I decided to post some details of finding new stuff, the sinking, and the escape.
The Search:You would typically look around places that are wet, such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, marshes, etc. It can take a bit of trial and error to find these places, but once you get more experienced, your success rate will improve, as long as you are in a region that contains sinking places. Using Google Maps/Earth is the best way to first locate these areas, and then if you find a spot that looks good on screen, and it isn't off limits or visible to the general public/residents, you can check it out. Then, you will either cross that area off your list, or have an enjoyable sink. But, be aware that places that have nothing in the spring due to high water might have stuff exposed later on in the season. I have taken the liberty to include links to Google Maps examples of places in Denmark (and one in Germany). I should also mention that it is a good idea to search for areas with a body of water nearby to access for cleanup, which is also hidden from sight, and the area between the bog and the water hidden from sight. Otherwise, you would have to bring cleanup water in a container, and perhaps a clean change of clothes unless you go nude, or in a bathing suit.
Interesting places along moving bodies of water show up as sand/mud bars, often around curves, or irregularities/obstacles in the river/shoreline. Here is an example of what looks like a stretch of muddy shoreline on the right side of this creek/channel, but this spot seems too open:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@57.2252295,9.7331755,447m/data=!3m1!1e3Notice the mud/sand bars in this creek, for example (too open, and likely on private property):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.6890284,8.6189384,464m/data=!3m1!1e3Around lakes, there could be stuff where streams/rivers enter lakes and ponds, since that is where they drop off their sediments. If water levels get low in the summer, then ponds and lakes might get more mud exposed in other places as well. But, for lakes, there might be a problem with privacy, and the last thing you need is to be playing in the mud when a boat happens by!
I am uncertain if this is a stream entering or leaving the lake, but judging by the discoloration of the water in the lake, it is probably entering the lake, dropping off sediment:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.2580502,9.8161232,227m/data=!3m1!1e3Places that are marshy, where you can see lots of smaller green vegetation and browner areas, as well as lighter areas, tan areas, reddish areas, etc, could be of interest. Here are some examples (zoom out to check out surrounding areas):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.9699624,12.2854301,232m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.9618603,12.3318441,283m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.9753783,12.277293,361m/data=!3m1!1e3Those lines could be animal trails through the meadow:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.2592182,9.823181,228m/data=!3m1!1e3Looks like a large expanse of boggy area, but very open:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.8507303,10.176634,2208m/data=!3m1!1e3These adjacent areas with ponds looks like they could be interesting as well:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.1663704,9.3592866,742m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.1793916,9.3385157,1695m/data=!3m1!1e3Places like this looks interesting, but it is close to a road, and once again the lines could be animal trails through the vegetation:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.7912479,9.8068438,490m/data=!3m1!1e3Another interesting area. Look at all those ponds:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@57.0657732,8.5869746,5641m/data=!3m1!1e3This looks like an interesting place:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@57.6871804,10.4685878,1534m/data=!3m1!1e3Especially since the street view of that area looks boggy, but those parts visible from the road, are too visible from the road:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@57.6871804,10.4685878,3a,75y,119.17h,65.5t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1soNdPvonzq7XDOkVOGCQsJg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DoNdPvonzq7XDOkVOGCQsJg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D119.69052%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656Now for the tidal mudflats. Be warned! Tidal mudflats can be like a sinker's wonderland at low tide, but it can also become a serious deathtrap if the quicksand sets up solid around you, or escaping the quicksand/silt/clay is taking too long, and the tide comes back in!
