Hoods

[JetHeller]

Hi, this may be somewhat of a stupid quetion, but here goes.

I have been spearfishing for a while. I have never used a hood. Do hoods keep water out your ears? The reason I ask is because when I dive deep my ears start to hurt and I have to plug my nose and blow to compensate. I was wondering if wearing a hood makes this situation any better?

Thank you.

 

[Erik]

You will always need to equalise your ears, whether you use a hood or not. The advantage of a good hood is that it will eliminate a lot of colder water flushing in and out of your ears. Water colder than body temp is detrimental to the health of your ears, plus can make equalising more difficult during the diving session.
If you do get a hood, make sure that you pre-load your ears with a bit of water before the first dive: leaving an airspace between the hood and ears can cause worse problems!
Peace,
Erik Y.

 

[JetHeller]

Thanks for the reply.

I will be spearfishing in Margarita Island and the water is quite warm. Since the hood will not help my ear pain, do I even really need a hood?

Can you recommend some techniques that would lessen the equilization pain?

 

[Brett]

Yeah mate,

I've dived for a pretty long time without a hood, I have tried one recently (bought a wetsuit with one), and put it this way, I won't even go for a shower without one now... for me anyway they are that good. I used to have horrendous problems with equalisation, and at least in my case, the use of a hood stopped water getting to/into my ears, and made a huge difference. It is amazing the difference of divinng with a hood, then without one - just how cold/exposed you feel without one, and the extra water that gets into your ears every time you turn your head. It is also pretty funny when you wear a wetsuit to protect your body, when nearly all of the heat/energy in your body is in your brain/head, so it makes good sense to protect that as well. Yeah, I reckon get a hood hey, it'll make a lot of positive differences to your diving.

 

[JPPLAY]

Get some ProPlugs. They are Plugs that help keep the warm water in your ears and they help with equalization from what our diving group has found. They also help keep the wax build up in your ears so you won't get swimmer's ear as easy.

 

[DeepThought]

Can you recommend some techniques that would lessen the equilization pain?

Equalization isn't supposed to be painful, I suspect you're doing something wrong and might hurt yourself eventually.

A few fast tips are:
Equalize once on the surface before the duckdive.
Equalize frequently, BEFORE you feel any pain. I think it's best to equalize before feeling ANY pressure (just develope a safe rhythm), it can prevent various equalization "mysteries".
Equalize gently, with as little force as possible to get your ears equalized.
Learn to do the frenzel (search the forums for a link to a document about that).

There is A LOT on these forums about equalization, use the search function to learn more, I think understanding the principles and physiology behind this issue is crucial for all divers.

 

[Erik]

Equalization isn't supposed to be painful, I suspect you're doing something wrong and might hurt yourself eventually.

A few fast tips are:..................... etc
QUOTE]

What he said, agreed!

Good advice!
Peace,
Erik Y.

 

[JetHeller]

Thanks for all the great info guys. Usually to equalize I plug my nose by squeezing my nostrils shut with my hand and I try to blow air out of my nose. Makes my ears equalize, but is sometimes a little painful. I guess I have to do it gentler and more often.

I'll look into the ProPlugs.. sounds like a good product.