Orca Hi Viz Neoprene Hood

The Orca Hi-Vis Neoprene Hood is a wetsuit hood in high-visibility orange for cold open water swimming. It is 95% neoprene with a soft thermal lining, it covers your head, ears and neck, and the neck cover tucks into the collar of your wetsuit. Three unisex sizes fit heads from 53 to 62 cm.

Features:

• High-visibility orange neoprene swim hood
• Easy to see at a distance in open water
• Thermal lining adds warmth
• Neck cover keeps water out of the chest area
• Shaped to stay put while you swim
• 95% neoprene, 5% polyamide (nylon)
• Unisex sizes for heads from 53 to 62 cm

WHO IT'S FOR

Winter ocean swimmers and open water regulars who share the water with boats, paddlers and other swimmers. In a swell, your head is often the only part of you anyone can see, so turning it bright orange is an easy safety step: the boat skipper, the lifeguard on the tower and your swim buddy on the beach can all find you, and the neoprene keeps the cold off while they do.

SEEN FROM A DISTANCE

The orange panels are made to show up a long way off, which gives you more confidence heading out past the break or across a bay. Add an orange tow float and you are easy to spot from the shore and from the water.

WARMTH AND THE NECK COVER

A thermal lining holds warmth against your head, and its soft inner face stays comfortable over a long swim. Below the hood, the neck cover spreads over the top of your chest and shoulders. Tuck it under your wetsuit collar and zip up over it, and cold water has a much harder time running down your chest, so your body holds its temperature for longer.

GETTING THE SIZE RIGHT

Measure around your head at forehead level:

• S/M: 53–58 cm

• L/XL: 55–60 cm

• XXL: 57–62 cm (listed here as XL/XXL)

The hood is shaped to follow your head, so it stays put through your stroke. If your measurement falls in two sizes, we'd take the smaller one for swimming: a close fit stops water moving around inside the hood.

WATER TEMPERATURE RANGE

Reach for this hood when the water turns properly cold: winter ocean swims in the southern states, early-season lake swims and ice-cream-headache mornings anywhere. On the coldest days, pair it with a full wetsuit and neoprene gloves and socks.

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, which fade the orange and stiffen neoprene over time.