Not for the beginner:
An example of some mudflats, but there is higher (green) ground in the surrounding areas with ponds, that may be safer:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.3334916,8.6719774,468m/data=!3m1!1e3Another example of mudflats, which appear to be in a park with trails (according to the street view), so it is not only dangerous due to tides, but also I assume there is also the danger of being seen by hikers and birdwatchers:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.1315172,8.6801779,467m/data=!3m1!1e3The street view, but a dike blocks the view of the flats, and one photo shows the water at high tide:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.1297604,8.6857524,3a,66.2y,271.83h,80.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOOgNCibFNh3er3Qfl4NT1g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656This marshy area is above some mudflats (or more like sandflats, according to the street view), but could still be tidal, although not as hazardous. It looks like an interesting place to explore, but it looks a bit too open:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.8770389,10.0210012,459m/data=!3m1!1e3Here is a streetview:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.8763183,10.0101628,3a,90y,122.52h,81.91t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHjj-Heb1C3n4rAgDMZcF0Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656A sharper image of mudflats in neighboring Germany (soooo inviting, but soooo potentially deadly):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.8011163,9.349563,487m/data=!3m1!1e3Quarries can have settling ponds containing lots of quicksand or clay, and people have really enjoyed the heavenly stuff, but they are private/restricted, and you could get into a lot of trouble if caught trespassing!
These pictures show their state at the time the photos were taken (yes, Denmark does have lots of quarries, and I linked to images of only some of them). Ponds get abandoned and dry up, sand/clay dredged to return it to a pond again to be filled with sediment again, or others with just water will get gradually get filled up with quicksand/clay since these images were taken:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.9902338,9.7074109,459m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.4004726,8.8996824,351m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.72926,9.3127501,463m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.7311803,9.3344634,709m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.6109994,9.971175,439m/data=!3m1!1e3Remember, those areas are private, and restricted to authorized personnel only! So, you could get charged with trespassing if you try accessing these areas!
It is such a shame that such a delicious-looking area, like when this picture of this quarry was taken, has to be off limits:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.0842016,9.4814703,393m/data=!3m1!1e3While checking out examples of quarries (looking for areas of yellow or white), I came across this area which has lots of bare ground, yet doesn't look like a quarry, more like "badlands", where vegetation is gone, and the soil has been eroding away. It may be gravel, or perhaps sand (or both), with possibly quicksand along the shorelines of those lakes. Darker areas might be muddier with more clay, but that area may still be private property:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@56.0168886,9.0748067,1119m/data=!3m1!1e3If you pan around and zoom in and out, you can find more interesting places adjacent to a number of places I linked to. You can also take note of what these places look like on the screen, and search around some more for places that look similar. Hopefully, I have given you enough information to help you with your search.
The Sink:How easy or deep you can sink depends on a combination of water content and type of mud.
Organic mud, such as peat, is of a low density, allowing you to easily sink deep, or even under. I find that once I reach my buoyancy point, which is usually around armpit deep, when I go in deeper, I remain at equilibrium with the mud, where I can struggle and stay at that level without rising back up. I could pull myself under, and struggle, and stay under until I physically climb or work myself back up to the surface. The more water content, the easier it is to sink down in it. If it is the consistency of milkshake, then you can jump in, and land ear deep (or briefly submerge and then pop back up again), and can easily pull yourself under quickly, and climb back up to the surface. The thicker the mud gets, the longer it takes to sink down or climb back up. If the organic mire is so thick that it is fairly stiff, then it could take a lot of work to sink deep, and there is a point where it is so thick that you can't sink in it at all.
Mineral-based mud, such as sand, silt and clay, are much heavier, and therefore of a higher density. So, you can have more difficulty sinking deep in it. The more water it contains, the deeper you sink before reaching your buoyancy point, but it won't be as deep as in organic mud of the same water content. When it is loose enough to readily flow, even without movement, you could keep popping back up to your buoyancy point like a cork after working yourself deeper, or even if you try going under. Get a little thicker, where there is increased resistance, you might be able to force yourself deeper than your buoyancy point to some extent, and stay there if you stand still, but when you move, you will rise back up again. Of the mineral-based muds, clay is the easiest to sink deeper in, because of the way it swells when water is added to it, which can help lower its high density (bentonite is a good example). So, you can have an easier time forcing yourself under in clay than in silt or sand, as long as it is thick enough to provide enough resistance to hold you down when you are still. But, move a bit, and you will rise back up. But, if the clay is extremely thick and resistant to flow, you could be able to work yourself down deep, and it could hold you in place even if you struggle, making it more work to get back up (in some cases could be dangerous if you can't push your head back up through the thick clay to the surface, or dig it away from your face before suffocating).
