READERS COMMENTS

Hey John, Thought I'd get around to answering your questions about my quicksand experience. When I went in, I didn't feel much until the mud got to about my waist. At that point, I could feel the cool wet mud through my light blue satin shirt. It felt like a bunch of hands rubbing all over my upper body as I kept sinking. The mud seemed to tighten around me making it hard for me to move. It was like I was being eaten by some type of giant monster! I was glad when someone showed up. It took the fear out of being swallowed by a mud pit. Even though the guys laughed at my situation and liked watching the mud ruin my nice shirt, they were helpful getting me out. After all that my clothes went through, I still have my jeans and shiny blue shirt. When I wear them, it reminds me of that incident. Most people have a hard time believing what happened and like feeling of the "famous shiny shirt".
Posted: Dec 14, 2011 ben

Wow. I can't believe I stumbled onto this website! No one believes me when I tell them I stepped into quicksand when I was a kid. It was the most horrifying experience. I was around 8-9 years old. I lived in Braham, MN, and we kids were outside all the time with little supervision in those days, in a little town with pop. ~700 people. I walked out to "Pine Island" not too far from my grandma's and sank into the quicksand. I started to panic and went deeper down almost to my waist, I think. I had the presence of mind to fall forward onto my stomach and lifted up one leg at a time and then inched forward until I could grab hold of something solid and with much effort was able to lift myself up onto solid ground. I'll never, ever forget what an effort it was to accomplish this feat, nor the trauma of not being believed by my family. To this day I still think of the tragedy my folks would have undergone if I had just "disappeared" leaving them to think I had been abducted or worse. I can't tell you how much your stories have validated my experience and thank God we all survived!
Posted: Nov 27, 2011 janet

One day i was with my brothers near a lake then i walked to th shore with sandals the i steped on the sand and i starded sinking fast. I tried to get out but i was to hard i was already up to my waist and i was wearing white mesh Basketball shorts and they were half white and half brown..then my borther help me out of the quicksand it was realy fast and it only does is try to make u loose energy then i started like moving and its like wiggly and shiny..
My mom got mad cause the basketball shorts were my gym shorts for school.the the next week we returned and the quicksand was not there!
Posted: May 21, 2011 Miguel

I do remember that field trip well!!While taking a shortcut across a dry looking ditch to gather the students to get on the bus,my shoes suddenly sank into the dry ground. Underneath was gooey dark brown mud with the consistency of pudding. I panicked and sank immediately to my knees. When I called for help, some of the boys in the class ran over and started laughing. I was a sight to see with my white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a yellow silk neck tie slowly sinking into a bunch of brown mud.I sank pretty fffffast for being a 5'11" 165lb guy. They watched as I sank to my waist twisting around trying to get out. I remember the mud packing around my waist where I couldn't move. I remember the way the quicksand-mud sounded as I continued to sink under. When I was up to my chest, the smell was unelievable! I thought I knew I was going to die while kids were watching. The last thing I remember was seeing my shiny yellow tie floating on the mud and feeling it swallow my head then darkness. All I could feel was like I was suspended in a jello type subtance and hearing burping and hissing noises around me. Thank goodness for the fast thinking of the bus driver and the ability for someone to reach my necktie. If they weren't around, I would have been nothing but a fossil.
Posted: Mar 16, 2011 Math Teacher

Few people would expect to find quicksand in Indiana, but that is exactly what happened to me 50+ years ago! I was around 8 years old, and we were visiting my Aunt in Lafayette, IN. She suggested my brothers and I take a walk in the woods near her home. This area is called Happy Hollow, and it is now a park and recreational area. However, in 1959, it was just a thick woods. Once my brothers and I were deep into the woods, they both suddenly abandoned me and I panicked. I had no idea which direction to go to get back to my Aunt's house. Of course my brothers were just trying to scare me, but I was sure they weren't coming back, and I began to run to try and catch up with them.
The next thing I knew, I had stepped into quicksand - it looked exactly like the dry ground surrounding it, but as soon as I had one foot in, it sucked me under and I fell forward - I tried to catch myself by putting my arms out, and as soon as they hit the surface, they were sucked under as well. I started screaming for my brothers, and my oldest brother heard me and came running back. He almost stepped in the quicksand too - it was that hard to tell the difference between what was wet and what was dry. He had to stand on the firmest ground he could find on the edge of the quicksand, and reach out to me. It was all I could do to pull one of my arms out of the muck and reach toward him - but I did, and he grabbed my hand and slowly pulled me out. I was scared to death, shaking, and covered with what felt like wet cement. We found a stream nearby where I washed off as much of the stuff as possible. The stream came up right out of the ground - something I realized later is a component of quicksand. When we got back to my Aunt's house, my Dad insisted I must have just fallen into a mud hole, but I knew he was wrong. I took a bath and washed off all the sandy soil, but I never forgot the experience. It taught me that quicksand can be anywhere if conditions are right.
Posted: Dec 30, 2010 Jan

