#Getting stuck in quicksand free#

Removing just your foot from quicksand at the rate of 0.01 meters per second requires the same force required to lift a car. The truth is, pulling a person (even yourself) out of quicksand won't result in freedom. In the movies, escape from quicksand often comes in the form of an outstretched hand, underwater vine, or overhanging branch. Whether this has actually occurred is unknown, but modern science considers it possible. There are reports of people, vehicles, and entire caravans sinking into it and being lost. Predators: Those vultures watching from the trees may decide to snack on you once you stop struggling if the alligator doesn't get you first.ĭry quicksand presents its own special risks.

Dehydration: If you're trapped, you may die of thirst.

After 15 minutes of compression, rescuers have to apply special techniques to prevent loss of limbs and sometimes life. Compression damages muscles and nerves, releasing compounds that cause kidney damage.

Crush Syndrome: Extended pressure on skeletal muscle (like your legs) and the circulatory system wreaks havoc on the body.

While you aren't going to sink up to your chest standing upright, falling into quicksand or failing at a self-rescue attempt could end badly.

Suffocation: Depending on how you are positioned in quicksand, your breathing could be impaired.

Hypothermia occurs rapidly in wet quicksand, or you can die in the desert when the sun goes down.

Hypothermia: You can't maintain your body temperature forever when half of you is encased in sand.

It could be the tide, splashing water (since quicksand can occur underwater), heavy rain, or falling over into water.

Drowning: This happens when additional water moves in over the quicksand.

If the quicksand is near a river or coastal area, you can still drown the old-fashioned way when the tide comes in, but you won't suffocate with a mouthful of sand or mud. Humans and animals typically float in water, so if you are standing upright, the furthest you'll sink in the quicksand is waist-deep. It's true you don't sink in quicksand until you're submerged. Strong forces stiffen quicksand, making it more like a solid than a liquid, so pulling and jerking only make a bad situation worse.Ī quick Google search reveals most writers don't have personal experience with quicksand or consult water rescue experts. The trick to escaping the trap is to move slowly and try to float. You'll only sink halfway, no matter how badly you freak out.ĭisturbing quicksand makes it flow like a liquid, but gravity acts against you. However, the average human has a density of about 1 gram per milliliter, while the average quicksand density is about 2 grams per milliliter. The sand around you also settles into place.Ĭontinued movement (like thrashing around from panic) keeps the mixture more like a liquid, so you sink further. If you stop after the first step, the sand particles beneath you get compressed by your weight. Stepping on it initially lowers the viscosity, so you sink. Undisturbed quicksand appears solid, but it's really a gel. What this means it can change its ability to flow (viscosity) in response to stress. Technically speaking, quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid.

If you have to rescue yourself, wriggle your legs to make the quicksand more fluid while trying to sit back into the quicksand to increase your body's surface area. The best way to prevent a fatality is to keep a charged cell phone with you so you can call for help.

Death can come in the form of suffocation, dehydration, hypothermia, predators, crush syndrome, or drowning from a river or incoming tide.

Even though you can't sink all the way into quicksand, it's a killer.

#Getting stuck in quicksand free#

However, a person or branch can be used to help reduce the victim's weight, making it easier to work free and float. A rescuer can't simply pull a victim out of quicksand.Really, the only way to drown from the quicksand is to fall into it head first or face first. You can only sink into quicksand up to your waist.It changes its viscosity in response to stress or vibration, allowing you to sink, but making it hard to escape. Quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid made of sand mixed with water or air.