use of a BC - Case in point, my Zeagle Ranger, which I like very much. Rated at 44lbs, Rodales stated that it was tested to be within 15% of that figure but ran on the low side (38-39lbs), presumably in saltwater. Navy tests pegged it in upper 30's, as well, in saltwater. So I'm not too worried about a "44lb" wing being too large, actually in the 30's in saltwater, closer to 35 in freshwater.
If,and it's a big if, the LDS will let you. There are two things you can do at the LDS. If they have a pool and a rental in the same BC, take it in the pool, inflate until the OP valve opens, hang weights on it with a weight belt till it sinks, adjust upwards by about 7% for additional bouyancy in salt water but remember for quarry or other freshwater diving, what you see in the pool is what you get.
Second method, wet the BC completly, remove inflator hose (or fill through inflator in non-removable) and weigh the wet BC with an empty wing (be sure there is no water in the wing). (You can leave the BC dry if you can avoid spilling any water on the BC during the filling, which will increase the weight of the BC in the post-fill weighin and provide an overly optimistic estimate of the lift)
Fill wing with freshwater, weigh it again. That's the weight of the water it will displace when filled with air, more or less the lift it will produce (for the purist, minus the weight of the air when it is filled, but not enough to be a real world issue) in freshwater. Adjust upwards 7% for saltwater bouyancy.
From many threads, most wings are overrated in terms of lift, heaven knows why.
Sincerely,
Bill