# quicksand **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 6, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107 "2003-02-06T02:09:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/1 "2003-02-06T02:09:32Z")
here’s the link [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_158b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_158b.html) Cecil said at the end to use swimming motions to level out into a horizontal position. How does one do this without sinking? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/2 "2003-02-06T04:45:19Z")
Why do they call it quicksand when it’s kinda slow and molasses-like, from what I’ve seen in Tarzan movies… ---
**Author:** ![Coilean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Coilean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coilean)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/3 "2003-02-06T07:07:25Z")
Swimming motions? You’d be better off gettting a guy named [Harold](http://www.oconus.com/Main/eArticle.asp?32) to [pull you out](http://hastings1066.com/bayeux10.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/4 "2003-02-06T14:36:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muldoon III \* > \*\*here’s the link > [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_158b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_158b.html) > > Cecil said at the end to use swimming motions to level out into a horizontal position. How does one do this without sinking? \*\* More of a breast stroke than a butterfly or freestyle would be best. In other words, try to keep your motion horizontal. I’m just disappointed that Cecil didn’t even mention the lightning sands of the Fire Swamp. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/5 "2003-02-06T15:23:40Z")
How about a resting backstroke? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/6 "2003-02-06T15:40:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*Why do they call it quicksand when it’s kinda slow and molasses-like, from what I’ve seen in Tarzan movies… \*\* Well, it _is_ rather slow, though, erm, Tarzan movies are maybe not the best source for learning about such things… “Quick” is used in an older definition of the word, meaning flowing, not solid. So we have quicksand, quicksilver (mercury), quick clay… ---
**Author:** ![Candlemas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Candlemas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candlemas)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/7 "2003-02-06T17:33:40Z")
So what swallowed up that kid in Lawrence of Arabia? There certainly wasn’t any water around. The desert just seemed to suck him in. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/8 "2003-02-06T19:34:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Candlemas \* > \*\*So what swallowed up that kid in Lawrence of Arabia? > > There certainly wasn’t any water around. The desert just seemed to suck him in. \*\* Special effects. The scene was not in Lawrence’s _Seven Pillars_, but was added by screenwriter Michael Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/9 "2003-02-06T19:42:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > \*\*Well, it _is_ rather slow, though, erm, Tarzan movies are maybe not the best source for learning about such things… > > “Quick” is used in an older definition of the word, meaning flowing, not solid. So we have quicksand, quicksilver (mercury), quick clay… \*\* Quicktime… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/10 "2003-02-06T20:39:25Z")
The original meaning of “quick” was “alive”. “The quick and the dead”, the quick of your nails, “you have cut me to the quick.” ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/11 "2003-02-06T22:03:55Z")
I’ve been in quicksand, at the beach. Fortunately, it was only about 18" deep, and I was able to walk out of it. Very slowly. More of a shuffle, really. It was still pretty scary. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quicksand/153107/12 "2003-02-10T16:32:37Z")
Quicksand varies from source to source. It can be small or large and either deep or shallow. The density of it can vary as well. This depends on the type of sand and the amount of water. I have been in quicksand several times and the easiest way out is to simply sit down when you notice your feet, usually just one foot will sink. Although it can happen very quickly. You usually won’t be able to pull it out, without sinking the other. So, just sit down, bend over and grab a leg with both hands and pull it out, one leg at a time. Then lay back on top of the q/s and roll over to firm ground. Some quicksand is deep enough that a person COULD drown in it though. I have had to rescue cattle trapped in it often, sometimes sadly it is too late. The animal will struggle until it does bury itself, at least to the point of drowning. Only the top of their head will be showing. Water fills in around the animal to top of the “pit” if you will. If the pit is deep enough, then whatever is in it can actually drown. Whenever the animal dies, the struggle ceases, as does it’s descent. Fortunately most weaken to the point of being unable to move because the sand is very dense and does form a type of suction. This is why it is so hard to pull out even just a foot if you do happen to step in some. I have spent a lot of time in the rivers and creeks throughout Texas. From the Rio Grande to the Red and Sabine Rivers, and across the Gulf Coast, quicksand is present.