A lot of people have died on the silver screen from being trapped in quicksand. In the 1960s, almost 3% of films featured someone sinking in clay, mud or sand. However, this is extremely rare, if it has ever happened, and it is very difficult to find any documented cases of people drowning in quicksand even when they struggle. The reason is that you can never completely become submerged in quicksand because quicksand is much denser than water so you’ll easily float. If you relax you will float and sink no more than up your waist or lower chest. In addition, quicksand pits are rarely more than a few feet deep. Another misconception spread by the silver screen is that quicksand appear in the desert. However, quicksand usually appears near water.
Quicksand is thick and heavy, and it is extremely difficult to get out once you are stuck. The best way to get out of quicksand on your own is to slowly lean back so that the weight of your body is distributed over a wider area and then do back and forth movements as if you are swimming. It will take a long time though, so expect to take it very slowly and gently.
That does not mean that getting stuck in quicksand is not dangerous. There are documented cases where people have gotten stuck in quicksand and there was no one around to help them and they couldn’t get out on their own and eventually died from thirst, exposure, or attacking animals. Another dangerous situation is when the quicksand is located on a beach near the shore. There are cases where a person was stuck in quicksand, and the tide came in resulting in a drowning.
There are situations in which the dangers associated with being submerged in quicksand are real, and that is what is called “grain entrapment” or “grain engulfment”. Several people are killed each year when they become submerged in grain and cannot escape. This happens in grain elevators and silos. So don’t jump into grain silos.
I should say that I do not consider this a super fact because it is not very important information, sort of trivia, and I also don’t think there is enough reliable information out there about this. However, I think it is interesting information that relates to me a little bit (see next section). To remind you, this is what I consider a super fact.
A super fact is:
- An important fact that can be simply stated.
- It is very surprising, shocking, widely disputed, misunderstood, or mind-blowing.
- Yet it is true with a very high degree of certainty.
My Quicksand Experience
When I was about 6-7 years old, I had my own experience with quicksand or at least a mudpuddle that acted very much like quicksand. I should say that back then neighbors were friends, and your lawn was everyone’s lawn, and the kids in the neighborhood played with each other. The kids roamed the neighborhood and the forest. We threw stones at imaginary witches, screamed at moose, broke into barns to jump in the hay, ate dirt and cheerfully watched the schoolhouse burn down. There were no cellphones, doomscrolling, political keyboard warriors, online predators or overprotective parents. Kids were happy back then, but life was less safe.
I was with a group of kids, including a couple of kids a bit older than I was. We came upon a funny-looking mudpuddle, about two feet wide, and I decided to step in to check it out. I don’t remember why. Maybe I wanted to impress. Maybe I was curious. It only took a few seconds for me to sink in to right above my knees and then it was impossible to get out. The mud/quicksand held my legs in an iron grip. The fact that I stopped sinking around my knees might have been because my feet had hit solid ground. My friends tried to pull me up but could not get me up.
The older kids told me not to struggle and one of them ran to get my parents. They came running as fast as they could. My dad gripped me around the waist and slowly, bit by bit, he was able to pull me up. The rubber boots I was wearing stayed in the mud/quicksand. They might still be there like a fossil to be found by future inhabitants of our planet. Was it some sort of strange mud, or quicksand? I don’t know, but I remember being afraid. It taught me one lesson. Don’t step in funny looking mud puddles. In fact, maybe you shouldn’t step in mud at all unless you have to.
Super Facts 