One rule of thumb we use is 10% of body weight plus about 7 lbs if diving in a 7mm full wetsuit.
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In a 7mm?That's a lot of weight.... I weigh 170, dive with 6lbs.
In a 7mm?
I weigh 165 and the rule of thumb I heard was 10% body weight plus 4 lb. (in salt water with a 7mm and AL-80); 20 lb. does indeed work for me. With a steel tank I can go down to 16 lb. With a thinner wetsuit I can do a lot less.
I moved here 3 years ago, got ow the 1st year. So story time. My class is 6 teenage boys, 1 13 year old girl z a 72 year old woman, and 1 other grown man who we'll call... a floater. And that was before the 7mm full suit. He's my assigned dive buddy.I would never try to kill a Florida man; yours are the only headlines I can read anymore without wanting to drink myself into a stupor!
Seriously though, I assumed you were responding to drbill's post, but I realize now the OP never said what his exposure protection was. I guess I heard 17 lb. and just assumed he was wearing a comparable amount of neoprene. Let's hope all that lead wasn't for a shorty!