Quicksand Myth Debunked: You Can Float Free

[davidinalameda]

http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/050928_quicksand.html

Falling into quicksand isn't quite as bad as some movies make it out to be.

Instead of being sucked all the way in, quicksand victims will float once they get about waist deep, according to a new study.

Yet while the risk of vanishing has apparently evaporated, escaping the muck is still a tough task: To pull one leg free requires the amount of force needed to lift a small car. There are tricks, however.



this is very interesting

[Desertrose]

1. Hmm...think I won't test that out ...just in case....

and my location is pretty safe...interesting though, isn't it??

Sure messes up a lot of movie plots.....

[htuttle]

2. I got sucked into a peat bog once, up to my knees

I was able to get out by falling forward onto more solid land.

Lost both my shoes, though...Maybe someone will find them in a few thousand years and put them in a museum.

[benburch]

7. Lost my shoes on a mudflat in a similar manner... nt

[Massacure]

3. It's not really new. Myth Busters already debunked the quicksand myth.

Jamie was having quite a bit of fun actually.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. Mythbusters?

The quicksand myth was debunked at least 80 years ago.

I'm not one to deny Jamie a bit of fun, but our myth about quicksand came from early adventure movies and Victorian era penny-dreadfuls.

--p!

[Sequoia]

5. Now you tell me....as a kid I was horrified by quicksand.

Unreasonably petrified.

[fedsron2us]

6. Unfortunately most wind up floating face down

Quicksands are often associated with areas that have fast moving tides such as Morecambe Bay in the UK. It is the latter that cut people off and drown them. Most of these myth busting experiments take place in the relative safety of the laboratory. This is not one I would recommend people to try out in the wild.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/3465109.stm

[greyl]

8. Umm, I thought the Quicksand Myth was gonna be "don't struggle".

Anyone who's seen Gilligan's Island knows that the best thing to do when you find yourself in some quicksand is to relax.
:shrug:

[Ready4Change]

9. That applies, too.

When you struggle you just work yourself deeper. Trying to lift one foot only serves to drive the other foot downwards, until you reach your "floating level."

The best thing to do is counter-intuitive. When you realize you have a problem, lay down on your back with your arms outspread, like you would do to make snow angels. Keep yourself spread out like a sheet, and avoid digging elbows, hands, knees or feet below the surface.

Use a swimming motion to slowly pull your legs out SIDEWAYS, not upwards. Point your toes. Your bouyancy will keep most of your body above the surface, and the slow sideways motion will provide a chance for fluids to fill in below your rising limbs. Once your limbs are above the surface stay layed down and keep swimming across the surface to solid ground.

If the tide rises don't panic. The inflows of water may serve to loosen the material and help you break the suction.

I've seen video of people using these techniques with success after sinking up to their belts. It works.