Hooded vest can't turn head

[Kriterian]

You could always send it back and go with the hyperstretch hood instead. The gold core is Henderson's "warm" model, so it's probably less forgiving than normal neoprene as far as movement. The hyperstretch would be slightly less warm but alot more stretchy AND easier to get on/off because of it.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Henderson cold core if it fits snug will do well for you

 

[kelpmermaid]

To doff, Pull the front material forward in front of an arm opening Then put that side's hand into the arm opening, down around your chest and out the bottom. Slip it up off your torso and exite the second arm. Pop it off your head.

There is something about the cut of the Goldcore high up under the arms. It's good for warmth but makes it a bear to remove by oneself. Yet another reason to dive with a buddy, LOL!

Agreed on the zipper being more female friendly, considering the waist/bust differential.

 

[miketsp]

I just got my Henderson Gold Core hooded vest from Scubatoys and I love the way it fits.... except I can only turn my head a bit. So my question is how much more stretch do you think it will have in the water. I have a regular wetsuit and it stretches quite a bit more when wet, but this is my first experience with gold core. I can't return it once I use it so I was trying to get some input to decide. (I had a heck of a time getting the thing off, but that is another story)

Well since Winter is coming (at least for those of us in the Southern hemisphere), my wife & I decided to invest in new 7mm semi-dry suits and we went to try them this weekend.
I had just read this thread before packing the car and it was something I had never thought about so it made me a little curious.
Anyway we just got back and the result is that my wife, who used a US Divers Iceland 7mm Semidry with built in hood said that she had no problems and found it was similar to her previous 5mm with built in hood.
OTOH I'm sitting here with a really stiff neck because previously I used a 5mm wetsuit with a separate 3mm hood which had a lot of flexibility and I would hardly notice I was wearing it. My new suit is the latest SeacSub 7mm Semidry PRO with separate hood. But although the hood is separate it's much more rigid than my wife's integrated hood. Firstly because the neck seal is like a dry suit neck seal which goes well up the neck and then doubles back. The hood then goes over this tube and then the body piece has yet another ring which goes over the hood neck tube. So there were 3 interlocking layers of neoprene around the neck. The seal was perfect but the possible movement was almost nothing.
It took me a while to get used to rotating my body instead of my head - which is why I'm sitting here with an aching neck.

 

[jedah]

I second the hyperstretch suggestion.

We just got our 5/3mm hyperstretch hooded vests from Scubatoys, and the flexibility is amazing, even over the 5mm wetsuit! It's hard to describe, it fits snuggily, yet you can move w/o restriction.

Maybe Larry/Joe can ship you the hyperstretch version for you to try on, and then you can send back whichever one you don't want (shipping is about $5)??

J.

 

[Chocoholic]

thanks for the input, I just got back. I ended up going with a separate zippered hood and that was fine in the 78 degree water, with a 5mm. I ended up adding 4 pounds from 3mm to 5mm and adding a hood. will do a trip report. :dazzler1: