Hoods
Purpose
Your head is one of the most significant areas of heat loss while diving — similar to wearing a toque in winter, a dive hood dramatically reduces body heat escaping through your head and neck. Even on dives where the rest of your body feels fine, an unprotected head can cause a rapid drop in core temperature. A hood also protects your ears from cold water, which can cause ear canal constriction and contribute to equalisation difficulties and headaches on deeper dives.
Features
Style
A bibbed hood has a neoprene panel that extends below the chin and down over the chest and upper back. This bib is tucked underneath the collar of your wetsuit, creating a seal that significantly reduces cold water flushing through the neck area. For wetsuit diving in cold water, a bibbed hood is almost always the better choice. A bibless hood fits like a cap and is most commonly used with drysuits, where tucking a bib inside the neck seal isn't possible, or in warmer water where a full bib isn't necessary. For mild-temperature diving, a thin neoprene beanie or skull cap (scap) adds core warmth without the full hood.
Material
Dive hoods are made from neoprene, and stretchier neoprene makes all the difference when pulling a hood over your head, positioning your mask, and achieving a good seal. A hood that's stiff and difficult to don will be frustrating every dive. Look for hoods made with super-stretch neoprene on the face opening and crown for maximum comfort and ease of use.
Thickness
Hoods range from thin, tropical neoprene to thick, 7mm neoprene. For Canadian, cold water diving, you should wear at least 7mm thickness and up to 10mm thickness.
Care & Maintenance
Daily cleaning care will help prevent most of the funky smells to start with. At the end of each day rinse your hood inside and out with fresh water. Hang your hood inside out to dry the inside first, then turn to dry the outside thoroughly. Hang the hood on an accessory hanger.
After a dive trip or a few days of diving, you may find the hood start to take on a funky odour. Use wetsuit shampoo to soak your neoprene gear and clean the salt, chlorine, and smell from the gloves and hood.