The Baltic Athena. A lifejacket specifically designed for the female form. Our best on test women's specific lifejacket lives up to the hype.
Baltic Athena Lifejacket for women – tested
Baltic Athena 165N Lifejacket
Baltic Athena women’s specific lifejacket, note the low position of the trigger mechanism and the CO2 bottle.
Baltic Athena Lifejacket
Price from £139
Buy Baltic Athena from Waveinn
The Baltic Athena is a women’s specific designed lifejacket that comes in two versions, a non harness and a harness model. A sprayhood and light are additional extras that can be specified for the lifejacket.
We had a team of female ( and some male) testers try out this lifejacket both on dry land at Charlestown Harbour In Cornwall and at Plymouth Life Centre deep diving pool. We ran through a series of tests that emulate real world use. You can read about our testing team and methodology here on our dedicated page.
Dry testing
The Velcro backed crossover front design allows the trigger mechanism to be located lower in the casing. The asymmetrical closure with seatbelt style buckle to one side allows the trigger mechanism viewing window to be central.
The manual inflation pull toggle was easily and accidentally snagged and unseated from its stowage place by our tester during fitting.
When adjusting a lifejacket, as a smaller bodied person, we often find a large loose end of webbing strap flailing around which can be a snagging risk. The Baltic Athena lifejacket is fitted with small velcro tabs on the ends of their webbing straps which allow them to be rolled neatly.
The crotch strap is wide and easy to fasten. The loose ends are taken up easily within the length of the crotch strap and are retained sufficiently not to come loose.
On inflation our pool tester Anna found the bladder was really tight against her foul weather jacket collar causing discomfort and difficulty breathing. Anna needed to release some air via the top up tube valve to take the pressure off her neck. Note this is a hot pool area and as such the lifejackets will inflate more than in a cold environment.
Pool Testing
The lifting strop should be positioned as seen in this picture. But the small Velcro receiving tab that helps to locate the end of the strop has a tendency to unstick from the inflated bladder and stick itself randomly to another part of the bladder.
Because Anna had removed air from the lifejacket to allow her to breath more easily, this meant she was (unusually) able to swim almost normally.
The Baltic Athena lifejacket uses a standard Pro sensor trigger mechanism with auto-inflate capsule.
Repacking the lifejacket was relatively quick and easy. Checking the trigger mechanism is easy, via the window provided or by unzipping the casing a little bit to check the bottle is secure.
Baltic Athena Lifejacket
Price from £139
Buy Baltic Athena from Waveinn
How our lifejacket scored on average out of 10 for each of our criteria
9 – Adjust speed ease difficulty
10 – Fastening buckle ease with gloves
9 – Comfort women body size (when tested by men 4)
8 – Practicality. bulk snagging
8 – Positioning of essential items
NA – Accessory attachment / kill cord loop
7 – Night view / reflectors / light (if fitted)
8 – Ease of checking bottle / trigger status
9 – Unpacking / repacking
9 – Style
6 – In water score83% Total as a percentage
Men take note: Unless you’re a barrel chested, slim waisted man, this isn’t for you!
Verdict
This is an excellent choice of lifejacket for women who do a host of boating activities. High praise from all who tried this lifejacket in the dry.
Best coastal lifejacket on test for women
