Watchmanjc...
This would be my suggestion... FWIW! Couple of assumptions on my part; 1, you will carry your bp/w, regs, fins, mask, and such and only be renting weights and tanks...
Your basically living in LA; Buy or rent your 3mm if you don't already own one, rent a Al80 from your dive shop and borrow some weights from them (a few 2's and a couple of 4's)...
Pick a good day and head on out to the beach...! Personally, I like knowing what I need before I get to where I'm going... Things get a bit hectic at the point of arrival, sometimes...!
FYI, I dive a ST100, bp/w and when diving a 3mm I carry @ 5-6lbs (saltwater) when I go AL80 with 3mm I am carrying @ 11lbs (saltwater)...
You would still need to know the difference between the 3mm and 7mm and that is why I would give it a test spin over there in the Pacific...! Weights are going to vary person to person and it looks like you have enough dives to know what you need for yourself. Me; I am not going to find out that I am 5lbs lite and in a uncontrollable assent once I start up from 100'....
True story... Had a friend who wanted to test out my bp/w (group of us on a dive trip) so I let him and I used my wife's transpac... I thought we were only going for a test spin but once in the water and at 35' I found out he wanted to head out to a wreck some 15-20 minutes down the way and @ 85'.
Like I said, I was wearing my wife's stuff and just took a shot in the dark with the weights... Could have been a big mistake, well it was a big mistake... Once we got to the wreck I knew I was going to be lite...! I started looking for a good size rock or dead coral but nothing was really working well. Like I said, we went to a wreck so I found a large scrap of iron and carried it all the way back to our entry point and lived happily ever after!!!
Moral to the story is never let your friends borrow your bp/w...!!! Kidding, but don't guess at the weights!!! Heavy is one thing but lite can kill you.... I was lucky!!!
Regards, lee
