# Concrete shoes, pulp fiction or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221 "2008-07-30T12:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/41 "2016-05-05T12:55:57Z")
40 posts and no one cites Scotty’s “concrete galoshes” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/42 "2016-05-05T15:39:29Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > 40 posts and no one cites Scotty’s “concrete galoshes” Post #24. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/43 "2016-05-05T20:15:45Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Thats a misnomer then… of course the cement is the powder or liquid form… > After its wet and then becomes solid, then its concrete… No, cement is cement whether it’s dry powder, wet or cured. It becomes concrete when aggregate (gravel, sand, etc) is added to it. –Mark ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/44 "2016-05-05T20:28:19Z")
And before that, it’s just sort of abstract? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/45 "2016-05-06T01:01:25Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Density of concrete is only 2.4 That is really low. In water that means it is only effectively 1.4. Mixing units. 5 gallons = 20kg. Only needs 20 litres of bloat to offset. That isn’t a lot. You forgot the 1.4. You would need 20 x 1.4 = 28 liters of bloat. Assuming a human weight of 70 KG, or a volume ov 70 liters, you have to bloat 40% over the original volume without rupturing to float the 5 gallon hunk of concrete (or cement; I have trouble keeping up). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/46 "2016-05-06T12:30:14Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > You forgot the 1.4. You would need 20 x 1.4 = 28 liters of bloat. :smack:😃 > [@](#): > > Assuming a human weight of 70 KG, or a volume ov 70 liters, you have to bloat 40% over the original volume without rupturing to float the 5 gallon hunk of concrete (or cement; I have trouble keeping up). It isn’t unheard of for someone to mange a 40% weight with a rottten diet. Someone who was once 70kg and managed to gorge themselves to 100kg has the same increase in volume. I have little idea how much stretch skin has, but I suspect - at least for a while - things would remain intact enough. Long enough for a movie plot anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/47 "2016-05-06T12:31:41Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > :smack:😃 > It isn’t unheard of for someone to mange a 40% weight with a rottten diet. Especially if they eat everything. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/48 "2016-05-06T13:34:58Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > You forgot the 1.4. You would need 20 x 1.4 = 28 liters of bloat. Assuming a human weight of 70 KG, or a volume ov 70 liters, you have to bloat 40% over the original volume without rupturing to float the 5 gallon hunk of concrete (or cement; I have trouble keeping up). If we’re measuring the volume of the concrete in gallons, we should be measuring the volume of bloat needed in gallons as well. 28 gallons of bloat is a lot for a skin sack to hold. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/49 "2016-05-06T13:50:54Z")
Given that Cecil threw cold water on the examples from the thirties, are the recent occurances a case of life imitating art? The perps heard about the urban legend, and decided it was a good way to go? ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/50 "2016-05-07T00:26:04Z")
That would be my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/51 "2016-05-07T08:09:37Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Especially if they eat everything. Leave me out of this. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/52 "2016-05-07T08:19:30Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > If we’re measuring the volume of the concrete in gallons, we should be measuring the volume of bloat needed in gallons as well. 28 gallons of bloat is a lot for a skin sack to hold. Which is why I mentioned mixed units. The answer is 28 litres. You want that in gallons? - it is 7 US gallons. You need bloat of 1.4 times the volume of the concrete weight in order to counteract it. I just happen to use SI, and can visualise it better. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/53 "2016-05-07T15:39:42Z")
From the [BBC article](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36215804): > [@](#): > > But whoever did it failed to wait for the cement to fully dry. It was filled with air bubbles, which may have been what caused the body to come ashore. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/54 "2016-05-08T10:44:03Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > From the [BBC article](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36215804): Thank goodness I don’t go to the BBC for engineering information. The air bubbles wouldn’t have magically dissapeared if they’d waited longer. But they could have been reduced by compacting before the cement cured. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/55 "2016-05-08T14:13:36Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Which is why I mentioned mixed units. The answer is 28 litres. You want that in gallons? - it is 7 US gallons. > > You need bloat of 1.4 times the volume of the concrete weight in order to counteract it. > > I just happen to use SI, and can visualise it better. My devotion to layman science and SD is such that I went to a some medical sources and ultimately to a forensics textbook to find the maximum bloat in a putrefied corpse, which I presume involves the stretch capacity of decaying skin and channels of gas escape through other orifices. I found no answer, particularly given that the forensics textbook I found on Google disturbed me enough to let someone else continue the damn research. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/56 "2016-05-08T14:46:38Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I found no answer, particularly given that the forensics textbook I found on Google disturbed me enough to let someone else continue the damn research. Yeah, I thought about researching it, and decided I didn’t have the stomach for what I would inevitably find, so didn’t even start. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/57 "2016-05-09T17:55:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Given that Cecil threw cold water on the examples from the thirties, are the recent occurances a case of life imitating art? The perps heard about the urban legend, and decided it was a good way to go? The danger of the SDMB… GQ Thread: Has anyone ever been killed by having rubber cement poured on their face while asleep? Answer one day later, typed with sticky hands: It happened at least once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221.md?page=2)