If your buoyancy is perfectly neutral and you remove the regulator, you’ll remain neutral. But any bit of
movement in the water can start a shift. If the shift moves you up, wet suits and gas in the BC will begin
to expand. To compensate for that, breathe out, return to the proper depth, and continue. If the shift moves
you down, breathe in, return to the proper depth, and continue. This means you have to continue to breathe
properly even if there is no regulator in your mouth. If you’re going up, just exhale into the water. If
you’re going down, replace the regulator and breathe in. But never adjust with the BC. If you adjust with
the BC, when you return to your proper depth, you’ll either be too positive or too negative.
Thus, the breathing cycle continues regardless of whether there is a regulator in your mouth.
Try it the next time you are in a pool. 6 inches/15cm off the bottom doing Basic-6 Number 1, regulator
remove and replace. Continue the breathing cycle to maintain your buoyancy. Be precise. It takes just the
smallest amount of practice to get this right.