Seriously Stuck (and other stuff)

[Sinkman61]

If you really want to get yourself seriously stuck, just where some heavy duty hiking boots with large soles on them. The soles of the boots will create a suction that's hard to overcome. Of course, the thicker the mud, the better this works. However, after a certain point, the thick mud will make it nearly impossible to sink down further. I've gotten myself stuck fairly firm while deep in tidal mud here in NE Florida. And by deep I mean sinking vertically until my ears and cheeks below the surface and the mud is closing in around the remainder of my head. But then again, that's how I prefer to sink. If I don't have to reach UP to reach the surface, I'm simply not deep enough. Thankfully, I was able to surpress panicking and was able to work my way out. But it took well over an hour, including some digging. But then again, I've found that some of the tidal mud around here can be so sticky that holds me down regardless of what's on my feet. Its a major chore just trying to extract my legs, even when I start thinking that I'm practically free. That's because so much mud is sticking to my legs that between the weight of all the extra mud and continued suction trying to pull them back down, getting out that last couple of feet is the hardest part of all.

But BEWARE...SINKING INTO TIDAL MUD WITH HEAVY BOOTS ON CAN OVERWHELM YOUR ABILITY TO EXTRACT YOURSELF. While in most places that means just spending considerably more time working your way out, in tidal mud your limited in the amount of time you've got before the tide comes rushing back in. More than one person has fallen victim to drowning while stuck in such mud. So take that with advisement. Never, ever sink where you can't get yourself free of. And don't rely on somebody being with you as a safety net. Nobody's going to have the strength required to pull you up and out of the mud. Its not just your weight they'll have to pull upward, but also that of the mud that's stuck all around you. And that's the easiest part to overcome. The really hard part is pulling you up against the suction the mud creates against your body. So unless your help can lift a full sized truck, he's going to be of no help to you at all. You need to be able to get yourself out.

Getting out of knee deep mud is easy. The deeper you go, the harder it gets. But it doesn't really start getting hard until your waist is below the surface. That's because you can always just sit down. The real challenge comes once your arms are beneath the surface. If they're pinned to your sides and your in actual quicksand (not quickclay), then your not going to be able to extract yourself on your own no matter how hard you try. The sand will have solidified keeping your arms pinned and your going to remain there subjected to the elements. This is exactly how quicksand killls. It traps a struggling person until he or she sinks down to the point that he or she can no longer get free and tire out. Then you stop moving to rest and while you do, the sand solidifies around you, locking you in place like concrete. That's never an issue when in mud, as it can't suddenly solidify.

I've never found anything yet that I haven't been able to free myself from. Sometimes getting out has been harder than others, but given enough time, I always manage to free myself without assistance from another. Because I already know, if I can't free myself, there's nothing anyone with me will be able to do either.

[joedeep130535]

Love the sound of mud sucking you down so extraction is real hard work Do agree that care is needed in tidal mud Once got myself stuck tight as the tide turned-The water had reached me by the time I escaped & I floated up the creek with a shoal of mullet !! I suppose we are risk /thrill seekers but the longer & harder the struggle the more I enjoy it Have been stuck for 1/2 hr in clay & was weighed down by it when I did get out
Have never been in quicksand-at least not any that went solid on me Would like to try it but with some safety precautions in case it was better than I am !!

[nachtjaeger]

About the stickiest stuff I have ever been in is where a clay bank or hillside is completely saturated with water and starts flowing down in a landslide. NOTE: probably best to avoid areas large enough that there is the potential for getting buried alive if the slow-motion slide suddenly decides to speed up.
I was crossing an area like that once by jumping between the sections of turf that had been on top of the bank but were sliding down. Made it across, but lost a sneaker in the process (low-cut velcro ones.) Was a little chilly to go mudding, but since I didn't want to hike home barefoot I took off my other sneaker and socks and waded in after it. It took forever to dig that sneaker out, and it was only down maybe six inches! I finally dug it out tossed next to the other one- and discovered that I was STUCK. Only knee deep, but it was hanging on to my calves the way suction cups hang onto a mirror. An escape technique for really thick mud like this is to break the suction- work the leg back and forth, and run your hand down along it, until you can get air down there. That was almost impossible with this stuff, because despite being incredibly thick and sticky, it also flowed like wet concrete. I had to resort to sitting down on one of the little grass islands (getting filthy and soggy in the process) and slooooowly working one calf out at a time.
This was actually a very dangerous situation. If I'd had hiking boots or Chuck Taylors on, I'd probably still be there. Even barefoot, if I'd gotten in thigh-deep, I don't think I could have gotten out without using a fire hose. Worst case, I'd have died of hypothermia, then been carried down to the creek by the landslide (it was still moving- like the hour hand of a clock, but that gets around twice a day) and buried.

