SCUBA Hoods

[ebfh]

Do you prefer wearing or not wearing a hood while SCUBA diving? I always chose to wear one because I get cold easily and my mask strap gets tangled in my hair. I do prefer neoprene hoods over lycra hoods. Lycra is easier to get on, but it does not offer as much thermal protection as neoprene.

 

[nimoh]

I prefer to dive without any thermal protection, unfortunately I need it for most of my diving and generally wear about the minimum needed for any given diving.

 

[JohnN]

Wearing a hood is not an option here in the PNW, on my last dive my computer said the water was a "balmy" 53 oF :cool2:

 

[chordrider]

I prefer to not wear one, if I can get away with it. Last weekend, the water temp was about 48 degrees. So I wore a Lavacore hood, with a beanie over it. I really liked the Lavacore hood because it was soft and not as restrictive as even a 3 m hood. I also wore Lavacore socks, and I never lost feeling in my toes!

 

[fisheater]

No option NOT to in Northern California.

Usually I wear one in Southern California, but sometimes it's too warm for one.

 

[buddhasummer]

I feel the cold, locally I always wear a 7mm hood and temps get as high as 26 but my hood is attached so no choice anyway. When tropical diving on a liveaboard I take a separate 5mm hood as often by day 5 or 6 I'm starting to chill.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I forgot my hood at home one day and made a dive without one. It was the last time that ever happened. I even wear mine in tropical water.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Do you prefer wearing or not wearing a hood while SCUBA diving? I always chose to wear one because I get cold easily and my mask strap gets tangled in my hair. I do prefer neoprene hoods over lycra hoods. Lycra is easier to get on, but it does not offer as much thermal protection as neoprene.

Lycra hoods are great for sting protection and for sun protection, but they provide zero thermal protection. I wear a neoprene hood most any time the water is below 80 degrees. A decent hood provides the most efficient means to stay warm. A relatively small amount of neoprene, which has little effect on buoyancy, can make a big difference in comfort.

I think people don't realize that a thin neoprene hood can provide considerable warmth and when the water is above 75 degrees or so, you can wear a hood that is somewhat loose and non-constricting and still realize a lot of benefit.

 

[divin'dog]

I always wear a hood because I hate having the mask strap on my ears... Also, it seems to keep a small bubble of air in my ears and helps keep the water from getting all the way in. I wear a microprene hood in warm water and neoprene in cold. For cold water, skin-in is the way to go around the face. Bare Elastik 7mm is a really nice hood with a vent at the top.

 

[Chugwhump]

I hate lycra hoods, but wear them on shore dives if an extended surface swim here in SoFla to, as others mentioned, protect from El Sol.
When it drops below 75f I put on my Neoprene beanie hood.
I hate hoods as they mess with my hearing when submerged, but they pay huge dividends in general comfort and well being all the way down to 65f.
Nobody should EVER dive in water colder than that.
Chug
warm water wussie