Uncle Pug once bubbled...
... but part of the problem is your undergarment... the USIA Exotherm II is just not warm enough for me in 48F~50F water.
Plus your suit is probably not custom cut... so to get it long enough for your height I'll bet there is a lot of extra room in there since you are skin~n~bones as you say.
The air that you add to get the undergarment to loft has a lot of suit to bubble around in... and so you need to add more than if you had a closer fitting suit. That coupled with the marginal insulation of the Exotherm II and no blubber means you have to add waaaaay too much air.... and that means you have to add waaaay too much weight to compensate.
So.... what to do?
Well... first off perhaps you could layer a polarfleece vest under your Exotherm. May be even some poly long-johns. Anything to keep from having to add so much extra air (I dive with my dump all the way open just like WW and lal7176.)
That should allow you to get rid of 10#s.
Next... the ankle weights are not helping... switch to velcro straps around the ankles or even gators if you need something constricting ballooning in the lower leg (and you probably do with the USIA.) The problem with ankle weights is that they will drop your feet and part of your thrust will be vectored up... and that requires you to have additional weight to compensate!
Next... the AL80 is another 4~6#s but if that is what you have then you need to live with it... however if you are renting tanks then think about going with steel when you do buy your own.
At least give these suggestions a try even if you don't go with a BP/wing.
I was wondering when you'd pipe up, UP
I forgot to mention I do use Poly long johns under my exotherm, and sometimes do wear a polar fleece vest as well. My suit is somewhat custom cut, but not 100% They did a medium sized suit in large length for me. So there is some excess material, but it's not really too bad (IMO) it's not like this huge fat man could fit in there, or enough space for 2 of me. I would say it's a little big but not Too bad.
I do try and keep the air in my suit to a min though. I just try and keep enough in for squeeze and a little loft for the undergarment. I wish I could explain or show you better, but if you saw it, you probably would say I don't have TOO much air in it, just a little too much at most. I've thought about the gators or something, I wear my dive knife on my left leg, and it's sinched pretty good, but doesn't seem to limit the air in that leg at all. My fins of course aren't DIR (TUSA X-Pert Zooms) so they are pretty much neutral, or a little buoyant/negative (supposed to be slightly negative, they are about 50% rubber) I never noticed an up vector because of the ankles, but I trust you.
I do use rental tanks, so I might have to do steels when I buy mine, but by then I may not care about a 5 or so lbs.
I'm curious about the velcro idea, it sounds like an inexpensive way to accomplish what gators (and what ankle weights do crappily) without the expense. If I can get an inexpensive way to drop the ankles I will. I never have liked them much, I only use 1lbs on each ankle anyways. Just enough to make my feet right about neutral feeling. Do you just put some velcro straps aound the outside of the suit? or on the undergarment? or both? I thought my dive knife would do the same thing as a gator, but it doesn't seem to phase it, it's a tight fit putting it on at the surface, and has rubber straps.
It is deffinately noticable that I don't put much air in my suit, as the deeper I go the more heavy I get, and the more tight my suit gets. So I compensate some, until it's just barely comforable, and then use my BC. The problem I had with the jacket BC after trying the BP was with 37lbs I was floaty above about 5' and had to exhale, exhaust all air from the BC, and suit before I could sink, at less than 5' a breath of air would make me neutral to possitive. After 5' I was heavy and had to use the BC, suit, and lungs to stay neutral. So my suit is deffinately getting compressed and not using much air, if after 5' I'm no longer floaty but heavy.