[Sandy Place]

One item I always bring when "exploring" is six-foot length of closet rod (or something similar) from a lumber yard or big-box store.
It's great for probing potential sinking sites, makes a nice walking stick, is very useful for extricating oneself (if lucky), and can ward off unwelcome visitors. Sticks are not always available and tend to break at inconvenient moments.

Don't forget about clean-up; especially your feet. Sand, etc. in your shoes can turn even a short hike into a very unpleasant one. Trust me.

Good luck, have fun, and be safe.
sp

[Sinkman61]

I saw that too. I have to wonder why they wouldn't have tried to dig the victim out with their hands. I just can't imagine silt that can settle so firmly that it can't be scrapped away by fingers. It sounds more like concrete than silt. And concrete requires a chemical reaction in order to set like it does. That chemical reaction is why concrete gets hot when it sets. Silt doesn't undergo any such reaction. When I read this, I couldn't help but think that those there providing help were too damn lazy to get their hands dirty or they just threw their hands up in the air and surrendered before even bothering to REALLY try. Especially after reading how shallow this person had sunk down into the silt to begin with. There's simply no way I would've given up knowing that someone's life was at stake.

[Boggy Man]

I saw that too. I have to wonder why they wouldn't have tried to dig the victim out with their hands. I just can't imagine silt that can settle so firmly that it can't be scrapped away by fingers. It sounds more like concrete than silt. And concrete requires a chemical reaction in order to set like it does. That chemical reaction is why concrete gets hot when it sets. Silt doesn't undergo any such reaction. When I read this, I couldn't help but think that those there providing help were too damn lazy to get their hands dirty or they just threw their hands up in the air and surrendered before even bothering to REALLY try. Especially after reading how shallow this person had sunk down into the silt to begin with. There's simply no way I would've given up knowing that someone's life was at stake.

My quicksilt slide area at Harris Creek has clay mixed in, which keeps it from settling for quite some time, allowing me to spend as much time in it as i want. In fact, I can return to the same place a week later and sink in the same spot, with it being thicker, but still sinkable! After a couple weeks or more, it does become too solid to sink in. It varies in places, with various amounts of sand and gravel present as well as clay. A while back, in my birthday suit, I played in a different spot in that slide area, and enjoyed a nice sink to my stomach in the soft, thick silt. After lingering in there for some time, I began to do my usual pumping of my legs and pushing down on the firmer ground to the side to work myself back up out of the thick silt. But, I was surprised to discover that my legs and feet would not budge! I kept on trying it over and over again, and was still unable to work myself back up! So, I began to dig myself out, digging out handfuls of the thick, soft quickclaysilt around my waist. But then, I hit something solid several inches down around me, and discovered that beneath the top several inches of clay/silt, it was coarser sand that was solid! The quicksilt had concealed quicksand beneath it, which then settled around my legs and feet, packing them in tight! If I had known there was actual quicksand there, I wouldn't have lingered so long, since quicksand settled so quickly! So, my legs were stuck in solid wet sand, which would seem to be impossible to dig through. But, all I had to do was push my hands between my legs and the sand and tear off chunks of the sand, piling it away from me. I kept on doing that, until I was eventually free!

So, a person who is stuck in glacial silt that won't liquify with leg pumping can work his/her hand between his/her body and the silt, and then be able to grab the silt to tear off chunks and eventually escape! Of course, it could be a problem if the victim is in too deep, and the hole fills in as quickly as it is dug. But, perhaps if seeping water can be worked down along the legs to the feet, it could allow for the suction to be broken. On the other hand, the silt in the mudflats could be extremely deep, and perhaps only the top layer has settled, meaning that it could be possible to get it agitated enough to get the water from saturated silt deeper down to rise up and soften the packed surface stuff, allowing for the victim to work his/her legs/feet out through agitation.

