Hood or no hood?

  • Hi all,


    I have been reading up on suits since I am wanting to buy a new one. Up until now I have used a shorty surfer wetsuit but it is not adequate. I tend to get cold even in 24 degree water as it is warm only until about half a meter (Mediterranean sea). I usually try to avoid summer vacation season so I go before or after, Cyprus in Sept. was too cold after an hour, Tarragona Spain early April was too cold deeper than 30 cm. The Canary Islands in January was just horribly cold.


    I was thinking of getting a 5mm suit, mine is 3mm I think. I also read up on hoods and can't make up my mind. I am just afraid I will overheat if the water is between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Also, if the sea is rough and the visibility not good I get seasick if I get too warm, I just let in some cold water into my current suit, which is harder to do with a hood.


    I guess if the water is too warm I can always use my shorty, I'd rather not have to pack it since it does have a certain weight.


    I don't do blue water fishing, I mostly fish in reefs/rocks


    Thanks,
    Gabriel

  • I don't like hoods and don't use them. I use a Speardiver suit with the hood cut off. Other people pull the hood back when it gets too hot. I don't do this because I don't like having the extra material on the back on my neck. You can try the suit with the hood and see if you like it. If you don't, you can cut the hood off. Cutting off the hood doesn't affect the suit durablility and there is no water intrusion.


    Unfortunately for very cold water diving hoods are a must. Although to some degree it depends on the individual, different people get more cold in different places.

  • I hate wearing a hood. Makes me feel weird. Sadly I am rarely in water warm enough to go hood less. I think I dive "better" without a hood.

    Dustan Baker

  • Im the complete opposite of you guys. One of my favorite parts of wearing a suit is the feeling of being completely covered. Nothing freaks me out more than having something brush against my skin. I feel safe in my hood looking into caves and cracks knowing I wont get lit up by fire coral. The Speardiver hood is extremely flexible and I dont find it restrictive at all.


    I dont get warm or cold in a suit. I dive my 3 mil speardiver suit year round in SFL, but last summer I picked up a set of Riffe 1.5 mil pants and they were nice to have on some of the hot days.

  • Nothing freaks me out more than having something brush against my skin. I feel safe in my hood looking into caves and cracks knowing I wont get lit up by fire coral. The Speardiver hood is extremely flexible and I dont find it restrictive at all.


    I dont get warm or cold in a suit. I dive my 3 mil speardiver suit year round in SFL, but last summer I picked up a set of Riffe 1.5 mil pants and they were nice to have on some of the hot days.


    I agree. I used to scuba a lot and never used a hood. But now free diving, I've gotten used to one and feel .....unprotected without it. The only part of me that's exposed is the little bit of skin on my face between the mask and hood. And I STILL got burned on my lip looking in a hole by fire coral about a month ago. hah.

  • When I wear a hood it freaks me out losing one of my primary senses underwater HEARING! Cant hear boats approaching and I feel I lose all touch with my outside environment, not a pleasant feeling for me.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Once you get used to use a hood, you don't want to dive anymore without it.


    In Venezuela water is colder than South Florida (22°C to 27°C) and a 3 mm open cell wetsuit is goog year around. If I had to dive in 20°C waters, I probably go with a 5 mm.


    Always two pieces spearfishing open cell wetsuit with a hood.

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

  • I need a hood because I am a fairskinned red head. Any skin left exposed burns to a crisp in minutes. Even my summer rash guard is full body with a hood while all my friends are diving in surf shorts lol.


    Aside from needing one I enjoy wearing it. I prefer my hood on, but like you I easily overheat and get sick in my speardiver suit here in warmer months in Floirda. In the early and late winter when the water is around 75-76*F I often end up taking down the hood and letting water in to keep cool. The hood around my neck doesnt bother me, I dont notice it.


    If you overheat in your suit I would say a hood is better. It will allow you to keep the hood on when you are cold, take it off when you are warm, and let water in with it off when you are really warm. On the other hand there is no escaping a 5 mil. And for me it seems a hood makes a 3mil atleast 20+% warmer so with a hood its closer to a 5.


