drysuit hood thickness?

[Lorenzoid]

I'm looking into buying my first drysuit. Santi informs me that the standard hood thickness is 9 (nine!) mm, but a 6 mm can be substituted for no extra cost. My drysuit diving likely will be limited to Florida springs (69-72F) and occasional trips to the West Coast where I have family. I'd like to think the drysuit also will give me the means to visit the wrecks in, say, Tobermory, Canada someday, but that's about as cold-water as my diving is likely ever going to get. Doing no-deco wetsuit diving in ~70 F water, I have been fine with a 7mm hood ... but then again, I hope to get into doing longer dives with the drysuit, possibly deco and all that.

Should I request the 6 mm substitution? Or is the "standard" 9 mm in fact just fine for my purposes?

 

[buddhasummer]

I have the 9mm, my local temps get a wee bit colder but even in those temps I've never thought "hmm my head is getting hot". Personally I'd go the 9mm. You can get cooler, you can't get warmer.

---------- Post added June 2nd, 2015 at 08:22 AM ----------

I have a 7mm hood also and to wear I can't tell the difference, i.e doesn't feel thicker, or stiffer or harder to wear etc...

 

[ajduplessis]

Not sure about standard thickness for DS hoodies, but they can be anything 5mm and upwards. My SP dry suit came with a 7mm which is plenty. I dive dry in 60F waters with a 5mm hoodie (90min). Some DS hoodies also have neck colar that help with insulation/warmth around the neck area. This is where I feel the cold first, on my neck.

9mm IMO for 70F water is a lot, especially if you have some deco in the warmer layer. You are also likely to eventually own more than 1 hoodie, decide where you want to start, 6mm or 9mm?

 

[tbone1004]

I use a 7mm in the caves, but I have the Dive Rite one with a zip in the back that I leave open and I flush it regularly. At the same time I am doing mostly decompression diving. I'd get the 9mm since you'll want it for the west coast. If it's too hot for Florida, Northeast Scuba Supply usually has great deals on hoods in the 5mm and 7mm range. I'm a firm believer in hoods and will dive without a wetsuit before I dive without a hood.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I use a 7mm in the caves, but I have the Dive Rite one with a zip in the back that I leave open and I flush it regularly. At the same time I am doing mostly decompression diving. I'd get the 9mm since you'll want it for the west coast. If it's too hot for Florida, Northeast Scuba Supply usually has great deals on hoods in the 5mm and 7mm range. I'm a firm believer in hoods and will dive without a wetsuit before I dive without a hood.

FL cave divers had advised me to go for a 7 mm hood, but the wrinkle is that Santi says 9 mm is "standard," 6 mm is an option, and there is no 7 mm option. So from the first three replies here, I'm leaning toward the 9 mm. I suspect the difference in comfort between 7 mm and 9 mm is negligible.

 

[buddhasummer]

FL cave divers had advised me to go for a 7 mm hood, but the wrinkle is that Santi says 9 mm is "standard," 6 mm is an option, and there is no 7 mm option. So from the first three replies here, I'm leaning toward the 9 mm. I suspect the difference in comfort between 7 mm and 9 mm is negligible.

I think so. Temperature aside, blind I'm not sure I could tell which one I was wearing.

 

[tbone1004]

7mm is a standard thickness for some of the American drysuit hoods. You usually see 3mm, 5mm, 7mm from our manufacturers. 7mm is bloody thick and 9mm will not feel that much different. If you're used to cold water, you can dive in the 50* water on the west coast in a 7mm hood with no problems, but if you're not used to that water temperature you'll appreciate all the help you can get and it isn't coming at a significant comfort cost to go thicker.

 

[spoolin01]

I'd take the 9mm simply since if I later wanted two hoods, a thinner one is easier to come by.

 

[boulderjohn]

Funny--Santi did not give me an option. They just sent a 6mm hood. It had a funny shape. I could not wear it because the jaw area was so small it had me in terrible pain. They sent me a different one, and it is only mildly uncomfortable.

On a dive trip diving 58 degree water with students, I ran into a situation where I loaned my hood to a student and did not have a replacement. For some reason, I had a tropical beanie on hand. I wore it and was just fine. It was not a long dive, though.

The coldest dive I have done was a balmy 46 degrees, for one hour. I wore a Whites 6mm hood, and I was sweating by the end of the dive.