In my quicksilt slide area, to escape, I pump my legs while pushing down on firmer ground around me (the ground tends to be solid except for where I agitate it to sink). Once my crotch is above the mire, I can start working my legs up by holding one leg still, and then lifting up the other leg until the mire locks up solid. I then relax it, until the mire relaxes before lifting it up again until the mire locks up again. My leg gets a little higher each time it locks up, and once I lose leverage on that leg, I keep it still, and repeat the process with the other leg. Once I get to a point where the other leg sinks back in again, I usually lean forward, and then continue to work my legs out at an angle, until my feet are free. Depending on the conditions, I can often extract myself standing up without leaning forward.

Of course, if it is really soft and loose all around with nothing to push down onto, you can work yourself into a sitting position, and work your legs to the surface by making motions with them like pedaling a bicycle. Then, you can crawl or roll over to solid ground.

[Sinkman61]

Yeah, I agree. That's why I seriously question the article about someone who died in glacial silt when only trapped by one leg, and that was only to her knee. I just can't imagine the silt settling so tightly packed around her lower leg that it couldn't of been dug out with minimal effort. Even quicksand that's settled can be dug out and removed by hand. And if the conditions are such that the silt keeps refilling and replacing that which was removed, than surely its soft enough to work your way back out if caught in the stuff. I've had suction that's been powerful enough to hold me down as if locked in place, but even then I was able to slowly gain my freedom when I took the time needed to work myself free. That suction was powerful because I happened to be wearing a brand new pair of hunting boots with a large, heavy sole and sank down to my ears in some really sticky tidal mud.

[Billie Bonce]

I saw that too. I have to wonder why they wouldn't have tried to dig the victim out with their hands. I just can't imagine silt that can settle so firmly that it can't be scrapped away by fingers. It sounds more like concrete than silt. And concrete requires a chemical reaction in order to set like it does. That chemical reaction is why concrete gets hot when it sets. Silt doesn't undergo any such reaction. When I read this, I couldn't help but think that those there providing help were too damn lazy to get their hands dirty or they just threw their hands up in the air and surrendered before even bothering to REALLY try. Especially after reading how shallow this person had sunk down into the silt to begin with. There's simply no way I would've given up knowing that someone's life was at stake.

The descriptions of the situation differ in various sources. From what was shown in "Danger Quicksand" by National Geographic I got that the first rescuer appeared on the scene when the poor woman was already chest-deep in cold water, suffered hypothermia and panicked. It took just several minutes before she drowned. The rescuer mentioned that he just tried to pull her leg out what obviously could not work. I believe they simply had no time to dig her out, and actually the guy possibly had no shovel in his hands.

Since the very first time I have read about this case I was wondering what the young husband was doing for two or three hours that they mentioned? He used a sophisticated method of extrication using a water pump which broke in the process. Cool... Was it a game or what? Did he try a simple digging? And he had not necessarily to dig by hands - they were going to do some mining. I believe, mining implies they should have a shovel and/or a pick. A pick would work even if it was a real concrete. No, seriously, was that guy going to rescue his young wife at all, or was he a moron, or whatever? Sorry, maybe I read too much of detective stories, but my first question was (and remains) - did he get an insurance for his wife?

[dlodoski]

Yeah, I agree. That's why I seriously question the article about someone who died in glacial silt when only trapped by one leg, and that was only to her knee. I just can't imagine the silt settling so tightly packed around her lower leg that it couldn't of been dug out with minimal effort. ....

I can.

First of all, glacial silt is not clay. The particles, as fine as they are, are very irregular in shape. And if they have been packed tightly by the intense pressure of someone jerking their leg up in a death struggle (think impact wrench) they can easily create a fingernail/screwdriver/claw-hammer/shovel proof substance. Once all the water is gone, those particles simply do not want to move against each other.

Think of those Mayan or Incan walls constructed with no mortar but have lasted hundreds of years. A tight fit is a tight fit indeed. Just scale it down a zillion times.

As far as help not arriving until the tide had come in, go to Alaska sometime and take in the emptiness. This was before cell phones, and it was their vehicle that got stuck first.