cool_hardware52
Contributor
I'll second the Xdeep Ghost. I picked it up after trying it out in the pool. Love, love, love it because I could put myself in any position, freeze, and I'd stay still.
Depending on your build, a steel plate as some have suggested could be a really bad idea. The last thing you want is to be somewhere diving and overweighted, as we all know how that will cut from your bottom time. I was in Maui in January, diving in 74 degree water with my Xdeep Ghost. I had only 3 llbs of additional weight. Note that I dive with a pony bottle. Not much to ditch if I had to. If you are a bigger guy, then the steel plate may be a great option.
The choice of a negative Stainless Plate vs a less negative lightweight plate (alum or kydex) is pretty simple. Do you need the ballast the SS plate provides or are you looking to shed ballast? To answer that question you need to know the buoyancy of the divers exposure suit and the cylinders used (and maybe the diver's er, um, well personal buoyancy )
No exposure suit (or rash guard) + al 80 usually benefits from a lightweight plate.
Thin suits (3mm) and negative steel tanks usually benefits from a lightweight plate.
Thin suits and buoyant al 80's start to make a Stainless Plate look good
Thicker suits and Negative steel tanks again make a SS plate look good.
The challenge is the diver who uses no suit and al 80, and thin suits and al 80's. In a perfect world they would have two plates. In the real world they can either use a lightweight plate and add ballast when diving 3mm-5mm suits, but trim may be more difficult, or they can choose to use a minimum of a 3mm suit and dive the Stainless Plate. It's pretty easy to stay cool in "too much" suit, leave it half zipped and flush if too warm.
Often this is the more practical approach, particularly if this same diver dives cold water at home. Lightweight plates in demand workaround weighting solutions that can be sub optimal.
Tobin