Escaping From Waist Deep and Deeper

[Solrex]

The deepest I've ever been in mud vertically is just below crotch deep. I was reading on this forum some threads with the word "Safety" in them. Now, I don't know if I'll encounter any stuff deeper than that in the future, but if I do, I want to know how to escape. Someone on here said once you get past waist deep, it gets much harder to get out. If I am ever to live my fantasy of sinking up to my nipples vertically with my arms at my sides with the mud giving me a firm hug from our planet earth, then I want to know how to extract myself when I'm done. This is assuming I reached a point of bouyancy around this point and can't feel a bottom, but am not sinking anymore.

When I sink, I usually just sink in my swimsuit and goggles, and am bare skinned otherwise. I don't wear shoes when I sink, and the one time I wore sandals into mud, I learned how difficult it was to extract them personally.

So the question still stands: With the experience of sinking up to just below crotch deep vertically, how would one escape mud when one is up to their nipples with their arms at their side? Should I keep one arm out for safety? How do I eventually escape? How is it different when you are deeper than your waist?

[Raptor90]

Really depends what it is

[Mynock]

Most of my sinks are in a quarry settling pond full of clay. It's tenacious stuff but I've found at any depth if you just lean back and wiggle/gyrate your body your own natural buoyancy will float you to the surface on your back,then you just have to roll over and crawl out. Even if you're only up to your waist trying to forcibly extract yourself isn't a good idea, can lead to sprain/strain type injuries. Another member posted recently about a back injury he sustained doing so.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18660

[mud_dreamer]

Thanks for asking this question as I too have encountered mud which is very "sticky".
I agree that being vertical in waist deep thick muck is going to take some experience to guarantee "self-extraction".
That said, I use a rope as the fail-safe. And, BTW, I have tested that rope and determined that it too may not be a guarantee that I could go much deeper vertically where I sink. Truth be told, my location is only waste deep before a hard bottom is encountered. I have to go off vertical to get to neck deep. It takes me 20 minutes to self-extract. This is not a place where the typical "sinking" video would be made. I also have the ability to loop the rope directly above me. Think of it this way, what is more powerful, your arms or your legs?

The advise to lean back (or sit) and slowly wiggle your feet while putting upward force on you legs is the method I have found to work well.

Note that the more vertical you are, the harder it is to lean back in really dense mud. For me, safety is critical because this mud is very thick and somewhat deep. If my location proves to have deeper areas then I will need to find a better fail-safe than an overhead rope. Maybe 1 or 2 - 2x12x?'s used as a platform under my armpits would allow me to sink almost to my neck vertically. I highly doubt that total submersion (with survival) is possible here.

Would love to experience some really deep but relatively thinner mud. I have a location spotted but the water level is too high at the moment.

[lonesinker]

The deepest I have gone was close to chest deep and never considering that it was this deep. This was quite recent I was walking along the edges of a dried out swamp bog. It was typical of a swamp, had lots of moss and tuffs of grass on the surface edges with cattails all around and of course moskitoes. the edges were about calve deep but the bog was a good 50 ft across.

I walked about 15ft in and in I went waist deep,very surprising and felt no bottom, I am not sure of the depth and moving around got me in almost chest deep and started to feel quite nervous, I slowly backed away and found it hard. Im sure backing away is the safest way out,going forward would be too risky. I realise we are boyant in this but Im sure at some point things can be a problem. You need to keep your personal safety in mind.

[Boggy Man]

I have had a lot of experience in deep mud. When the mud is thick and I am in deep, I just work my feet up a little, and then wiggle my upper body straight, and then work my feet up higher, and then work my body up straight again, until I get as high as I can. Then I sit back and work my legs up to the surface, and then crawl to solid ground. In thinner bottomless mud, it is much easier to move through and if it is thin enough, I can actually make walking motions through it, making sweeping motions with my arms to help me maneuver through, just like walking through water up to my neck at the beach.

In quicksilt/sand, when it is thick, extracting myself is slower, and if undisturbed solid ground or anything solid such as large sticks on the ground is within reach, I push down on the less disturbed ground or solid material further away from me, while I am pumping my legs, slowly allowing me to rise, until I get crotch deep. Then, I hold one leg still, and lift the other up until the mire locks up, and then lower it and lift it up again, the leg getting a little higher before it locks back up. I repeat until I lose leverage in that leg, and then switch to the other leg and repeat, until I lose leverage in that leg as well. After going back and forth between the legs, I get high enough to extract one foot, and then the other. Sometimes I have to lean forward and do the last part at an angle, because my legs sink back down again. But, if there is no solid part to push down on initially, and it is all soft, then I just sit back, pumping my legs like riding a bicycle, working my knees up, until they rise to the surface. Then I can wiggle myself straight horizontally, breaking the remaining grip of the mire, and then rolling over and crawling to solid ground.

I have posted numerous videos of me getting into deep situations and then escaping, linked to in this following thread:

https://www.quicksandfans.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2588

[mud_dreamer]

I have posted numerous videos of me getting into deep situations and then escaping, linked to in this following thread:

https://www.quicksandfans.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2588

Thank you Boggy Man for this detailed explanation of how you extract yourself.
I did go to your link and watched quite a few of your videos. Very interesting the variety of muds you sink in.

It appears that you have a lot of privacy there.

[maria]

From recent experience and through some good advice, I sank chest deep in what I now call quickmud. I was wearing chest waders and the mud clamped my body very tightly - I couldn't get out of the waders.

In my situation there was no way leaning back or any direction would make my legs float to the surface. I was genuinely stuck and the mud felt like it was getting thicker and stickier with every minute of trying to get out.

The only way I escaped was by pushing down on a strong stick that I fortunately brought along. I honestly believe that without the stick I would not have been able to escape.

So that's my take on it, and all mud is different.

[bogbud]

I'm with Maria regarding that one.

A strong stick or other kind of plank that you can use to push against to is the best way to extricate yourself from really thick stuff.
I sink with boots and they are a guarantee to get you truely stuck and even in only moderately thick mud there is no way to wiggle my lower body into a horizontal position without any tools or some firm ground near me. A rope could be helpful, too, but it has to be placed and secured before entering the bog and you have to be really strong to properly use it.

[lonesinker]

I love the rope idea,maybe tie it near a strong tree and then jump in. The bog I have been exploring is bottomless,at least 6-7 ft in, I pushed a large stick and this mud is very gluey and makes a lot of noises when moving around in it,almost like its alive. I was chest deep and was totally stuck in the mud,the thicker the mud is the harder it will be to free yourself no doubt..lots of great tips here.