (must be the beard).

 

[tinman]

Just a long shot, but have you checked the age and snugness of your mask strap? Maybe some mask clearing air is getting trapped...

 

[danw2002]

yep i have thought of that, new Scuba Pro tri vent, and so vents to the side. could be some of that air, but i dont vent it that much and that hard for the amount of air that i get up in there. but i will keep that in mind. thanks.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I've used many different combinations of wet suits and dry suits (not so much dry, but enough to say things). I currently use a bibed wet suid hood with my wet suit. It fits well under the jacket, and is streamlined.

I have had a wet suit with a hooded vest before, and this was one of the warmest combinations I have used. It gives three layers, with a farmer John bottom, and jacket.

My warmest used a pullover jacket with a with a reversed zipper. The hood was a dry suit hood, which sealed around then neck. It was very good, but did get wet too (not much though).

I had a pullover jacket with an attached hood, and that also precludes water coming down your back. I liked that combination, but it wasn't as flexible for warmer water where you didn't want a hood.

I've used an Aquala dry suit with an attached hood, and a wet suit Farmor John bottom under it. That was the warmest I've been in cold water. It was a latex hood, but it did not seal around the neck. Instead, it had a face seal, leaving the jaw a bit exposed. The one thing to watch out for with latex hoods is actually sealing around the ear, which can lead to an ear drum being ruptured outward due to pressure changes during descent.

I'm looking to buy a Mares "semi-dry" suit. It has a neck seal, and dry suit hood, and should be very warm. Some idiot put it on wrong in the LDS, and did not tell them he'd riped the leg seal. While they have repaired it, they are selling it for about half price.

By the way, I've never heard of this "surfer's ear" situation mentioned above, and I've been diving wet hoods for 40 years without effect ("what did you say?")


SeaRat