Quicksand exists wherever underground streams or rivers have flowed upward, turning sandy soil into a liquefied mush. The danger posed by quicksand is a little like falling into a large body of water-with one crucial difference: Quicksand doesn’t let go. Molecules of water break easily when you tug against them. Sand’s tendency is to stick with other sand, and it’s hard to break the vacuum. Despite this, it’s still easy to extricate yourself from quicksand, provided you follow a few simple rules.
1. DON’T PANIC.
As in water, kicking and thrashing only makes matters worse. With each kick, you are digging a hole for your body to descend. If you stop moving entirely, your body will actually float to the surface. That’s because the density of a human body is less than the surrounding quicksand liquid.
2. JETTISON HEAVY BELONGINGS.
Your rucksack, backpack, and laptop are working against your chances of survival. Strip them off your back and shoulders while you still have use of your arms, and keep clear of the straps. If you simply cannot afford to lose the contents of your pack, pitch it to dry land. Understand that forceful throwing movements can embed you further.
3. MOVE SLOWLY.
The sand will release you eventually, as long as you don’t struggle against it. Some explorers have s-l-o-w-l-y swum out of quicksand, but it may take an hour to go a dozen feet. Others have had success letting the sand carry them to the surface, then flopping gently onto their backs. Whatever you do, do it at a glacier’s pace. Let the sand slowly ebb back and replace what you have pulled from it. It will be tiring to work against the suction. One way to overcome the pull is to always travel with a stout pole, thick rope, or your trusty bullwhip. At the first sign of danger, lay the pole horizontally across the sand, and stay still until you naturally float to the surface. Lie back across the pole and position it under your hips, perpendicular to your body. That will keep your hips-most people’s center of gravity-from sinking. Toss a rope or wrap your bullwhip around a stationary object just outside the sinking pool, and pull yourself to safety. Just remember that extracting your bullwhip from your belt will be difficult if your hips have already sunk below the surface.
4. PUT COLLEAGUES IN THEIR PLACE.
A colleague on shore can be of great assistance, provided he keeps his cool. It does you no good to have someone shouting, “Quick, grab the rope! Do it now!” They may not understand that you are better off moving slowly and cannot instantly respond to their instructions. So, as soon as you can, speak loudly but calmly to them. Let them know that you are not ignoring them, just moving slowly but deliberately toward their assistance. This is yet another example of how good communication skills can keep an expedition running smoothly.
5. ANTICIPATE SOLID GROUND.
Most pools of quicksand are not deep. It’s possible that your feet will hit solid ground after you sink waist deep, and you can easily propel yourself forward or walk to shore on this hard layer. If so, consider yourself lucky. But bear in mind that as you move to shore, all previous rules apply. The hard ground might drop off suddenly or turn to mush. You don’t want to lose your balance and fall head first into the muck.
