My view on this is based on knowing others with buffalo shirts and many experience, especially one "test" I did with my special 6 shirt.
First off I like the look of the shirts without the hood. The hoods make it look too specialist, which TBH it kind of is. I've walked with people who only wear the buffalo shirts as intended. One guy did the Yorkshire 3 peaks twice in 24 hours mid winter including being out in it during a 2 hour blizzard!! He never wore the hood, ever! So when I got mine I didn't get the hood.
Then one day we went for an hour and a half walk in intermittent heavy rain. It was a little cool too so perfect buffalo shirt test weather. I wore it without anything under or over it. I was almost completely dry. I wore a waterproof baseball style cap to keep my head and glasses dry. Shortly after setting off the rain became almost continuous stair rods. The only wet feeling I got was from rain pouring down my neck which by the end left the shirt wet through significantly. Where the rain fell on my shirt it was dry on my skin side except where the rain got down from the neck.
So my view is a hood has its place in the buffalo system. I'm of the view it's a good idea to carry one and wear it when it helps to cope with conditions better. I'm planning on ordering one before autumn comes in. Any recommendations on where to buy from? Why do buffalo recommend buying only from retailers listed on their website?
If you don't use a hood then what do you do with Easter down the neck? What do you wear instead? Or do you not wear them in really bad conditions except for snow I suppose?