Otter bay hood with/without neck skirt?

[PfcAJ]

I got my hands on litehedded's hood this evening. I'm very impressed with it and might just have to order one! The neoprene is serious business on those Wetwear hoods!

DUI made a run of warm neck hoods that had a longer neck that went down the back more. That particular one hasn't came untucked, but the more common, shorter warm neck hoods come untucked all the time on me. I typically dive a short "standard" hood.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Once again,

A great thanks to all the local community for chimming in on Otterbay helmets. One of the reasons I posted here was to get a quick poll of experiences of those that dive the hood.

There are a lot of divers including me that do dive the neck warmer and it's nice and comfortable when it's tucked in.

Like Gombessa said, it will turn into the ruffle cone if not tucked in by your buddy accurately.

Thankfully my buddy is very patient and has never refused a nice tuck and I have only come out once with the cone out in the front of the neck, but not completely out like what has been seen.

In order for the neck seal to do it's trick it requires precision all the way around for it to stay in place. It does help out a lot in cold water when you twist your head one way, you catch pockets of warm water move.

My buddy and I are going in to be measured by Cricket on our next Montery trip, we were suppose to do it this weekend but time ran short.

He is a fan of the neck seal because his dives have been cold on his neck but thats with hoods that only cover half the neck, looks like Crickets come down pretty far.

One of the things I like about an otterbay hood without the neck seal is that it's self donning. I see them placed on like motercycle helmets and off they go into the water, while I ask for assistance.

There is nothing better than self reliance and even nicer if the neck seal is not required and you still get the warmth.

Hopefully my diving buddy will read this thread and we will both get what we need from Cricket.

Thanks to all my diving friends for inputing data to the thread.

MG

 

[Bogie]

I have a 12mm Otter hood.

I don't wear it much because I find it too warm.

A couple of other comments. It is a bit tight, I have to put more weight on, it holds your head up, and I would prefer to have 7mm around the face.

I use a 7mm Bare most of the time.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Boogie,

I hope you are right about the Otterbay being top heavy and keeping the head afloat some... On my surface swim in doubles I cannot fully inflate my 40# wing without having my head start to tip forward and sink.

It's so bothersome, that I make myself swim at a 30 degree angle to keep the balance in line. I cannot wait to place that massive hood on my noggin and have my head out of the water with a more inflated wing. So awesome I cannot wait to try...

 

[Gombessa]

Mike, a hood isn't going to help keep your head out of the water on the surface I think Bogie is talking about the hood affecting trim underwater (though more buoyancy at the head is probably a welcome thing in many doubles setups).

 

[rjack321]

Mike, a hood isn't going to help keep your head out of the water on the surface I think Bogie is talking about the hood affecting trim underwater (though more buoyancy at the head is probably a welcome thing in many doubles setups).

12mm of blown helium. Wait nevermind

 

[kanonfodr]

I'd tend to agree with Kenn. Your hood will be out of the water on the surface swim. I would suggest not fully inflating your wing at the surface, and instead going Michelin Man on your drysuit to help with the surface swims. You can even swim facing forward like that, but it's not as easy as going backwards.

BTW, when I move to Maryland I'm ordering an Otter Bay hood because I'm a sissy, hope to hear good stories about you and yours .

Peace,
Greg

 

[mikeguerrero]

Yeah,

I guess you guys are right about the floating head. I hadn't dove my doubles in a while since my buddy was diving just singles and when I dove doubles on Sunday at Lobos it was oh my, I need to remember this massive mass on my back is heavy and tilts everywhere.

The tide was out on the boat ramp and I thought I could slip into water by the edge and just place fins on, I was wrong. The current rushed in and pushed me right into the deep end. Not a problem so I thought.

I inflated my wing just a tad more and I tried to do the figure four on my back but oh my goodness I kept rolling backward like a turtle that wanted to move in a circle. My legs were kicking trying to get thrust.

I had to calm down, called over my buddy and asked him to push me back to the ramp like a ship without no engines, I was drifting. He did and I stood and each fin went in flawless, boy is the boat ramp bad with current.

Anyway, the reason I mention that is when I got back in, I don't like the wing fully inflated while on my back, my head while placed on top of the water starts to dip into further if I don't kick, so I cannot pause with the kick out.

So I deflate the wing just a tad and I can take breaks and not tip over like a turtle, but if there are swells, I must inflate and go vertical and put air into drysuit.

So I thought man, it would be nice to have some of this thick neoprene keep me just a tad more bouyant than my other hood. I will take any bouyancy in the head, I thick this will greatly help me out in doubles, while keeping me more warmer than my 7mm DUI hood.

 

[kathydee]

Mike,

The 12mm hood does provide a bit of buoyancy when you lay all the way back and surface kick on your back with your head in the water. However, then you can't see where you are going and end up tangled in kelp.

Just deflate the wing a little on the surface and the swim should be more stable. There is a fine line between over inflating the wing and under inflating and drinking swells. I'm sure you will find it .

 

[Anti-Hero]

Shoot, I may have to get one of these otter bay hoods. It may have kept the orange glove of death from swooping down and pressing my head back against my manifold every time I looked down to fiddle with something.