Hooded Wetsuits
Hooded Steamers for Deep Winter
Your ears find out first. Then your resolve. A hooded steamer keeps both intact when the water drops toward single digits Celsius and the wind refuses to clock off.
These are the warmest suits Vissla makes: built-in hoods, winter thicknesses, sealed right up. Add booties and gloves from Cold Water Necessities and consult the temperature chart if you sit between thicknesses. The cold is committed. Be more committed.
Hooded Wetsuits Australia
When the water gets cold enough, your head votes first. A hooded steamer keeps the vote unanimous. This is the cold-water end of the Vissla rack: 7 Seas hooded chest zips in 4/3 and 5/4/3, High Seas II hooded fulls in 4/3 and 5/4, the New Seas hooded suits in U-Zip and V-Zip, and a hooded 1.5mm High Seas jacket for layering jobs.
Choosing a Hooded Suit
- 4/3 hooded: Around 10–14°C with wind that means it.
- 5/4 hooded: 8–12°C. Deep winter, dawn anything.
The built-in hood seals at the neck, so there's no flushing gap between hood and suit. That's the whole advantage over a separate hood, and it's a big one the first time you duck-dive a winter set. That said, a separate 3mm hood over your favourite steamer is a legitimate budget play. We won't tell.
Complete the Kit
Cold water is a system: hooded suit, booties, gloves. Run all three or run none. Half measures are how sessions end early. The Cold Water Gear collection has the extremities covered.
