To Hood Or Not To Hood?

why is your hood down when it’s snowing?

Always hood

You can just tuck the hood in and solve the snow filling problem.

Hoods on everything are a personal thing. Ryan J. really likes them. Others, such as myself, do not. I prefer my base layers without, always. I prefer all my three season wear without. I prefer my outer shell, be it a jacket, rain jacket and parka, with.

I always wear a hat, a felt “Crusher”. In spring/summer, it allows me to really lay on the DEET without slathering too much on my ears and face. In summer, it keepsrain off my face. It will also accept the rain jacket hood over it without really blocking my view. In colder weather, down to 32F/0C or so, I can raise the rain jacket hood and cinch it and put my hat on over it to keep my head warm (I usually don’t bother with it, though. I am usually warm enough with just a hiking shirt hiking all the hills around the ADK’s.)  It keeps the sun off my balding pate. (Even in cold weather, -20F, I have gotten a sunburn.) And, it organizes my gear at night. Soo, no hoods on anything other than my external wear is really needed.

BTW, once I was wearing my hat with the hood on my rain jacket down. I hiked about two hours and it really started to por, so, I pulled my hood over my hat…BAD IDEA! Cold water ran down my back and shoulders. Never did it again.

Why is your hood down when it’s snowing? Helmet

Excuse me if I m not responding to each post. I rather just sit back and listen to each person to soak it all in. I will put everyone feed back against what I’m doing and try to figure what makes the most sense. I know there is no right or wrong way here and everyone is different. Every once and a while though someone posts something that is a huge game changer verses what I’m doing. Thanks guys and please keep posting.

You can drawstring a hood tight against your neck if you aren’t wearing it up in the rain/snow.

Baselayer – no hood.  Midlayers, puffys and shells always hood.

Winter.. All goods for me.

I don’t think it’s what you “should” do or “shouldn’t” do. . It’s a personal preference.

base layer https://www.rei.com/search?pagesize=90&q=smartwool%20150&cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-152258-_-189374-_-NA&avad=189374_a17b7d449

You’ll never notice the weight difference and hoods add a lot of comfort for that tiny amount of weight.

None of my base layers or intermediate layers have hoods. Not sure why. Most of the time I am wearing a large ‘Australian’ bush hat, even under a poncho hood, but in the snow I wear a fleece ski cap.

Cheers

I like hoods, especially on my baselayers, for one reason:

convenience – it’s always there.

That gives me the ability to control my body temp and ventilation without having to keep track of a hat.

The snow filling thing is definitely an issue when wearing a helmet.

i switched recently to a hooded baselayer mostly for sun protection, and i like it. I also have a light fleece midlayer with hood and like that a lot. Essentially it means i now have more fine gradations of insulation for my head which makes fine tuning to stay warm enogh without getting hot an easier task.

I really like a hood for the wind – sure a collar and a hat and a scarf could do almost as a good a job, but a hood does a better job with less weight and less fuss.

The exception would be windless, vertical rain – then I like a brimmed hat or umbrella for better ventilation.

Shell, hood.

Down or synthetic filled, no hood (except heavy insulated parkas for severe cold).

I dislike the feeling of a hood off, around my neck. I dislike the limited peripheral vision having a hood on.

Hoods work, and are the lightest way to insulate one’s noggin, I just happen to dislike them.

Hmmm… Lately, with the popularity of “hoodies” in everything from base layers on out I have been thinking of a hooded down sweater instead of my down jacket. But only thinking, not buying.

My hooded clothing consists only of GTX and eVent parkas and an EB down -30 F. expedition parka with a helmet compatible hood.

In my experience my hoods come up only when the weather is really nasty.

I can easily fit my R1 hood underneath or on top of a a climbing helmet. Hoods are awesome and worth the weight. I wear mine with nothing under it. I wear mine under a broad brimmed hat. I wear mine under a ballcap. I wear it over a ball cap. I wear mine over a warmer beanie. I wear mine under a rain jacket. I wear it underneath a hooded puffy with its hood up or down. Downsides are that it reduces your peripheral vision and muffles sounds a bit.

While snowshoeing, I like the hood on my Ibex Indie base layer, as it keeps the back of my neck warm (i.e. a bit warmer). Also, hoods on my insulation and GTX shell help greatly to block an icy wind. All hoods can be removed when the sun comes out and the breeze stops. Minimal weight penalty to have hoods.

I use Patagonia R1 and Capilene 4 hoodies exclusively as mid layers when day hiking year around, and find the hoods to be invaluable.  As mentioned by several above, they can be worn over/under helmets, ball caps, or beanies, are always there when needed, and can be tucked in if desired(although I personally can’t imagine doing that).  For lunch breaks in foul weather I will have a rain shell on anyway, and the hood offers extra warmth in low energy output conditions. No need for a hood on a base layer for me.  On three season backpacking trips I sacrifice the convenience of a hood for the sake of saving weight, since I have always found the combination of various beanies and a rain shell to provide adequate warmth for my head and neck.  If I were still into really cold weather backpacking, my initial comments about hoodies would apply, although the garments themselves would likely be different.  Beyond a certain degree of protection, it seems to me to be pretty much a case of individual preference, based on the posts above.

I hood everything.  Sometimes I have 3 hoods going.

Utterly redundant.

My bad.

Outdoor gear-wise, I prefer having a hood on most upper body layers.  That way headwear is always there and accessible should it be needed.

Most of my lightweight merino and synthetic baselayers are hooded and most can do double duty as sun hoodies in warm weather. With exception of Strafe Alpha, all my synthetic insulated and fleece jackets are hooded. I typically use these as outer layers over base more than as mid layers. Many of these insulation layers have a DWR treated face fabric so I have option to flip on hood in light rain if needed. Also use for additional warmth over base hood in cool weather. All wind and rain shells hooded. In addition, I almost always wear hoods over a ball cap.

Example, temps in upper 40s I had Marmot Neothermo hoody base, Marmot Alpha 60 mid, Kor Preshell outer. I started with just baselayer hood over cap, as I ascended added Alpha 60 hood, at peak where it was gusting around 30 mph added Kor Preshell hood. Flipped down Kor when it was less windy on descent, but up again when light rain started. Also, I run cold and tend to lose a lot of heat through head/ neck.

Type of hood probably has lot do do with it also. The hoods provide warmth, but are also quite breathable in these pieces. With a more wind resistant hood probably would not need to add all three. But then trade off is less breathability and versatility. Example, I could have done same hike with merino crew base and my Atom LT outer. Atom hood is insulated and rain/wind resistant. But this doesn’t allow as much adjustment since it might be too warm at points, but not so much that I don’t need a lighter more breathable hood when it’s off. If I don’t need, just leave baselayer hood off as well.

Of course, I adapt as conditions dictate, but rarely hike without at least one hooded layer. I don’t wear a helmet though, unhooded might be way to go in your situation.