Hooded Suit or Hooded Vest

[awerda]

I'm currently living in Canada and plan on doing most my diving in the Great Lakes. I've decided against a dry suit mainly because I can't afford it, but i've narrowed it down to the bare line of wetsuits. I was just curious which would be wormer. The 7mm Artic Hooded Full Suit with a 3mm vest, or a 7mm Artic Fullsuit with a 3mm Hooded vest. Does it make much of a difference? Also are these suits good or would you recommend something different. Thanks in advance.

 

[BradJ]

I use a hooded vest under a full suit and I find it hard to "seal" the suit as well as without the hooded vest under it.
Therefore, I think it's easier, especially if you aren't particularly careful about adjusting the neck seal, to let a little more water flow through the suit.
If you will always be wearing a hood, I would go for the attached one.

 

[CALI68]

My friend uses the Bare full suit with the additional Hood/Vest. He loves it...untill the water gets to about 54 degrees then it's all drysuit. You not super crazy far off in price for a Bare Next Gen Dry suit. Actually only about $300 or so.

 

[MarkH]

I'm assuming the hood on the wetsuit is thicker. The hood on the 3mm vest is probably 3mm and therefore not as warm as the (most likely) thicker hood on the wetsuit. Most body heat is lost through the head.

 

[ScubaSarus]

I just used my Bare Artic 7mm full for the first time. I converted my Henderson F/J Top to a 7mm hooded shortie. The water temp was 42 F. I dove 30 mins with no problem at all. Only thing cold was my hands and feet. The seals on the Bare are just simple seals and no breakthru technology. You will get wet but the flow is at a Bare minimum. I say this dive was a success in planning for next weeks Beaver Tail dive in RI. You'll need Bares best hooded vest with this full suit. Wondering what are actually the diff's between Bares full and hooded suit. Is it just the hood ?

 

[MookieMoose]

I dive the BARE 7 mm hood integrated suit in Tobermory, and have been quite comfortable with it alone in water as cold as 4C. The real advantage of the hood-integrated suit is the internal bib that prevents cold water from rushing in the cross-chest zipper and down you front, while the integrated hood prevents a rush of water down the back of your neck.