Hooded vest or just a hood?

[JustJules]

I'm one of those people who get cold all the time. My last dive was not quite miserable, but I realized that I'm going to need a hood or I'll soon have to give up diving until spring. That's no fun.

So I'm trying to figure out whethter I want a hood or a hooded vest. I'm not sure I need a hooded vest, but I've heard that hood skirts can be trouble to tuck in, keep in place, etc. Any opinions/experiences are welcome....

Julie

 

[luvdiving]

Julie

What is ther temp. of the water you are diving in?

If it's warm, but you get chilled after a full dive, you might get by with a beanie. A beanie is a head only covering. That way, there is no neoprene to worry about tucking into the top of your wetsuit. That was the case with my wife. She really noticed the difference.

For colder water, a hooded vest might be more helpful. :boom:

 

[Scubaroo]

It can depend on what sort of wetsuit you are using (I get the impression you're not using a drysuit). I have a semidry 7mm suit, which is basically a wetsuit with neck, wrist and ankle seals. So I use a short hood without a skirt, pulled down over my neck seal. It works very well. My dive buddy has a 6.5mm wetsuit with no neck seal and she uses a hood with a skirt, which is an absolute pain for her to put on and adjust. If the skirt gets folded over and she doesn't notice, it can cause a leak. And it seems to take forever to get it on and tucked under the wetsuit and adjusted. Mine, I just pull on and adjust under my chin.

So I like the idea of either:

a) short hood if you don't need the extra torso insulation
b) hooded vest if you need the extra torso insulation

and skip the hoods with skirts.

But a lot of people use the hoods with skirts, so maybe they can recommend some advantages I haven't seen in them.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tavi]

I use a beanie in Caribean waters. It makes a difference. One of my instructors says that because of heat loss through the top of the head, using a beany would compare to adding 1 mil of neoprene in a fullsuit.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I like my skirted hood. I just get my wife or dive buddy to tuck it in for me and it works fine. I don't have any trouble with leakage that I know of. I did just think, I normally wear it with my 6.5 farmer john and it ends up between the shortie and the john so if it did leak I would probably never know about it.

Julie, in your case I would think a light hood, no skirt, would work just fine.

Tom

 

[Rick Murchison]

I personally use a hooded vest with a wetsuit, a hood without skirt with a drysuit.
Rick

 

[large_diver]

Julie,

I use a hood with skirt from June-Sept. When the water around here is in the lower 50s, I usually pull out the hooded vest. It doesn't keep water completely out if you're diving with a wet suit, but it does give you added torso insulation.

 

[KC_Scubabunny]

Personally I own a hood with a skirt and a beanie. I typically wear my hood with skirt when I wear my 7mm. Normally because we are going through at least 2 thermoclines and I am going to need that type of warmth.

Beanies are great to add a little extra warmth especially on multiple dive days. My advice would be to get one with a chin strap though. I had one that was like a ball cap with no strap and it was hard to keep on. Especially if you have a lot of hair.

My husband has a hooded vest and to be honest it doesn't look that comfortable. That is the primary reason that I went with the hood and skirt. Watching him struggle it on and off looked painful. I know that isn't very fact based but I thought I should mention it since I don't think anyone else has said it.

KC_Scubabunny

 

[jmsdiver]

Julie -

Recommendation, depending on you water temp: around where I live (GWN), I have been known to use a 7mm wetsuit with a 5mm hooded vest in warmer waters (> 60F); however, most of the time I dive dry with an attatched hood. You will stay warmer with a hooded vest simply because you are covering your "core" (your chest) and your head (where you lose something like 20-30% of your heat). You will also limit the amount of water that moves in and out of the suit, even one that fits well, because the neck "scoop" will be covered by the attatched hood.

Just my 2 cents worth.