Otter Bay 12mm Hood Review

[mikeguerrero]

Can anyone that has a Otterbay Helmet placed on their noggin post? I'd like to see what it looks like around the head. How many of you have been photographed with this helmet?

Thanks,

MG

 

[Mo2vation]

Can anyone that has a Otterbay Helmet placed on their noggin post? I'd like to see what it looks like around the head. How many of you have been photographed with this helmet?

Thanks,

MG

I've taken many, many thousands of shots of a diver in an OB. She's even taken a couple of me.

Its the only hood our team wears.

Here are a few.


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Ken










































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[Mo2vation]

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!

YES!

It impacted it significantly. Not so much now after about 400+ dives. But when I got mine in May 2007, I couldn't sink it in the rinse tank with the 2# weight I was using on my last hood. I needed a fiver to sink this thing.

It impacted me. Not as much because I carry the camera up front. It REALLY impacted Claudette's trim. She noticed it right away.

We keep the chin pocket off the chin until the descent. Helps mellow out the TMJ you get from one of these things. In water you don't notice it. Out of the water you can't talk normally.

Best $90 exposure investment I've ever made. I'm getting another one in 3 weeks. I love this thing. Its just not what it once was.

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Ken

 

[HBDiveGirl]

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?

Buoyancy change? Yes... about a pound.

I dive a weighted DeepSeaSupply Back-plate wing.
I had been using a 4 pound weight belt, made of two 2-lb blocks.
I changed to a 5 lb belt, made of one 2-lb block and one 3-lb block... and it drove me NUTZ! It was out of balance and kept rotating.

So I ended up adding 2-lbs altogether after switching to the Otter Bay 12mm hood. Two 3-lb blocks and life is balanced and good.

It's a great hood... underwater.
I tear if off my head as soon as I'm out of the water after every dive.
But underwater, I don't even notice it except that I notice my head is warm.

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Claudette

 

[mikeguerrero]

Wow,

those are some screaaaaaaaaaaammmmiiiiiiiiinnnnnnng pictures. I have yet to see any pictures of california coast that sharp. Are they california coast? Are they high definition? Just incredible.

If you don't mind i am going to download some of them to my usb zip drive and share with friends.

By the way the last picture of you as answering the call reminds me of batman getting a call however its really scubaman and he says "yes commisioner gordon, i will be there, and yes i will bring the otterbay hood even though i can barely hear you" lol

 

[Mo2vation]

Wow,

those are some screaaaaaaaaaaammmmiiiiiiiiinnnnnnng pictures. I have yet to see any pictures of california coast that sharp. Are they california coast? Are they high definition? Just incredible.

If you don't mind i am going to download some of them to my usb zip drive and share with friends.

By the way the last picture of you as answering the call reminds me of batman getting a call however its really scubaman and he says "yes commisioner gordon, i will be there, and yes i will bring the otterbay hood even though i can barely hear you" lol

They're all shot in SoCal. Rigs, Anacapa, Catalina (and my home office...)

I post large shots here (and mostly on Dive Matrix - gallery here) without a bug or Ž© notice or my name plastered across the image so if you want to grab on for your wall paper or whatever, go ahead. I don't mind people using my shots from the web for their personal use. The stuff I post on the web is only only 72 DPI (not the 300 DPI's like on my Calendars [cough*PLUG*cough] or in the large original files) so these look nothing like the original or print images.


I have no mercy for the clowns that steal my stuff for commercial use. I hunt them down and I make them stop or I make them pay.

For divers on the sites I frequent, I have no problem if you use my images for yourself. I know hundreds of people do. Its all good.

If you email me (ken@divematrix.com) and let me know what you want, I can send you a few full size images for your personal use.

'sall good, buddy.

Thanks for the kind words.


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Ken

 

[Rick Inman]

...yeah, and i noticed in the pics that you did the same thing I did. I took a black Sharpe to those obnoxious white logo letterings.

BTW, it's now 10 months later and I've noticed that my hood has loosened up a bit, and now air gets into my hood and water exchanges while scootering - which didn't happen when it was new. Too bad...

 

[Mo2vation]

...yeah, and i noticed in the pics that you did the same thing I did. I took a black Sharpe to those obnoxious white logo letterings.

BTW, it's now 10 months later and I've noticed that my hood has loosened up a bit, and now air gets into my hood and water exchanges while scootering - which didn't happen when it was new. Too bad...

Sharpies fade to blue in a couple of ocean dives. The paint pens stay black for a good long time.

I'm still loving mine, but it has relaxed quite a bit now. I'm getting 'nuther when I'm in MoCal on the 27th.

---
Ken

 

[mikeguerrero]

Ken,

Thanks for sharing the pics, I teach at a private college and could use your pictures as a point of reference for say drysuit diving. Just recently I had my students write a cause and effect essay on drysuit diving.

Your pictures of Socal gives them a glimpse of the world a drysuit diver enters.

Once again thanks for sharing...

MG

 

[mahjong]

Ditto. Perhaps the sharpest underwater pics I have ever seen.

They're all shot in SoCal. Rigs, Anacapa, Catalina (and my home office...)

I post large shots here (and mostly on Dive Matrix - gallery here) without a bug or Ž© notice or my name plastered across the image so if you want to grab on for your wall paper or whatever, go ahead. I don't mind people using my shots from the web for their personal use. The stuff I post on the web is only only 72 DPI (not the 300 DPI's like on my Calendars [cough*PLUG*cough] or in the large original files) so these look nothing like the original or print images.


I have no mercy for the clowns that steal my stuff for commercial use. I hunt them down and I make them stop or I make them pay.

For divers on the sites I frequent, I have no problem if you use my images for yourself. I know hundreds of people do. Its all good.

If you email me (ken@divematrix.com) and let me know what you want, I can send you a few full size images for your personal use.

'sall good, buddy.

Thanks for the kind words.


---
Ken