But, things can get complicated if the mud has different layers of varying water content. Thinner mud could be covered with a layer of thicker mud, which could make it easier to go down deeper, since you can use the resistance of the thicker layer to force yourself down deeper into the looser stuff below. It could also be misleading, since you see what appears to be thick mud, only to sink quickly down to your buoyancy point into the thinner mud below. Or, there could be thicker mud under thinner mud, causing you to quickly sink a certain amount before slowing down as you hit the thicker stuff below. Hidden pockets of water under thick mud can make you sink deeper than you would if it was just thick mud, and can be a bit dangerous at times.
Case in point, years ago, while hiking through a meadow south of Kamloops, BC, I encountered lots of bones scattered amongst the grass in one area. Then, in front of some large willows, I came across a patch of bare peaty mud that looked like all the grass was worn away. It looked intriguing, a bit puffed up, like brown rising dough. I stuck a stick in it, and couldn't find a bottom, with the thick peaty mud farting or hissing swamp gas where I poked the stick. Because of those characteristics of that mud, I just couldn't resist getting undressed, and stepping into the middle of this patch of mud!
My legs slowly sunk into the bloated mire, the thick peat feeling quite nice.
But, when I got to around crotch deep, the mud beneath my feet suddenly dropped away, and my feet were dangling in water, which then started to bubble to the surface around me!
I started sinking faster, and struggled, bending my legs and chest forward to cradle the layer of thick mud to slow my descent, having a stimulating moment
shoulder deep before finally crawling up and over the thicker mud to solid ground. I had left a watery peaty hole in the center of the patch of thick mud. I guess that spot was why there were animal bones scattered around the meadow.
The Escape:Since I hardly wear anything at all, or even nothing, I find that escaping can be fairly easy, but there are some circumstances where it could be more difficult.
For thin mud, like of milkshake consistency, if anything solid is out of reach, you can swim through it, or make walking motions through it (don't need to feel any solid bottom), using swishing motions with your hands to help you move forward, like you would when you are walking through chest to neck deep water at a beach. For thick stuff, if you are out of reach of anything solid, you can get out by first working yourself up vertically by lifting up your feet, straightening out your legs to wiggle yourself higher while pushing down with your hands, work up your feet higher, straighten your legs again to work yourself up higher while pushing down with your hands, etc., until you can't get any higher, which may tend to be around waist deep. Then you sit back and work your legs to the surface, and then straighten out horizontally until your entire body is laying on the surface, and then you can crawl/roll back to solid ground.
For quicksand/silt, when you try and lift yourself up, it locks up, and then when you relax back down, it loosens back up. If the surface around you is firm enough, you can put your hands down and then pump your legs while pushing down with your hands, to slowly make yourself rise up higher. Once your crotch is above the mire, then you can keep one leg still and lift up the other leg until the mire locks up. Then lower it slightly until the mire loosens back up, and then lift it back up again until the mire locks up again. Each time you do this, you will find that you are able to raise your leg a little higher before the mire locks up. Once you get one leg raised to the point where you are getting poor leverage, then keep that leg still and do the same thing with the other leg until you run out of leverage again. Then switch back to the first leg. You may have to eventually bend your knees forward or sit down to work your legs up if the leg you keep still sinks back too much for you to gain any ground escaping. Eventually, you will be able to get out.
If the surface around you is too soft to push down on, then just work yourself into a sitting position, and then, sitting back, pump your legs like riding a bicycle, working them up to the surface, until you can break free of the mire. Then, you can roll or crawl out. When you feel the way it loosens and locks up around you with your movements, you can then get a good "feel" of how to move through it.
With quicksand, and quicksilt that doesn't have clay mixed in, when you sink, you have to keep it fairly agitated and loose. You have to limit your time in it because once disturbed, it will want to settle, forcing the water to the surface. Once it packs around you, then your extraction turns to an extremely more difficult digging job, which will take time (perhaps even hours), with risk of serious consequences, if you are on a tidal flat with an incoming tide about to rush in, or in a place that is susceptible to flash floods, and there is a thunderstorm upstream!
So, for that stuff, always be aware of its looseness around your legs and feet, and if you feel it starting to ever so slightly tighten, begin working yourself out while you can!
