Not having dumpable weights on BPW

[JLRO22]

I am super close on clicking order on my BPW set up. But I'm starting to get skeptical on the weight set up.
I'm a small diver 5'2 and only 115 lbs. I dive temperate waters in California with a 7mm suit, 5/3 hood, 7mm boots etc. This is my current 'possible buy' list in terms of main weighting:

Backplates​

• Halcyon - Small Stainless Steel Backplate; 4.05 lbs
• Dive Rite - Short Stainless Steel XT Backplate; 5.41 lbs

STAs​

• Dive Rite - STA; 0.81lbs
• Halcyon - STA; 2.4 lbs
• Halcyon - STA w/ weight; 7.55 lbs

With my dive program, I have access to AL80s or Steel 85, 80, 100s but usually opt for a steel more often times than not. Its a bad day if I have to use an AL80 or there's no steels left and I need more air than what's in an 85.
Anyway my dilemma is what is correct configuration without it being dangerous of having too much non-dumpable weight on my body? Since I dive steels usually, if I run a set up that's heavy (DR plate w/ any of the STAs), I would barely have to put anything on a belt. And if I need to do an emergency ascent and I dump, I'll be dumping basically nothing and need to instead kick like hell. Yeah that means I'll means I'm probably overweighted, but is running 7 or even 12 lbs + a steel over kill for such a small diver. Is it safe to run all your weight on your back?

Thanks in advance!

 

[inquis]

[Avelo marketing says] a 7mm XL wetsuit will lose about 2lbs of buoyancy at 100ft

That is at odds with a peer-reviewed journal article (reference below) that cites losing 30% of the surface volume at 10m, 60% at 60m, and 65% at 100m. I interpolate that as 51% at 30 m/100 ft. (Surface buoyancy of my XL 7mm is 16 lbs.)

Losing a mere 2.5 lbs (as the video states) suggests a volume loss of ~1L, translating to a thickness reduction of 0.5mm. Half a millimeter. At 100 ft, there's an additional pressure on the suit of about 45 lbs per square inch. Try pressing your thumb on your suit -- I guarantee you'll squash it by more than half a millimeter with far less than 45 lbs of force.

Bardy, Erik; Mollendorf, Joseph; Pendergast, David (October 21, 2005). "Thermal conductivity and compressive strain of foam neoprene insulation under hydrostatic pressure". Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. 38 (20): 3832–3840

 

[jellycatsdad]

FWIW, I too dive the temperate/cool waters of California and I think I have too little lift with a 27lb wing. Still diving wet(7mm full wetsuit with 7/5mil hooded vest on top of that) with steel HP100. My buoyancy is fine with 14lbs of lead, but I dive with 16. I weigh 190lbs. When I started out diving, I needed 26lbs of lead(Hydros Pro, Al80) or even 20lbs when I started to use a BPW.