To the OP:
I dive a 30lb Apex wing, SS Backplate and STA with a steel 15l (HP120?) cylinder. At this tie of year I'm diving a full 7mm suit and 4mm hood. I carry 8lbs of additional weight in trim pockets on the upper and lower cam bands (4lbs upper and 6lbs on the lower)
It is possible for a buddy to dump from the rear pockets (or myself if I fumbled around) HOWEVER! 4 weeks ago I had a wing failure - the inflator went into free flow - I disconnected it and dumped all my air in the wing to stop an uncontrolled ascent from 20m (65 feet) Even from that depth with 2/3rds full tank I was able to swim the rig up with no real effort. At the surface the 7mm wetsuit is quite buoyant. so in my case I'm not stressed about ditchable weights.
On a dive last weekend at the safety stop I was a bit positive (having used the same weight) - it turned out that when I'd been upside down taking a picture the velcro on one of my Scubapro X tech pockets had come undone and a 2lb weight had dropped out.
My point here is: if your weighting is spot on you should be able to swim up a single cylinder rig in a wetsuit. if you're really worried - put a pocket on your waist belt and carry a couple of lbs there - it should't take much to get you positive from rec depths
I dive a 30lb Apex wing, SS Backplate and STA with a steel 15l (HP120?) cylinder. At this tie of year I'm diving a full 7mm suit and 4mm hood. I carry 8lbs of additional weight in trim pockets on the upper and lower cam bands (4lbs upper and 6lbs on the lower)
It is possible for a buddy to dump from the rear pockets (or myself if I fumbled around) HOWEVER! 4 weeks ago I had a wing failure - the inflator went into free flow - I disconnected it and dumped all my air in the wing to stop an uncontrolled ascent from 20m (65 feet) Even from that depth with 2/3rds full tank I was able to swim the rig up with no real effort. At the surface the 7mm wetsuit is quite buoyant. so in my case I'm not stressed about ditchable weights.
On a dive last weekend at the safety stop I was a bit positive (having used the same weight) - it turned out that when I'd been upside down taking a picture the velcro on one of my Scubapro X tech pockets had come undone and a 2lb weight had dropped out.
My point here is: if your weighting is spot on you should be able to swim up a single cylinder rig in a wetsuit. if you're really worried - put a pocket on your waist belt and carry a couple of lbs there - it should't take much to get you positive from rec depths