Avatar

The Avatar range at Oyster Diving

Avatar build membrane drysuits and the insulation that goes under them, and that is the whole of what you will find on this page. We stock five pieces: the Avatar 101 Drysuit in men's and women's cuts, the heavier Avatar Airon 102 Drysuit, and the Avatar Undersuit 901 in Men and Lady fits. Two suits, one undersuit, both fits covered. It is a deliberately short range, and it is easier to choose from than most.

The drysuits

Avatar 101 Drysuit

The 101 is the core suit: a breathable four-layer nylon membrane, quick-drying on both faces, which matters more than it sounds when you are climbing back into a damp suit for the second dive of the day. The telescopic torso lets you reach your valves and your feet. There is nylon reinforcement at the knees and elbows with a separate crotch pad, two deep technical pockets with bungee loops and drainage eyelets, and a neoprene warm-neck collar that doubles as the thing holding your hood in place. Navy and black with white accents. The men's and women's versions are cut to different patterns, not the same suit in two lengths.

Avatar Airon 102 Drysuit

The Airon 102 takes the same membrane idea and puts weight where suits actually die. Heavier reinforced nylon across the high-wear panels, reinforcement at knees, elbows and crotch, internal suspenders and a crotch strap so the suit does not ride up on you, and a watertight front zip sitting under a protective fabric flap. It comes with neoprene boots that have a rubber toe and heel guard and a fin-strap tab, two large technical pockets, a neoprene hood and a drysuit backpack. If you dive off shingle and hard boats rather than sand and RIBs, this is the one that lasts.

Seals, cuffs and dry gloves

Both drysuits use Avatar's Smart Seals system in the cuffs. You can change a wrist seal without special tools or glue, and the same cuffs are built to take the Smart Gloves dry glove system, so adding dry gloves later is a fitting job rather than a rebuild. The neck is a latex seal with a neoprene warmer over it. Seals are a consumable item on any drysuit; being able to replace one yourself the night before a trip is worth more than anything printed on a label.

Undersuits and layering

Avatar Undersuit 901

A membrane drysuit is a shell. It keeps the water out; the undersuit is what keeps you warm, and when divers get that half of the system wrong it is usually the suit that gets blamed. The 901 is a fleece made from recycled plastic bottles, stocked here in Men and Lady fits. It has side pockets, a double-sided splash-proof zip, laminated cuffs with elastic thumb loops so your sleeves stay put while you are donning, and wide rubber underfoot straps so the legs do not ride up. There are internal routing points for a heating cable and a P-valve, so it will still make sense if your diving gets more demanding.

Getting the fit right

A drysuit is the one piece of kit where ordering from a size chart alone tends to go wrong. Torso length, shoulder width and boot size all have to work together, and a suit that is slightly too big is harder to dive well than one that is slightly too snug. The Avatar range is stocked across a full spread of sizes in both men's and women's fits. Come in and talk to us, or ring, and we will work through it with you before anything is ordered. We dive drysuits ourselves, in British water, in February.