What kind of hood with FFM

[Thrasherg]

Okay peeps, hoping you can give us some ideas, my wife and I are both advanced padi divers (more than 100 dives and 20+ years of diving) just over a year ago we switched to Ocean Reef Neptune 3 full face masks, have more than 40 dives with the masks and love them. My wife wants to start using a neoprene hood when diving (to keep her long hair from floating around and a bit more warmth). We have never used a hood with a full face mask before, so should she get a hood that covers her lower chin (Just leaving her nose and lips exposed)? Or should she get a larger opening hood that exposes her chin? Just not sure which solution would seal best with a full face mask? This subject was not discussed in any of our FFM training, so asking for advise here.
Regards Gary

 

[Resqdivemedic]

The full face mask would need to be worn over the hood. The area around the face needs to be a flat/natural neoprene to create the seal. See link for example.

 

[Kimela]

I don’t use a FFM but really like my Lavacore hood.

 

[АлександрД]

I use hood, was cut from Viking dry suit. Works fine with my FFMs

same, like this VIKING™ Nautic Neoprene Hood

Freedivers using smoothskin hoods. E.g. Elios Smoothskin Black Neoprene Hood
But it should be smoothskin on the both sides around the face, Like it in the Viking hood

 

[Thrasherg]

Thanks everyone

 

[Fishdip]

use a 7mill hood (bare) had to cut it to give a little extra space and then had a sewing shop stitch the stitching so it would not fall apart at the cut seams.

 

[Thrasherg]

use a 7mill hood (bare) had to cut it to give a little extra space and then had a sewing shop stitch the stitching so it would not fall apart at the cut seams.

Thanks for the suggestion, but we are not diving in very cold water, the hood is really to just keep her hair in place and help the face mask seal better (she has a small head) so we only want a 3mm hood. She is a seamstress so no issues to stitch the hood if we have to cut it..

 

[danielswaite]

I dive with a few different options so you may consider one or more of them. In warm water situations I wear a ScubaPro Diving Headband to keep my locks under control. In cooler water I wear a hood with chin strap to keep my head a bit warmer, however it’s just a partial cover and thin. In cold water I go for a full drysuit style 5mm neoprene hood as described by others above.

 

[Thrasherg]

Thanks for the response, as stated the problem is that the FFM is really too large for her face (even though we have the smallest size that ocean reef sells) so it leaks air from around the top corners of the mask, basically where the seal across the forehead turns to run down each side of the face, so she is hoping the a hoodie will hold her hair in place but also increase the size of her head a little so that the mask can better seal!! We both love diving with our FFM‘s but she gets fed up with the constant stream of bubbles leaking on both sides of her face just above her eyes.

 

[DeepBlueDog]

I use hood, was cut from Viking dry suit. Works fine with my FFMs
View attachment 745532
same, like this VIKING™ Nautic Neoprene Hood
View attachment 745534

Freedivers using smoothskin hoods. E.g. Elios Smoothskin Black Neoprene Hood
But it should be smoothskin on the both sides around the face, Like it in the Viking hood

Hello АлександрД: Maybe you could help me. I want to order the Viking hood but I am confused with the sizes as the distributor is telling me they run small and go up to the next size. I need a 57cm (well just under by a couple of mm) head circumbereance which is a Medium according to Ansell table (Medium being 57/58 cm) but the distributor had someone at the warehouse try it on and suggested I best order an Large (59/60 cm). But a FFM hood needs to be snug or air will leak into it. Can you advice please as to the fit of this hood? Also is it vented or not? Thank you in advance.