A Quicksand Death in the News, 1902

[Sinkman61]

Hopefully a couple of very important lessons have been learned...mostly that we’ve got to cover our basis, our butts, and everything else from those that would try to imitate things they see in here, but aren’t experienced enough or sinking under the same conditions as what they saw in here. They’re being careless by simply not taking the whole 2 seconds it takes to mitigate any dangers so they can have a wonderful, safe sink without getting themselves trapped to the point that they drown from an incoming tide, get heatstroke, or simply perish because they’ve been stuck so long they died from dehydration (something that ought to be nearly impossible to do considering that there’s plenty of water involved with quicksand and mud). Here’s to HOPING THAT THIS POST IS OVER. DROPPED. ITS A DEAD HORSE. CAN WE PLEASE STOP BEATING ON THE POOR CRITTER? Let’s all let him lie in peace!!!

Happy sinking everybody.
And most important of all...
Keep on playing in the mud. It’s good for your skin.
And it’s good for your soul.
And it’s, well, just plain FUN!!!

[Nessie]

ITS A DEAD HORSE.

Sure, we can let it go, real soon now...just...one more tappy-tap on that critter...

Nessie...you’re missing the point. You’re a quicksand Model.

MODEL?

And worse yet, always with a crew hanging out if anything goes wrong?

No, sir. Wow...just totally wrong.

I am a lifelong quicksand fetishist and did much more sinking off camera than on. It is true that there is no tidal mud here (and I have never told you not to talk about the dangers of tidal mud) but the fact that the bogs and marshes here do not have tides does not make me NOT a sinker and it does not mean there were no obstacles or risks.

The man-made pits were lovely but I needed an airplane. This lead to a hunt for local mud, and I usually was alone when I sank in it.

I also have a history as an artist and a writer in the quicksand genre which pre-dates becoming involved in real sinking and video shoots.

Now that this record is set straight, I will pronounce the horse dead.

Nessie

[Sinkman61]

I had no idea that a member of this board actually died in the mud? Did he have a heart attack? Heat stroke? Did he get stuck and have the tide get him? Just curious. I’m a firm believer in mitigating any dangers you may face in a variety of activities. I also scuba dive. My diving rig is designed for solo diving. Thus, I’ve got a backup air supply ready for use at the flip of a lever. And I use a full face mask, as it’s much less likely to be removed from my face. I also have a secondary source for buoyancy. Diving is an area where you actually want effective buoyancy. Sinking? NOT SO MUCH, at least, if you’re trying to sink really deep. Those that are afraid of sinking deep always have alternatives. First, the can eat lots and lots of sugary things like, say, donuts. A baker’s dozen donuts for breakfast everyday ought to keep you from sinking very deep. You might get a special guest appearance invitation from the show, “MY 600 POUND LIFE”, but, you won’t be sinking very far. After all, fat floats. However, if you’re like me and spend a lot of time at the gym pumping iron, well, you’ll probably sink rather deep. Dense muscle is very heavy and sinks rather well. The initial question that started this whole mess was about someone who drowned from actually sinking in quicksand during a storm. I suppose that could happen if the person had like zero percent body fat and lots of really dense muscles. But it’s unlikely, unless that person actually pulled himself below the surface. How, the idea that you’ll stop sinking in quicksand when you reach your buoyancy point isn’t necessarily true either. If you’re the average sized adult, you’re going to have around 50-60 pounds of positive buoyancy in quicksand. That’s going to keep you floating at least chest high. If you’re really muscular, you’ll probably settle into mud at your armpits. And if you’re the typical McDonalds loving American, you’ll probably stop sinking at your waist. I typically stop sinking when I get down towards the top of my chest. But I’m 5’3” with a weight of 170 pounds. That makes me really heavy for my weight. But I’m very muscular. There’s not much fat on me. So I tend to sink deeper. But that’s all irrelevant depending on exactly what the quicksand you’re in consist of. If you’re in typical inland quicksand, it’s not going to be all that sticky, so you’ll have a lower suction as a result. But tidal quicksand is a completely different animal. It’s been supercharged with salt. So while that 50-60 pounds of positive buoyancy is significant when inland, it’s not much at all when in a tidal mud flat. Sure, you’ll still stop sinking at your typical buoyancy point, but supercharged quicksands have drastically MORE suction. Thus, you can find yourself continuing to sink if you continue to thrash about as if in a panic. It’s not uncommon for rescues to take place on people who’ve sunk up to their necks in this stuff. They thrashed about trying to escape and while they were doing that, they continued to shove a leg downwards and then attempted to pull it back up. And ever time they did that, that sank ever so slightly more. They’ll sink until they simply can’t move anymore. That’s because the pressure being exerted against their body has simply overpowered them. The mud against their skin would feel extremely tight, making it even hard to breathe anymore. They could still escape, but ...if they only knew how. If you’ve ever sank down to this depth in super sticky quicksand, than you’re already aware of the immense suction you’ve got to overcome in order to escape. Such mud typically requires the trapped to dig himself out. I was in such a location last Sunday. I decided to go for a sink closer to my house, so I went a couple of miles to the south where I knew the mud was deep, super sticky, but thicker. More on that under “MY WEEKEND SINK.”

[Moderator]

What, this thread hasn't been locked, wow!

This has been corrected.