Otter Bay 12mm Hood Review

[Peter_C]

Cricket does a great job with the hoods and other products. Pretty much all the divers, that dive a lot in our area, use an Otter Bay hood. Word of mouth is definitely her best advertising, which also says something about the quality of the product

Great to see a review written Rick, but next time listen to Ben

 

[jepuskar]

I hear the Otter 12mm hood has better flexibility and mobility than a 3mm hood?? Is this true Rick?

 

[Rick Inman]

I hear the Otter 12mm hood has better flexibility and mobility than a 3mm hood?? Is this true Rick?

Not like the hood we're gonna put over your head before the bellows drops! -- Oops. Sorry, I was looking at your avatar...

Well, I would say it is as flexible as a 5mm hood, because the area on the neck and around the face is (I think) 5mm.

It is much more comfortable than I'd thought it would be.

Great to see a review written Rick, but next time listen to Ben

Why start now??

 

[jepuskar]

Not like the hood we're gonna put over your head before the bellows drops! -- Oops. Sorry, I was looking at your avatar...

Yeah, the only problem with that is you have to spend time/money to catch me.

 

[DavidVik]

How do you guys slide your 7mm neoprene Hoods over the Henderson Ice Cap? Mine won't slide over at all! The "rough" outside surface prevents the neoprene from sliding..

The "custom" Otter Bay hood idea with the "face mask" sounds like a great idea...how did you attach the face mask part to the Otter Bay Hood? (My Otter Bay hood should be here tomorrow!)

Thanks!

 

[Camerone]

How do you guys slide your 7mm neoprene Hoods over the Henderson Ice Cap? Mine won't slide over at all! The "rough" outside surface prevents the neoprene from sliding..

The "custom" Otter Bay hood idea with the "face mask" sounds like a great idea...how did you attach the face mask part to the Otter Bay Hood? (My Otter Bay hood should be here tomorrow!)

Thanks!

Short answer - turn the OB hood inside out, center the top part on your head, and "roll" it down to turn it back the right way without disrupting the Ice Cap.

The "face mask" was a custom deal done up by Cricket for a couple of my really good friends, and not something aftermarket that they did themselves. They spec'd it out at order time, when they were down in Monterrey. Apparently, it works really well for one of them, the other one ends up clearing his mask more often than usual. For me, that's a no-no, as it wastes a lot of my precious diluent, so I went with the separates...

The Ice Caps are too much of a PITA to want to use if you don't absolutely need them.

 

[texdiveguy]

So when you place an order for this 12mil dry suit hood....what custom measurements are required?

 

[Rick Inman]

So when you place an order for this 12mil dry suit hood....what custom measurements are required?

From an email to me from Cricket:

The measurements I need are:
> > HEAD: Around the largest part of your head,
> > just above the eyebrows.
> > CHIN: Around the chin & the back of the neck,
> > just below the skull bone.
> > NECK: Around the neck, just above the adams apple.
> > OVERHEAD: Over the top of the head, from shoulder
> > to shoulder, at the base of the neck.
> > NAPE: Over the top of the head, from the center
> > of the eyebrows to the back of the neck at
> > shoulder level.

 

[saylke]

Thanks everyone for the reviews on the Otter Bay hoods. Because of them my wife and I just bought hoods from Cricket and they fit amazingly well. We haven't been able to test them out yet but will be this weekend off Vancouver Island. Looking forward to being toasty warm and would recommend Otter Bay hoods to anyone in cold water.

 

[Coll]

This may be a silly question but for those of you who switched from 5mm to the custom 12mm hood did you notice any changes in your trim or buoyancy? Is it insignificant enough of a change that you don't need to add weight? I live about 10 blocks from Cricket's store and am ashamed to say I have yet to go in!