You're not going to shed 20 lbs. I think it's pretty common for dry suit divers here to run somewhere between the high 20's and mid 30's in terms of pounds of ballast.
You CAN redistribute your ballast, and shed some pounds.
You are carrying about five pounds of weight you can get rid of by switching from an aluminum to a steel tank.
You are probably carrying two or three pounds to sink your BC, which you can get rid of if you switch to a steel backplate system. If you buy a Deep Sea Supply backplate, you can also purchase lead weight plates to bolt onto the backplate, which will provide another eight pounds of ballast. This, with the switch to steel tanks, usually reduces the weight belt requirement to something in the neighborhood of 12 to 16 pounds, which is pretty manageable.
Changing dry suits probably won't affect much, because you will have to wear more insulation inside of a shell suit, since you will have lost the insulating capacity of the neoprene of your current suit.
I dive a shell suit and a Thermal Fusion undergarment with a base layer. I use steel tanks, have a steel backplate, and use an additional 24 pounds of ballast, for a total of 30. There's just no getting around the lead if you want to be warm.
You CAN redistribute your ballast, and shed some pounds.
You are carrying about five pounds of weight you can get rid of by switching from an aluminum to a steel tank.
You are probably carrying two or three pounds to sink your BC, which you can get rid of if you switch to a steel backplate system. If you buy a Deep Sea Supply backplate, you can also purchase lead weight plates to bolt onto the backplate, which will provide another eight pounds of ballast. This, with the switch to steel tanks, usually reduces the weight belt requirement to something in the neighborhood of 12 to 16 pounds, which is pretty manageable.
Changing dry suits probably won't affect much, because you will have to wear more insulation inside of a shell suit, since you will have lost the insulating capacity of the neoprene of your current suit.
I dive a shell suit and a Thermal Fusion undergarment with a base layer. I use steel tanks, have a steel backplate, and use an additional 24 pounds of ballast, for a total of 30. There's just no getting around the lead if you want to be warm.