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Going out thorough heavy surf often requires that you dive under the waves. Thus your BC must be empty if you are to be able to quickly submerge. You can embolize from a pressure differential of just 2 PSI, that's 4 feet of water or a wave with an amplitude of only two feet. People have embolized as a result of having a wave pass overhead when they were not in a position to freely move up and down in the water column with the swell, thus I choose to snorkel out through the break, hugging the bottom when required. I am never in a position to be "knocked down" so being tumbled as a result of not getting deep enough soon enough is my main concern. Positive buoyancy is available at the push of a button, though I have never needed it and a regulator is always easily available, but again, I have never needed it. I dive through rather large surf often and this is, IMHO, the best way to minimize the risks.I'm curious why you would go in with the BCD empty and no regulator? It seems to me that things could get ugly if you got knocked down, with no regulator in your mouth and no buoyancy. And then trying to stand back up with fins on...