    Another great option you can add into the mix is a vest. I picked one up from Dan this fall and it made the transition from warm to cold water great. First I wore my rashguard with a vest for a few weeks. Then the vest and pants a few times. Then the suit without a hood. And now Im diving with a hood full time. It requires remembering how to +/- weights for each configuration but once you figure it out its easy.


    I also feel I can usually hear boats in the water as good with a hood as without. Hearing outside the water can be restricted, but with boats its always the buzz in the water I hear first anyways.

    Edited 2 times, last by Reefchief ().

  • Yes, but it sounds like the places you are diving are not places with insanely heavy boat traffic like here in certain parts of south Florida. I went back and read your original post and it sounds like you should get the 3mm with hood. A 3mm speardiver (or equivalent) open cell 2 peice wetsuit is going to be substantially warmer than a single piece surfing style wetsuit of the same thickness. Like Dan said if you HATE the hood you can cut it off without any damage to the suits integrity, or just not wear the hood. Also I never have a problem letting water in to cool off, even with the hooded suits, you just pull the chin a bit.

    Scupper Pro Gives You Wings!

  • Sdeisen, ok, I see. You are correct, I don't dive in waters full of boats.


    My GF has 2.5 or 3mm suit (forgot which, but I think 2.5mm) that she uses for SCUBA and when she used it where I spear she was cold too (she usually dives in warm waters like in Egypt, Thailand, etc), I had expected it to be warmer than my shorty but she got colder faster. I also end up getting cold which is usually the reason I stop fishing. That is the reason that I was thinking of a 5mm.

  • Sdeisen, ok, I see. You are correct, I don't dive in waters full of boats.


    My GF has 2.5 or 3mm suit (forgot which, but I think 2.5mm) that she uses for SCUBA and when she used it where I spear she was cold too (she usually dives in warm waters like in Egypt, Thailand, etc), I had expected it to be warmer than my shorty but she got colder faster. I also end up getting cold which is usually the reason I stop fishing. That is the reason that I was thinking of a 5mm.


    Keep in mind the vast vast difference between a well fitting open cell suit and a scuba suit. The amount of water that flows in and out of a scuba suit makes them cold almost no matter how thick they are. A well fitting open cell suit on the other hand prevents basically any water circulation. This makes an open cell suit way warmer then a scuba suit for any given thickness.


    My dad's been using a 7/5/3 scuba suit for the last few years and just tried his new 3mil spear diver open cell last week. He said it was much much warmer then the 7/5/3 on a 70* day.

  • grossetti, I'll try to give you the right perspective. Most of the guys posting in this thread are using open cell suits. An open cell suit is a world apart from the double lined scuba suits you're referring to. As a rule a 3mm open cell suit will be at least as warm and probably warmer than a 5mm double lined scuba suit. It will also be much more comfortable, and you'll need to use less weight on your belt. You will always use a 3mm open cell suit at some point, no matter where you are. So the thing to do is get a 3mm open cell suit first. Then only if you find yourself getting cold in it on some days of the year, get a 5mm.

  • When I wear a hood it freaks me out losing one of my primary senses underwater HEARING! Cant hear boats approaching and I feel I lose all touch with my outside environment, not a pleasant feeling for me.


    If you poke holes in the hood where your ears are it allows for the pressure to equalize and you can hear better. Also when you come to the surface after a dive it wont suction on your ears.

  • Fair enough, do you use a float with those diving flags on them?




    That thing translates to this for idiot boaters down here - However i still use one off my kayak, and a bigass boat legal size dive flag at that.



    I transition back and forth. I always wear a hood at work cleaning boat hulls and i usually wear mine when spearing too. scuba or free. I get super cold quick without it on, if im getting too hot I roll it down.

    Edited once, last by Andrewk ().

  • If you poke holes in the hood where your ears are it allows for the pressure to equalize and you can hear better. Also when you come to the surface after a dive it wont suction on your ears.


    YES, this tip is a big diference:thumbsup2: i did it with a red hot needle:cool2: no problemes after that and you can hear better.

    Sadot Hernàndez.

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