I don’t put much faith in models or calculations for weight when diving. The calculator comes up with:
>> In Salt water, weighing 195 lbs, given the specified exposure suit and scuba tank.
>> You will need an estimated 36 lbs of weight (+/- 4 lbs).
In salt water (Florida Keys) wearing a shell dry suit and 4TH Element underwear using an AL80N tank I would generally wear 10 pounds of weight in my integrated BCD and 3.5 total pounds of weight split on my ankles. The calculator doesn’t differentiate between an AL80 and an AL80N - but that’s only a couple of pounds difference.
I’m willing to admit that I’m the exception rather than the rule. When I went through the PADI IDC/IE nobody in my class wanted to draw me for the Rescue evaulation. We did it in a freshwater lake and in a 4mm full wetsuit I would sink as soon as my BCD was removed. In a 5mm full wetsuit I can dive without weights in freshwater using an AL80N.
Many recreational BCD’s can’t offset for 35+ pounds of weight with lift capacity (many can’t even hold that much if they are weight integrated) so if I were teaching a class I’d be hesitant to put a student in the water wearing more than 24 pounds of weight unless I tried them in a pool and they simply couldn’t pass a buoyancy test with less.
Yeah Greg, I’m one of the more advanced divers you speak of...but I would proffer that many advanced divers dive with too much weight since they are not known for doing a bouyancy check once a year, let alone before each dive.