The OP didn't specify. No need to move the goalpost to garner a "win".
Actually, the OP
did specify negative entries from a boat into a current. That is ocean diving. As for winning, I wasn't aware that I was even playing.
Not if you don't have the gear or skill to dive them. I do just fine. If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the boat!
Skill or lack thereof is not the issue here. You might want to ask Jane Orenstein, Andre Smith, Mike Elkins, and John Claypool about this issue. Wait you can't. Despite all having quite a bit of skill and experience they drowned while diving unbalanced rigs in the ocean. Lost buoyancy control, sank to the bottom, and couldn't get back up. Some of them were using double-bladder wings, which apparently didn't help.
Wow. You really have no idea how heavy you'll be if you suffered a complete suit flood? You only plan for panacea diving all the time? Murphy's a hard assed sumbitch, and odds are you'll meet him someday. It can be painful, if not deadly if you're not prepared.
Define major? Seawater might be neutral, but you won't be if you have a complete blowout. Been there, done that, shivered for a couple days. Glad I had a BC that could float me.
I know how heavy I'll be. My BC can float me. I can also ditch weight, like we learned in OW class. I don't rely on my drysuit for lift.
The problem with a "balanced rig" is that many define it in a way to make themselves appear to be a superdiver. If you can't swim it up with a full flooded drysuit and no air in your BC, then calling it balanced is nigh on to delusional. And murphy is sneaky, and patient. He springs his hijinks when you least expect it.
You do not understand the definition of a balanced rig. Ditchable weight forms one essential component of the overall system. In ocean diving, if you suffer a complete loss of all lift then you should be able to ditch enough weight to get close to neutral with full back tanks. The beginning of the dive when your back tanks are full is when the risk of a wing failure is highest; later in the dive after you use up some gas it becomes less of a concern. After you ditch some weight, swimming up is no problem. Or ride your scooter up like I mentioned above.
Some highly experienced ocean divers go with no ditchable weight out of a misguided desire to be "slick". I don't think this is an optimal practice, although they can probably get away with it even in an emergency by using other techniques.
But how exactly am I going to end up with a completely flooded drysuit
and a failed wing simultaneously? Like seriously what is the scenario? A shark attack or something? At some point you have to either play the game or stay home.
Anyway, I'm far from being a super diver: mediocre at best. Because I am not particularly skilled, I try to proactively prevent problems before they occur rather than subjecting myself to unnecessary risks or relying on convoluted solutions. If someone has a specific on-topic question, then I'll try to help but otherwise I'll bow out of the thread for now and you folks can dive as you please. Good luck.
I’m talking about the PST 3500psi HP120s used by one of your BAUE buddies.
As mentioned above, those are smaller and have different buoyancy characteristics than the old LP120s. It is certainly possible to have a balanced ocean diving rig with steel 120s of either flavor plus a drysuit, especially for larger divers. You just have to be careful about what gas mix you fill: with air or nitrox and a full fill you have 18 lbs of gas strapped to your back which isn't ideal but put in 30%+ helium and it becomes more reasonable.