#Stuck in quicksand cartoon how to#

How to avoid quicksand in the first placeĭon’t underestimate quicksand. In the video we saw above, the presenter saves himself on his own-just barely-by making small movements with his legs to allow water to settle into the space beneath him. Then they pump water into the sand around the person, and dig out the sediment. In the video below, a coast guard crew surrounds a stuck person with boards so they can kneel and work. Basically, you’ve created a vacuum so strong that pulling you out requires the same force needed to lift a car. Your hiking buddy can’t just pull you out with a rope, because there’s no way for air to enter the space that you’ve made with your legs. Once your legs are stuck, you’re at a serious disadvantage. It’s better to try to get out backwards, laying down on your back rather than your stomach, because you’re less likely to get your face in the mud. And if you have anything else that can spread out the weight, like hiking poles or anything shaped like a flat board, lay it across the mud and use it for support. It’s hard to sink if you’re horizontal, so consider trying to lay down in the mud before you get your legs stuck. Make yourself lighter by taking off your backpack or any gear that adds to your weight. You become stuck because you have a lot of weight (your whole body) pushing down on a small footprint (your, well, footprint). Also, he is a little more trapped than he expected to be: Within a few minutes, he’s surrounded by a puddle of displaced water.

Check out this video, where the host walks onto what looks like solid ground, and sinks. That leaves you trapped by mud that feels nearly solid. When your foot presses down on it, your weight squeezes the water out from between the particles. Quicksand is a mixture of solid particles (like sand) and water. It was snowing almost the whole time he was trapped, and he needed to be treated for hypothermia. Eventually a team of park rangers was able to get him out. He couldn’t get out, his girlfriend couldn’t get him out, the first park ranger who arrived couldn’t get him out, and when the ranger tried to pull with a rope, he said it felt like his leg was going to be ripped off. Recently a man was trapped for 12 hours in quicksand in Zion National Park in Utah.

Stuck in quicksand cartoon