#Getting stuck in quicksand free

It’s so not that horror trap that will kill you within a few minutes. But it works very different in real life than in the action scenes. Quicksand is real and not just another invention to make movies more interesting.

It has always been pictured as a deadly trap that you are unlikely to ever escape.Įveryone has seen terrifying images of people or animals simply sinking and dying in quicksand.īut the perception of fatal quicksand is inaccurate and exaggerated – quicksand can’t and won’t kill you. Quicksand is a common obstacle and life threat in movies.

If you use this content please attribute Philip Page via as a contributor of your adapted content. Once both legs are out, use “backstroke” to drag yourself to safely.Īlternatively, flip onto your front and crawl from the quicksand.This content is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

#Getting stuck in quicksand free

In some cases it’s possible to free yourself merely by leaning to one side while wiggling your opposite leg.Īs water returns to the sand around your leg, slowly lift it out - but keep wiggling. This will start liquifying the quicksand, weakening its grip on your leg. Once you’ve stopped sinking, and having redistributed your weight, wiggle one leg. More than likely they will rip you in half. Remember the science – it takes enormous force to pull someone from quicksand that has thickened around them. The more you can spread your weight, they less likely you are to sink further. If you’re waist deep, lean backwards as far as you can. So, initially, thrashing around is the worst thing you can do. Scientists estimate the force needed for someone to pull their foot out is equivalent to lifting a car. In other words, as the water disappears, the sand thickens, creating a vacuum that pulls you down. This should make it easier to escape, right? Except it doesn’t.Īs you sink, you squeeze water from the sand increasing its viscosity. Quicksand liquifies if you struggle, making it less viscous. It’s probably best to lose your shoes or boots too, as these can act like suction pads. If you have a rucksack, take it off, and any extra weight will make you sink faster. The bigger threat is the incoming tide if you become trapped on a beach. The biggest risk is not quicksand itself, as you can quite happily stay stuck all day. With more air in your lungs, you’ll float better. Qiuicksand is actually quite dense – twice as much as a human body – so you actually float in it. It’s not like the movies, you’re not going to be sucked under – you won’t sink far past your waist. Traeth Lligwy beach, Moelfre, has bilingual danger signs warning of 'soft sand' (quicksand) (Image: Arwyn Roberts/North Wales Live) What to do if you become stuck in quicksand These were certainly put to the test when Carl suddenly found himself marooned in mud. They were part of NWWT’s River Wellbeing Project, set up to boost the health and wellbeing of its volunteers.Īs part of the package, they are given training in bushcraft and survival skills. The river guardians had been looking for Himalayan balsam, a south Asian plant that can suffocate native species and erode riverbanks. “It was a right struggle to get him out.” “One minute he was in front of us, the next he was knee-deep in mud! “The ground looked dry as a bone, apart from a tiny bit of surface water where the corn wasn’t growing. “We had moved onto a field just off the brook to pull out some stray bits,” they said. Writing on Facebook, the NWWT team described their struggles to extricate Carl from his muddy mantrap. Their work was being overseen by the North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT) as part of efforts to control invasive non-native species alongside riverbanks in the Dee catchment. Read more: Two women struck by lightning on Snowdon summit North Wales Live reported that he was with fellow river guardians, who were checking vegetation alongside Wych Brook, near Worthenbury, Wrexham. The volunteer conservationist was surveying a river north Wales when the drama unfolded and he became stuck fast. This is the moment Carl Williams got stuck in quicksand up to his knees.