Thermal Neoprene Hood

The Orca Thermal Neoprene Hood is a wetsuit hood for swimming in cold open water. It covers your head, ears and neck in neoprene lined with Thermal X, and the wide neck cover seals the one gap a swim cap leaves open: the collar of your wetsuit.

Who it's for

Swimmers who have met the ice-cream headache and do not want it again. Put your face into properly cold water, a Tasmanian bay in August or a Snowy Mountains lake in spring, and it is your forehead, ears and the back of your neck that complain first. This hood covers all three, so you can settle into your stroke.

Warmth and lining

The Thermal X lining traps heat against your head and slows the loss through the swim. It is soft against your skin, so the hood stays comfortable on a long session.

The neck cover

The hood runs down over your neck and spreads out across the top of your chest and shoulders. Tuck that skirt under the collar of your wetsuit and zip up over it. Cold water then has no easy way down your chest, and your body holds its temperature for longer.

Getting the size right

Measure around your head, level with your forehead:

• S/M: 53–58 cm
• L/XL: 55–60 cm
• XXL: 57–62 cm (our XL/XXL)

The shape follows your head so the hood stays put while you swim. It should feel close everywhere, with the face opening sitting flat on your forehead and cheeks. If your measurement falls in two sizes, we'd take the smaller one for swimming: a loose hood lets water move around inside it.

Water temperature range

This is the hood for the cold end of the year: winter ocean swims in the southern states, alpine lakes and ice swimming. When the water is only cool, a neoprene swim cap is usually enough and is easier to pull on.

Looking after neoprene

Rinse the hood inside and out in fresh water after every swim, then dry it in the shade, turned inside out first so the lining dries. Keep it away from direct sun and heaters.