latex cap?

[nikidive]

hello, I've just started diving and have trouble staying warm. I dive a 7mm wetsuit and the water right now is about 45F. This could be a dumb question, but would wearing a latex swim cap under the wetsuit hood be a bad idea when diving? Just thinking of how to put more protection on my head to protect body heat. I've seen some divers with the attached latex hoods on drysuits but I won't have a drysuit for a while.

thanks!

[Gary D.]

A bathing cap is about all you’d be adding. The attached latex hoods don’t keep you warm. You need to wear a Laura Ingles hat under it.

45 is pushing it by today’s standards. We dove under the ice for years wet but it isn’t happening any more.

Gary D.

[TheSmoothDome]

When using latex drysuit hoods, the diver wears a beanie beneath it for warmth and to create an airspace between the latex and the ear. Without that airspace, you could potentially blow an eardrum.

[Bob3]

I would just recommend a better wetsuit hood, or maybe even a neoprene drysuit hood glued onto a thin vest to wear underneath your suit.
They do make hooded vests but I've often found you can modify a couple pieces of existing gear to come up with something really great.