With clay and peat/organic mud, you don't have to worry about it packing, and you can stay in it as long as you like.
IF You Want To Submerge:As I mentioned before, with quicksand/silt/clay, since they are mineral based, they have a fairly high density, so you will float higher, and have difficulty going under, although clay is slightly easier, probably due to the way it tends to expand with water. If you force yourself down deeper than your buoyancy point, then moving around will make you rise back up to your buoyancy point. But, with clay, if it is thick enough, you could work yourself down deeper, and have the thickness of the clay hold you there, until you move enough to rise back up. But if it is extremely thick but still soft, you might be able to overcome the buoyancy and stay down, but if you force yourself completely under, you would be best to stay very close to the surface, since you might need to use your hands to dig the mire away from your face to breathe.
For organic mud/peat, when you first sink with normal struggling, you will stop around shoulder depth, or neck depth if it is really loose. Then, you have to physically pull yourself down if you want to go down deeper. As I mentioned earlier, unlike the quicksand/silt/clay, you will still be in equilibrium with the mud, so you can struggle all you want and not rise back up. You can pull yourself completely under, and then physically work yourself back up again. If it is loose, you can make climbing motions to get back to the surface, lifting your feet up while pushing down with your hands, then pushing down with your hands again while pushing yourself up. If it is thicker, you can lift your feet and bend your legs while keeping your upper body still, and then straighten out, wiggling your upper body a bit to work your head and shoulders higher up through the mire to the surface, until you reach the surface. With thick stuff, you can also dig it away from your face if you are close enough to the surface so you can breathe sooner (unless water is seeping in). If you are interested in going under, it is best to experiment by going down just barely under and then resurfacing again. Then try slightly deeper before resurfacing again, until you have established your "comfort zone" for that mire of that particular thickness. In other words, staying within the depth range where you can go under and resurface on a lungful of air without feeling uncomfortable. It is usually closer to the surface in thicker mud, but can be deeper in thinner mud, where you can move down and back up faster. Using a breathing tube or hose can allow you to go deeper, just as long as the other end doesn't go under, or get obstructed, or fall into water, etc. With a breathing tube/hose, you will still find that there is a limit to how deep you can go, due to the pressure of the mud on your chest. But, if you first linger just below the surface until you get comfortable with it, then you can go slightly deeper and linger again, and when comfortable, try a little deeper again, until you have reached the limits of your comfort zone, which might be a foot or so below the surface in thick mud, or perhaps less. Thinner mud is less dense, and you may be able to go down even deeper comfortably with a breathing hose. But, try to be careful, since if you lose the breathing hose while too deep, you would have to get to the surface before you suffocate or inhale mud!
Something to keep in mind is that if you have eaten shortly before your sink, then when you submerge, the pressure on your full stomach will make you very uncomfortable, so wait a while after you have eaten, before sinking deep. Once you get back to the surface, then you can escape using the techniques I mentioned above.
If you do become interested in going all the way under, and plan on spending significant time submerging before cleaning up, it might be an idea to wear swim goggles for going under, to keep the mud from getting in your eyes. However, it is up to you, and most people don't use it, and I have spent a lot of time without using them, especially in most, but not all, of my videos. But, I do like using them for my private sinks with extended or multiple submergences.
When I go for cleanup, I don't try digging the mud out from my ears too much outside the water, except very gently for the outer part, or I would risk pushing it in further. When I submerge my head, that's when I work the mud out of my ears, where it dissolves away in the water and drops away as I loosen it. With my hair underwater, the mud comes out very easily as well, since my hair then spreads out and makes it easy for the mud to fall away, with some swishing.
You can check out my videos linked to in this following thread, especially scrutinizing the ones where I escape, to see how I am able to get out of mud of varying consistencies:
http://www.quicksandfans.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2588Hopefully, all this information I provided will be more than enough to help you with your sinking adventures. Good luck!
If you're like me, you would wear a rainsuit and a life jacket when sinking. I usually sink to my armpits, but occasionally I submerge all the way. Part of my fetish is being at the mercy of the quicksand.
