Is BCD with 20 lb lift adequate?

[tbone1004]

@Bowers
At the surface, diver 1 needs ~15lbs of lift for his head plus the gas in the tank.
Diver 2 needs the same 15lbs of lift for his head plus the gas in the tank as both are neutral at the surface.

At depth, diver 1 doesn't need any more lift because he has ~6lbs of gas in the tank and that's it. Diver 2 however needs the 6lbs for gas + the 14lbs for the suit so a 15lb wing is insufficient and you'd want to go up to a 25lb ish wing.

extra lift needs to be added for any "ditchable" items as well since those aren't factored into your buoyancy.

@JamesBon92007 al80's have the potential to lose 6.2lbs of mass assuming they are not overfilled. A XXS 7mm would probably be about 10lbs. For that a 20lb wing will probably work, but in a 7mm especially in OW I wouldn't personally cut it that close

20lbs of weight to me means that the diver may be overweighted, either by choice, or by necessity, but with that much lead, you're going to want a bigger wing

 

[pepperbelly]

OP, FWIW I also use a Ranger. When/if I ever wear it out I will probably be going with a BP/W. It seems to have the best range of customization, plus with a SS back plate I can eliminate some lead. I also like the idea of a crotch strap again- I started diving before BCDs were in wide use.

 

[dmaziuk]

@JamesBon92007 al80's have the potential to lose 6.2lbs of mass assuming they are not overfilled. A XXS 7mm would probably be about 10lbs. For that a 20lb wing will probably work, but in a 7mm especially in OW I wouldn't personally cut it that close

If you had swimmer's lung volume and knew you can swim up and about with 2x 10lb bricks in your hands... I'd still think twice before going to 90-100'.

 

[StefinSB]

How much buoyancy could a XXS, 7mm suit possibly lose at depth? 5 pounds maybe? .

It could loose up to 100% of its initial buoyancy (whatever you determined that is) for wing selection purposes.

 

[Rred]

Some folks will say the BCD is just that, a way to trim buoyancy. And 20# might be good for that, after all less clutter is good.

But consider, the BCD is also a life jacket if you are "stranded" on the surface. Whatever portion of it is above the waterline, will present zero buoyancy. So, 20# becomes maybe 12?

When I had a buddy in trouble with an apparent OOA incident, I was very happy that I could slip an arm through their jacket, hit my own inflate button, and have enough lift to take BOTH of us up to the surface, and keep BOTH of our heads well clear of the water. If we, or I, had been simply left out by a boat and the water was getting rough...it would be even more important to get heads above the waterline.

Personally I'd argue "more is better" in this case, but that's very much just one opinion for one conservative reason. If you are more concerned with having a sleek and trim package in the water, by all means go for less.

 

[Graveyarddiver]

For myself I would say the answer is absolutely not. Mainly because my doubles, stage bottles and other tech gear are negatively bouyant, with the addition of a 15 lb weight belt. I may be nuetral on the surface, but negative at 140. I also would rather be heavy than light.
If you are diving less than 60 feet, are nuetraly buoyant at the end of your dive, and only need enough weight to counteract your tanks positive bouyancy at the end of the dive, you’ll probably be ok

 

[60plus]

I need about 11 to 12 Kg. What are peoples views about splitting this and in what proportions between belt and BCD quick drop pockets? So far have had 8 on the belt and the rest in BCD. For comfort I am thinking of going to 6 on the belt and 6 in the BCD pockets