Old Town Twin Otter or Wildnerness 135t

I’m looking for my first tandem. after lots of reading online I’ve narrowed it down to the above 2. 135T will have the rudder.



Both are rec doubles and it will be me by myself or me with a 50lb kid so i’ll be powering it myself (kids are no help :wink: )



I’ve used a Dirigo Tandem plus but solo it wasnt so nice. I’m hoping the Otter or 135 will be better solo.



btw I’ll be in protected ocean and lakes, just short trips (couple miles mostly)



Thoughts?

I like the otter myself
I am kind of biased towards old town, i’ve had nothing but good experiences with their boats, and not much experience with wilderness systems.

From the looks of them on the website, the 135T will have a little more comfortable seats, but i had an old town 160T tandem loon with the same plastic seats and never felt that uncomfortable. The otherr is a little lighter at 68 pounds instead of 73, though listed weights aren’t always the most truthful. I don’t know about the slider setup on the 135, but the rails for the OT, again, never any problems with the rails on my loon. If you will have more than 1 person paddling i would lean more towards the 135 with the rudder, but with just your kids and you paddling, i don’t think you’ll have much trouble keeping the otter straight enough on most days. And the otter is a little less pricey, which is nice when you’re first getting into it and need paddles and PFD’s and all the gear.

Don’t go just off of this though, read the reviews, hear peoples opinions, and try and paddle them if you can.