alt Hacker NewsModerators can still see the full comment history.
The advantage of hiding one's comments is precisely that they do not show up as easy as before on Google, discussions don't get derailed because of comment muckrakers going through their opponent's post and accuse them of being anti-zionist or pro-zionist, and actual stalkers have a far more difficult time tracking down victims.
It's definitely not as consistent as Reddit's official post histories, but from my experience you can still find a lot just by Googling site:reddit.com "username".