IFR Hood Reviews

For a long time, I have been in search of the best hood. Yes, those pesky things we have to put over/around our eyes to pretend we are in the clouds. Most of them have one problem or another. I have not seen a good comparison of IFR hoods, and I think it could be useful. So, I thought I would post a review of different IFR hoods I own or have borrowed and used. Most on-line shops have some in their catalog. I found a decent selection of hoods at pilotstore.com and a decent selection of hoods at aircraft spruce and a decent selection at MyPilotStore with reviews, but not a consolidated view of a person who has tried many.

IFR Hoods I Have Used:

• Best Ifr Hood (Own it)
• Viban (Own it)
• Hood Lamb (Own it)
• Foggles (Used it)
• Asa Overcasters (Own it)
• Asa Jiffy Hood (Used it)
• Francis IFR Hood (Used it)
  

Things To Look For In A Hood

Most of all, it should restrict your vision to only the instrument panel. That is the whole purpose, and if you plan to really use your IFR in the clouds, you want to simulate that effect as best as possible. Cheating and seeing outside only hurts your practice of your abilities, and real IFR is not forgiving.

Under the hood, it needs to be comfortable to look at the instruments. To me this has been a factor as well. I find that two things have caused problems with this.

For comfortable view of the instruments, I find that black hoods are not as good as white hoods. Black causes a big contrast between the hood and the instruments and is not similar to outside unless you are at night.

The other thing for comfortable view is I do not like items that block the vision near my eyes. It messes with my eyes focusing a little bit. Most of the time it does not, but my eyes can try to focus on the near object instead of the instrument panel. It is subtle, but I do not like this. This occurs with Foggles, Overcasters, but not full hoods; Vibans are in between.

Next is to look for one that is comfortable. You sit with these things on for a while, and the last thing you need is a distraction from your main task of navigating by the instruments. If the hood is heavy or does not interact with your headset well, it can be a pain literally. I find that some cause pressure points around my ears under the headsets and others do not interact well with sunglasses.

Also, it is best if the hood is easy to take on and off. You have to only do that mainly at the beginning and the end, so it is not quite as important. But it is a pain if it is awkward. In the beginning, it might also be useful to take off when you are at your minimum altitude, but you can always leave it on and move your head and peak at the runway.

Finally, storing the hood is hopefully not hard. It is nice if it is not bulky and is not easily damaged.

Comparison Table:

Click Image for better view.

My preference:

Right now, my preference is the Best IFR Hood. It is my favorite because it seems to do well with all the categories. It goes on easy after you get used to it, it is not heavy, the strap goes on over your headset, works with/without sunglasses, and folds up smaller than any other hood. It is cheap and I think everybody should try a pair at the bargain price of $5 with shipping. And I have no ties to this company.

Next choice would probably be the Viban for me. I was using this before getting the Best IFR Hood.

And of course, remember to get some time in the real clouds! Nothing substitutes for the real thing. Of course, after the appropriate practice and/or with an instructor.

If you have other experiences and feelings on hoods, please let me know especially if you have tried some of the ones I have tried.

/Brian