Otter Kevlar or Atlantic drysuit?

[avetjx]

Hey everyone,

Going to be getting an otter suit. Trying to decide whether to get the atlantic or the kevlar model. FYI, I do a lot of fossil hunting where I'm belly down on the bottom as well as a lot of spearfishing so I'm exposed to fish and lobster spines. Anyone have any experience with the kevlar suit and can advise whether it dives well? Thanks very much in advance.

 

[AustinV]

I have the Atlantic - well it's actually the Atlantic HD, when I bought mine there wasn't a Kevlar option. You could get the Atlantic which was supposedly a newer material or the Atlantic HD which used the same material the Britannic used for years that was known for it's toughness. I haven't seen a Kevlar Atlantic in person, I have heard mixed things about kevlar panels in drysuits and how they perform in water over time, so not sure. I will say my Atlantic is very tough, I have had it since 2018 and it still looks pretty new. I have used it a few times when fossil diving in NC and crawling on bottom, and it's been on its fair share of wrecks.

 

[broncobowsher]

That material looks very much like the Kevlar material used by Ursuit about 5 years ago. Mine did not age well, as in I had to get a replacement suit. It was delaminating. After a dive my suit would have a case of the bends, as in air bubbles between the layers. That was after a few years and not many dives. The failure rate was pretty high from what I have heard, it was discontinued. From the research there were 2 versions, the second was supposed to have fixed the issues from the first. I had the second version, it still had issues. It was an issue with the material, not the build quality. I never had leaky seams or anything that I could place on stitching the material together. My issue was with the material itself

That is the only experience I have with your request.

 

[avetjx]

thanks very much for your replies! i will definitely think about and see what otter has to say about the material.

 

[AustinV]

Best of luck, talk to John @ Otter, he's a great help. Keep us posted with what you decide!

 

[sorslibertas]

I had the same dilemma. I emailed Otter, and JJ sent me fabric sample for the Kevlar and the standard Atlantic. I was impressed by both, but decided on the Kevlar. Unfortunately (fortunately?) a second hand Atlantic HD with all the bells and whistles popped up in my feed which I ended up buying. It may be a tad too big around the chest but I have full range of movement with my Kwark Navy on (see pic). I won’t be able to get it wet for a couple of weeks, but the workmanship appears to be good, and the material looks and feels tough.