Drysuit 'comfort' collar

Hi all

My drysuit has one of those neoprene warm 'comfort' collars surrounding the latex neck seal. It has velcro to cinch the fit after the hood is on. Thing is, the d***** thing either feels like its strangling me when done up, or i cant get it to sit right and it feels bulky and awkward. I used to think it was the neck seal itself giving me problems until the light-bulb moment when i realised i should probably just trim it a bit.

Question is- should i just take a blade to it and slice the thing off? Anyone ever get an uncomfortably cold neck when diving without one of these? I dive 50-55oF in NoCal. Is this kind of collar a factor you all look at before buying, or is it kinda superfluous if you have decent undies and core temp is comfy for the conditions? or should i leave it the way it is a try trimming the bottom of my dry hood instead?

Soz for the questions- im doing a pool session tomorrow to get rid of all the niggles (and test my brand spanking new ssBP/W, and long hose setup).

cheers

I had the same reaction to the neck collar on my new Diving Concepts suit -- It feels like a cervical straitjacket. But one of the big things about that collar is that it protects the latex seal from abrasion, and on the prior suit, the one that didn't have it, my harness was chafing the latex and would eventually have damaged it.

And I do have to say that, when you tuck the skirt of the hood under the neck collar, you never get that cold water flush around your neck, and I think it contributes to conservation of heat in the body. But it does make you feel like you have one of those Elizabethan collars on that they use to keep pets from biting their stitches.

Is it neoprene or elastic. If neoprene why not just trim it back a bit. Take an inch off and see how it feels.

I have three one with the neoprene, one with the elastic, and one without any. I prefer the one with neoprene trimmed to my preference. Yes I can feel a difference as the hood skirt shifts during the dive without the skirting and every once in a while you get that little reminder on the back of your neck why you have a dry suit.