Quicksand Fans

Hey everyone
has anyone ever been in a situation where you really had a hard time getting out. I mean obviously when you find a mud pit or quicksand spot you naturally are curious to the depth of the spot your about to test ,last summer I found an interesting spot I submerged in and really hadn,t planned my escape if something was going to go wrong as it almost has for me,what safety precautions can someone take I mean especially if your going solo and testing the mud,s depth with a stick doesn,t help any thoughts

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Hey Bart
you make a good point about the exitement of the situation,that,s probably why I sometimes just jump the gun and go with the flow especially now that I,m not a novice sinker. Another problem is choosing a good location and trying to be in privacy,that,s been a bit challenging but I have managed to find a few great locations. Also the pics. you posted sometime ago look very familiar to the boggy area,s I live near , I could have actually taken those pictures.
cheers

I usually probe the area where i am sinking with a stick to see just how deep it really is in the area i want to sink in. Also until i get familiar with the area i always wear a Lifejacket while checking depths and also while sinking in the mud/quicksand i have found that day and i always also keep the stick with me just in case.

The best safety device is a buddy. Failing that, a good rope and a long stick are both useful. Just remember to tie the rope to something that will take the weight of you pulling on it.

I never do anything fast. On the first visit, I generally don't even sink in it. I'll hang out for a bit, check the traffic patterns if there are any trails, walk around it to see how visible it is...et cetera.

Generally, though, when it's time to try the mudpit, I just get in, but slowly. No flying leaps.

If possible, I sit on the edge and slide legs in first. Sometimes I have to walk in from a shallow end.

I don't have any special equipment, though. No rope, no long stick, no life jacket.

So far, no problems.

Nessie

I'm a step less safe than Nessie. I tend to just go ahead and get right into the mud. I've usually come through unscratched, but one time I cut an ankle badly enough to be looking at a large vein pulsing without any skin over it. The next day, a navy corpsman told me it should have been stitched, but that my efforts with bandaids were good enough that continuing them should close the wound. (and it did!)


I'm adding this, as a note of caution: The cut I got was bad. I just happened to be a bit of a packrat, and had the rough equivalent of a first-aid kit in my locker, so with none of the navy docs available (near midnight when I got back to the base) I was left to fend for myself. First, I gathered my toothbrush, alcohol swabs, and bandaids from my locker. Then, I took them all to the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the sink until it was steaming. I used that to rinse (as best I could) my toothbrush, before squeezing alcohol from a couple of the swabs onto it. Then, I ran cold water into the wound to rinse as much sand out as I could, using the toothbrush to get what the water wasn't taking out. (Hiking through some *cold* water when I got sliced had both numbed my leg and left the wound packed with sand) Once it was clear of sand, I squeezed alcohol into the wound and then used bandaids to close it up. (pinched it closed and held it that way with the bandaids)

Be careful out there. (at least moreso than I was!)

I usually just go for it, because I have been in stuff that was like milkshake, and still floated! In fact, I even pulled myself under so deep in that stuff that when I reached straight up, my fingers still couldn't touch the surface, and there was more soft mud beneath my feet! I then just climbed my way back to the surface. That has made me confident about buoyancy in deep mire.

But, however, there was one spot where a few feet of thick peat was hiding water underneath, but it was a small pit, and after vigorous struggling for a while, I crawled over the surface to solid ground a few feet away. Nothing like sinking into thick mud, when suddenly, at around crotch deep, it drops away from your feet, and they are dangling in water, which starts bubbling up around you, and you start sinking faster! It was located on the north side of one of the isolated clumps of large willows in this meadow. There were bones scattered around the meadow in the area. I don't know if it is still there, or if it has been grown over with grass, since I haven't been there since the late 80's.

How deep I go under with a lungful of air depends on how loose the mud is. The looser it is, the deeper I can go, because I can move more quickly through it for a round trip down and up. The thicker it is, the slower going, and therefore, the less distance beneath the surface I will go, although if it is able to stay open, I may go a bit further down, if it is the stuff that parts above my head when I push back up. When I use a breathing tube, I only go down as far as I am comfortable with, and make certain that the tube won't come out of my mouth while under, and that the other end doesn't go under, if it is a short tube. For a breathing hose, I also make certain that the other end isn't going to fall into water, although I tend to worry that something like a mouse could run into the hose, through it, and into my mouth while I am deep under the mud!

YerKiddin wrote:I'm a step less safe than Nessie. I tend to just go ahead and get right into the mud. I've usually come through unscratched, but one time I cut an ankle badly enough to be looking at a large vein pulsing without any skin over it. The next day, a navy corpsman told me it should have been stitched, but that my efforts with bandaids were good enough that continuing them should close the wound. (and it did!)

Ouch! That is nasty...

I tend to be cautious myself when checking out new areas, not so much because of its depth but because of what lurks beneath the mud... Years ago, I tore off half my heel on a buried root... fortunately it was mainly callus and thick skin I lost, and it flushed itself out with the blood streaming out of it. I did walk funny for the rest of the summer, not so much because of pain, but more because I was lopsided due to the huge dent I had at the bottom of my heel.

I did have a couple of experiences exploring... I tumbled down a steep slope into a bog I was checking out and got soaked. It proved too wet for my purposes, all plants and water, but it was interesting. The second I was checking out a new sinking spot and found another and unexpected soft spot which mired me waist deep. Struggling to get out, I sank to my chest. Only going prone and crawling/rolling out did I escape... ended up to my chin at one point. Pretty cool... except for the strained muscles which hurt for a few weeks afterwards.

All part of the adventure!

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