In reply to the last comment, I bet you were a sight to see. Especially in your glossy light blue satin shirt being sucked into the mud!How did it feel as you were being sucked in? Did the mud pack around your body tightly? Did you get your clothes clean or did it ruin them? Was the quicksand you sank in sand or mud? I've always been curious about quicksand but never knew anyone who actually had been in some. Write back.
Posted: May 27, 2010 john

Went fishing and along the shore of the lake I stepped into some mud that looked dry. As I tried to free myself the ground quivered and saw that there was thick deep mud underneath the dry crust. Even though I was still, I sank up to my waist. I started waving my arms and someone caught a glimps of my shiny light blue satin shirt I was wearing. Pretty soon there were all kinds of people to resue me. The guys first just laughed and stared at my predicament. When they tried pulling me out and couldn't, then they realized that it was more serious. I kept on sinking and didn't ever feel the bottom. I finally stopped when I was up to my arm pits. Even though I couldn't feel the bottom, the sinking halted until I struggled then I would go deeper. The rescue squad got me out of the man-eating mud after about an hour. What a terrifying experience!
Posted: May 27, 2010 ben

Quicksand Practice on Colorado River.
Loose sand with river water at edge of eddy.
Walked into sand up to waist deep (standing on hard bottom). Lay back on quicksand surface to float. Slowly worked my legs up to surface to entirely float on surface.
Then swam out using backstroke. In clean water, washed off. Then wandered over to rafting party and had lunch.
Our density is a little less than 1.0 (water), say 0.95 so we float. In quicksand or mud density would likely be 1.5 +/_0.2.. Yes we float easily. Do not be stupid and try face down.



Posted: May 08, 2010 George

I watched my math teacher sink in thick quicksand like mud on a field trip. He kept struggling after being told to get still. By the time help arrived with ropes, the mud had swallowed him up. If it wasn't for his neck tie floating on top to pull him out with, he would have drowned. You can sink lower than one thinks. Especially if you struggle.
Posted: Mar 03, 2010 dave

i need information about quicksand for my homeword that is do 2morrow.so please send me some information about quicksand.so please write back!!!!

Posted: Feb 24, 2010 t-memo

OK, I sank up to my waist!!! In the Arroyo Seco, Pasadena, CA. Today. I sank, and not knee deep. I kept sinking, from knee, to hip, to waist in a very short time. I was afraid I would not get out, it was sucking me down. I kid you not!!

What stopped it is that I went horizontal, my son(ten) grabbed my arms, as I pulled up myself on the branches of a dead tree. This was a shock, but it happened! I got out to see my jeans covered in a sticky sand, that clung to me like glue!! My legs are still shaking.
Posted: Feb 12, 2010 Toni

while undergoing military training, I went to swim in the vaal river in south africa and sank up to my armpits in thick mud along the river bank, but there was a dead tree that had fallen sideways and i was able to pull myself out
Posted: Nov 28, 2009 francois

It's good to know that you cannot sink deeper than up to your knees (or waste, in rare cases).
It's not as deadly as perceived, or as heard from horror stories or movies.
Posted: Mar 10, 2009 Alek

lol
Posted: Dec 25, 2008 josh

that man looks hot
Posted: Dec 03, 2008 Anonymous

Why do you backstroke when you can just stay calm and take slower movements so you don't sink.
Posted: Nov 29, 2008 Jason Burrows

LOL man
Posted: Sep 18, 2008 Angel 2

this is perfect for my science project research!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted: Apr 17, 2008 Angel

ADD A COMMENT