Polar Bear 8mm Rubatex Hood Review January 12, 2007
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Equipment, scuba gear , 2comments
Well, I bought one of these hoods before Christmas and now it has a few dives in it I though I should tell people just how good it is.
When I first purchased it I had heard mixed reports, well, bad reports really. Howard Radcliffe had one and seemed to be happy with it whilst Bob Cooper had returned his as he didn’t like the fit. The guys at Polar Bear said they would happily let me return it if it didn’t fit, so I ordered a Medium and handed over my £40. For that you get an 8mm hood in black with red lining. It is made from what is called Nitrogen Blown neoprene, which basically means it does not compress as much as other neoprene at depth, giving it better thermal properties. It is contoured to fit the head and neck area very closely.
I am a great believer that if you focus on keeping your head and ‘core’ warm then you can worry less about your hands. I prefer to wear 3mm gloves and so far I have been wearing 3mm gloves without feeling the cold at all, which is just the way I want it.
When I first tried the hood dry, out of the packaging it was really hard to get on as the hood is contoured to the shape of your head, and as the material is so thick it makes it hard. It was initially extremely tight, to the point of giving me earache and headache, but I thought that I would give it a chance, get my hair cut , and see if it would loosen up after diving. Wearing it in the office is perhaps not the best way to impress your colleagues and evaluate a diving hood. I also liked the fact that it was a simple black hood, with no advertising or logos on it. I prefer to be paid if I am going to advertise at a dive site
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