hooded vest- under or over the wetsuit?

[SoCalScot]

Is it better to wear a hooded vest inside or outside of your wetsuit? I have heard different people say one way is better then the other. But no one could ever give me a reason why. So which way is warmer and allows for less water movement inside the suit and why?

I have heard that it stops the feeling of the cold water running down your spine when you first jump in. That is one reason I am really looking forward to adding a hooded vest to my gear. Is that true?

which way do you choose to wear a hooded vest?

I am currently diving with a ScubaPro Everflex 7/5 and a serparate hood

any thoughts or opinions will be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance for any advice you can offer

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Is that suit a one-piece? for a one-piece suit, it has been my experience that the vest over the outside works better. I think it allows the smooth neck seal of a wetsuit to work better and the outside configuration seems to reduce leakage through the rear zipper. For years I always wore it on the inside, but outside seems a little better.

 

[mike_s]

i've wondered this also.

i figured that on the inside would be warmer on the inside since it would be snugger to your body, especially under the arms, which gaps are created when you raise them with a full suit.


but other people have told me that they are warmer on teh outside.... I'd like to see what others think and "why"

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Hooded vests should always be worn on the inside of your wetsuit. The vest provides benefits in two ways. First, it thickens the overall layer of neoprene between two masses of differing heats (your warm body and the less-warm water) so it retards the transfer of heat from the higher source (you) to the lower source (the water). For that benefit it would not really matter if it was worn inside or out. But more immediately apparent is the benefit gained by the layering effect. Any water that wants to flush in or out of your suit through your neck or any other area, and take away the warmest water we have that is surrounding our core, has to now travel a much longer path down the inside of your suit, to your belly, then back up into the vest, then reverse that process to steal away that nice warm water which we have expended precious BTU's on heating up. You can see how slowing this process can really help us reduce how much water we need to warm up on every dive.
And, your wetsuit will seal even better against the nice smooth hooded vest material than it would agasint your skin. So you win again!

 

[drbill]

Interesting... I've never considered wearing my hooded vests anywhere but inside my full suit. I have worn 3mm shorties on the outside of 3mm full wetsuits on occasion, but never a hooded vest. That's just my opinion though... maybe I'm just a creature of habit!

 

[bleeb]

I would think it may depend how the suit and vest were sized when acquired, especially if you're talking 7 mm of neoprene. I believe some people choose to size the suit to have the best fit, so that it can be worn alone without vest, when the water is somewhat warmer. Sizing the vest to fit next to the skin would either stretch the fullsuit or may make the latter uncomfortably loose when worn alone. Of course, YMMV and the flexibility in configuration has to be weighed about whether you get extra water circulation around the neck with the vest on the outside (probably also somewhat dependent on the individual).

 

[redacted]

I always wear mine inside but I do like DD's rational about covering the zipper. My hooded vest has a smooth rubber surface on the outside of the neck that is designed to seal with the jumpsuit neck seal. And my jumpsuit has a good spine pad that seals thge zipper pretty well. I'm not sure my vest would fit well over the jumpsuit and it is enough of a wrestling match putting it on first.

If you want to stop that feeling of the cold water running down your back when you jump in, pour a quart of warm water down your suit just before you go in.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I'm with DD on this one.

I've worn mine both ways and frankly I prefer it on the outside as it seems to be warmer, at least in really cold water.

If is true enough that if worn on the inside, the water coming past the neck or zipper has to work its way around the vest to get at your trunk, but frankly it wonlt do that as it will take the pasth of least resistance and just has to move down along the inside of the suit to get to the waist, crotch and legs.

If worn on the outside, water has to get past the vest (through the arm holes or up from the waist) before it can even try to enter the zipper or neck and if the vest is snug, little water flow will occur as a 7mm one piece creates a fairly smooth surface with no channels etc. for water to flow along.

In contrast, when the vest is worn under the suit, the suit has to go up and over the 5mm layer of the vest and that that creates more of a gap around the arms and creates channels for water flow.

Despite the cute little skin out seal areas around the enck on many of them, I think they should always be worn on the outside - at least when worn with a one piece full suit.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think it also depends on the suit. If you have a lot of room for a vest inside your suit, then it is probably better to wear it there. If your suit fits tight, and the hooded vest can fit over the suit, then outside is probably better. I don't think there is a huge difference.

I have never worn the hooded vest on the outside of a 7 mm Farmer john and jacket suit, probably because the vest would not fit. After a lot of experimentation, I found that for water above about 50 degrees, the following is very comfortable: a 3 mm hooded vest under the suit and then a 5 mm hood over the outside of the 3 mm hood, but NOT tucked in. This gives you a lot of neck mobility, but still keeps a good bit of rubber over your head.

In any regard, hooded vests are great!

 

[diver 85]

inside for me......reason??, all my wetsuits are prettier than my 2mm hooded vest..