Hood or No Hood

I picked up the Xcel hooded 4/3 last season. Love the suit. never got cold. Surfed all winter in VB. Also 7 ml boots and 5 ml gloves. Almost no leaks and out of the water was even better since it dries and wicks water. I have a Rip curl hooded vest that I put under my Xcel 3/2 when it need head cover. Love the wool feel of that hood

 

you met a redheaded surfer?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

Does anyone double up hoods when it gets super-duper cold? like a larger hood over the attached one?

 

I have the 4/3 Mutant ... absolutely perfect suit for VA Beach/OBX where the water doesn't get much colder than high 30's or low 40's in the dead of winter. You can start wearing the suit around 60-degree water temps, or when the air is really cold, without the hood, and then add the hood as the water gets down to around 50-degrees. I also augment my suit with a 8oz PolarTech fleece top from Oneill when water temps hit the low 40's to get that little bit extra warmth out of the suit. The only real "negative" of the suit is that they use the less stretchy FluidFlex neoprene in the legs, and leave the more flexible UltraFlex DS in the back and upper body. So I would think the Drylocks would have more flexible neoprene in the legs.

If you're going for a winter suit here, and only plan on using it in the winter, definitely get an integrated hood. You will get the coldest from cold-water flushing, not necessarily the suit itself. By adding a hood to a 4/3 that doesn't have an integrated hood option, you compromise the seal around the neck, and that's going to cause you to get a lot colder than if you had a sealed up wetsuit. So if the Drylocks are the option you're going for, don't spend $400+ on a suit, that once you add the hood, will make you just as cold as a cheap $150 5/4/3 Billabong Foil. The purpose of the Drylocks are to keep the water out ... adding a hood rather than having an integrated hood completely defeats the purpose and design of the suit.

 

Is a 4/3 good enough for vb winters

 

asks the SEMIlocal

 

Yes, unless you plan on staying out for more than 3 hours at-a-time ... but from what I've seen, a good chest-zip 4/3 with integrated hood will work for around 2 1/2 to 3 hours max with both air and water temps at 40 degrees. If I have to-do a lot of duck-diving, then I'll take that down to 2 hours tops. I would guess with a 5/4 I could stay out longer, but the initial period in the water would still end up being the same (i.e., when I first enter the water, I'm not cold with either suit, since a good chest-zip with integrated hood hardly leaks if it's fitted properly).

 

lmao! no...i think he'd gotten super fried when he was a kid, sun-poisoning style, & developed the allergy after that. normal guy otherwise, & not a bad surfer, either.
although there was a ghost-white scottish guy i ran into in costa once. dude was SO stoked to surf in boardshorts. he'd never experienced it before!

 

Thickness is preferential. Some people run hotter and don't need as much rubber. It also depends on the quality of the material. A really nice 4/3 is going to be a lot warmer than a cheap 5/4. So if you have the money to spend it's a smart move to get a nicer thinner suit, or even a nicer thicker suit. The newer more expensive materials are also less stiff. The technology of suits that are $150 now is the same technology from the suits that were $500 a few years ago. So if you are replacing a suit that is several years old, spending the same amount on a new one as you did on your old one is an automatic upgrade.

I think a hood is one of the best places to go thick. I used to rock a 3 mil hood all winter and I was always cold after a few hours. You just expect it. Last year I upgraded to a 7.2 mil hood and holy snikeys I can hardly believe how warm that sucker is. My head never gets cold no matter how windy or cold it gets.