question about dry hoods

[paintsnow]

Well i dont know very much when it comes to dry suits, but i was thinking of getting one and a course to go along with it.

Now my question is if attached drysuit hoods are an addition to the latex neck seals, or a replacement.

Also ive seen separate neoprene hoods, which i would assume go over the latex neck seal and keep your head dry most of the time. Am i correct?

Thanks in advance

[BSea]

You are correct about the unnattached hoods. I don't know about the attached hoods. I've know people to use a dry hood with a wetsuit. They said it was less restrictive to their head movement. I may try that once I get a dry hood. Right now I use my wetsuit hood with my drysuit.

[Ajuva]

I have only used a wetsuit hood with my drysuit so can only say that it is heaven to pour a flask of warm water in after your surface interval before you put it on again.

[thesmoothdome]

My Viking came with a dry hood. Basically it's just a latex hood and you wear a fluffy beanie under it to create an airspace. You still have a latex neck seal, so in essence, it's a double seal. I ended up removing mine when I replaced my neck seal because I just wasn't diving water that cold most of the time. I did have a 7 mill hood customed for me to replace it though.

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by paintsnow

Well i dont know very much when it comes to dry suits, but i was thinking of getting one and a course to go along with it.

Now my question is if attached drysuit hoods are an addition to the latex neck seals, or a replacement.

Also ive seen separate neoprene hoods, which i would assume go over the latex neck seal and keep your head dry most of the time. Am i correct?

Thanks in advance

Dry suit hood are not attached....they are very similar to their kin the wet suit hood...but have a smaller face opening and heavier neoprene...plus the neck is a bit closer fit and not bell shaped with the large bib as a wet suit hood....this allows it to seal on the dry suit neck.

[Moxie]

Originally Posted by texdiveguy

Dry suit hood are not attached....they are very similar to their kin the wet suit hood...but have a smaller face opening and heavier neoprene...plus the neck is a bit closer fit and not bell shaped with the large bib as a wet suit hood....this allows it to seal on the dry suit neck.

This is what I'm familiar with too. Sort of a shorter verison of the wet hood as there is no tucking involved.

[cummings66]

My Viking drysuit has the attached dryhood, IMO the best possible way for it to be. I have two seals essentially that need to be breached to get water into my suit via the head. I've to date never had a leak from the neck area. I dive all year round and in the coldest temps I dive in which ranges from 36 degrees f and up it's a welcome addition. I've dove those crumy wetsuit hoods in cold water, NEVER again is what comes to mind. Do you know how nice it is to not have water get in your ears? How nice it is to have a warm head and dry hair? A diver can get used to that.

PS, the dryhood can get a little damp sometimes, it depends on how you trim it and also if you're careless about that beanie thing.

I like the dryhood and will NEVER (there goes that word again) own a drysuit that doesn't have an attached dryhood.

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by cummings66

My Viking drysuit has the attached dryhood, IMO the best possible way for it to be. I have two seals essentially that need to be breached to get water into my suit via the head. I've to date never had a leak from the neck area. I dive all year round and in the coldest temps I dive in which ranges from 36 degrees f and up it's a welcome addition. I've dove those crumy wetsuit hoods in cold water, NEVER again is what comes to mind. Do you know how nice it is to not have water get in your ears? How nice it is to have a warm head and dry hair? A diver can get used to that.

PS, the dryhood can get a little damp sometimes, it depends on how you trim it and also if you're careless about that beanie thing.

I like the dryhood and will NEVER (there goes that word again) own a drysuit that doesn't have an attached dryhood.

I use a neoprene neck seal on my BARE dry suit and have never had a leak.....with the dry suit hood design the seal at the dry suit neck is very water tight.....my hair only gets a wee-bit damp to touch at times but many times never damp at all. Never dove an attached dry suit hood suit.

[cummings66]

I'm not sure there's an advantage one way or another. At least for my diving which when it's cold it's cold and you wouldn't want to dive without a hood. It's kind of like, if it's cold enough for a drysuit then it's cold enough for a hood. So I tend to like attached hoods, but lacking that something like your Bare would be fine.

[paintsnow]

thanks guys
also
do you know if you can add a dryhood to a suit with just a neck seal?

would you just glue and tape it on over the neck seal?