What To Look For In A Hood?

[Landau]

I'm a fairly new diver and will probably be renting most of my gear for some time. All my dives have been with a drysuit and I've had a few issues with the rental hoods so I'm thinking of buying my own.

Issues
- face hole too small for my mask, or more accurately only a millimetre or two to spare so hood and mask had to be perfectly aligned so mask would not leak.

- jaw area too tight, uncomfortably pushing my jaw up and back.

By trying on several, choosing wisely and perhaps a bit of trimming i'm pretty sure theses can be overcome.

What else besides fit should I look for?

Also notice several hoods are designed to be trimmed. What is the best way to do this?

Thanks,

Landau

 

[tbone1004]

I won't buy a drysuit hood if it doesn't have a zipper on the back of the neck. It makes things so much easier to deal with. Other than that, it is really just making sure it fits and is comfortable. The skirt thing can be easily remedied by running your finger around the skirt after it and your mask is on. Doesn't matter if the seal is over the mask skirt, in fact I generally prefer it to be

 

[fmerkel]

Like a lot of gear, fit, fit, fit, and quality neoprene. A lot of low end (most rental) hoods have a crappy design and poor neoprene. If the situation is for pretty cold water (Vancouver it would appear), you might consider stepping up to one of the thicker hoods like Waterproof, or even a custom Otterbay. You lose a LOT of heat through your head and a good hood goes a long way to improve comfort and minimize heat loss.

 

[ontdiver]

Like fmerkel said,it is all about the fit - so just keep trying them on. I would hold off on trimming until you have exhausted your search for the best fitting hood. And the best way to do this is taking the measure twice, cut once approach, because if you get too carried away you risk making a mess of things. Also keep in mind that the hood is not going to feel so tight in the water so dive a couple of times before you start trimming. Good luck.

 

[ajduplessis]

I will not touch on fit as its been covered. There are some additional things you might want to consider.

A hoodie should go over the skirt of the mask. No need to "trim", unless I misinterpreted a portion of your post. You have to lift the hoodie to ensure it goes over the mask skirting.

Your jaw (relaxed) is very prone to manipulation and a hoodie would exaggerate this feeling. Once you have a regulator in you mouth it changes the feeling. If it still feel uncomfortable the fit is wrong.

I am a big van of whites (auqulung) hoodie that is sold with the Fusion DS. It also have the zip at the back.

 

[Storker]

I won't buy a drysuit hood if it doesn't have a zipper on the back of the neck. It makes things so much easier to deal with.

It also provides an effective cold bridge. I don't like zippered hoods. I'd rather deal with the hassle of donning a tight hood than feeling the cold seep in through the zipper. But that may well be just me...

My number one, two and three priorities for a warm hood are fit, fit and thickness. Make sure it's really snug. My second hood was a Large size Waterproof 7mm. Because smaller sizes felt a little constricting. Bad idea. My current winter hood is an M size 10mm Waterproof, and my summer hood is an ML size 7mm Waterproof. Fit, fit and thickness. Primary and secondary priority: Make sure it's snug. Really snug. I'd rather have a bit of jaw fatigue from the tightness of the hood than feeling 4C warm (cold) water circulating around my noggin'.

 

[tbone1004]

my zippers have skins on them similar to the wrist seals on a wetsuit, so I don't notice it, then again for water down to 50f I don't bother zippering the back because I tend to overheat...

 

[Storker]

water down to 50f

...is balmy

 

[Landau]

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm off to go shopping now.

 

[Brandon]

Stop looking. =)

Products - Waterproof

That's the hood Storker is talking about, and what I wear year round in Alaska with water temps down to 34F. Head is never cold, and I'm still on the original hood I bought back in 2011 that now has hundreds of dives on it.

I used to wear a custom made Otter Bay 14mm hood, but the Waterproof hood is every bit as warm and more comfortable.

-B