teknitroxdiver:I agree with you about travel weight, that would be correct. I would like to ask, however, were you using an aluminum or a steel backplate when you were overweighted?
As a Zeagle rep I have one of everything, so I tried a SS BP first and it grossly overweighted me. The Alum BP was better but it still adds ballast I don't need. I wear zero weights with an HP Steel and 3mm shorty or long sleeve jacket. 2 lbs will handle my 3mm full suit so that covers 9 months of the diving year here.
Some people are more negatively buoyant than I am. I hired a young instructor years ago right out of the USN, he was a rock on the bottom with just a t-shirt and shorts, and could probably dive an alum 80 with no weight.
rootofallevil asked for advice on a tropical BC and expressed concerns about straps. He stated goals of achieving neutral buoyancy and streamlining with minimal weight. We should have hired him to write ad copy for the Stiletto!
Zeagle sells many BP&Ws made of SS, Alum. and Titanium. I highly recommend them for those that desire their strong points. However it is clear that for many people a BP&W is not the ultimate in gear choice.
Personally, I learned to dive on a strap backpack and dove for years with strap backmount BCs. I'm not going back to one now.
Chad