Have you ever stepped in real quicksand? I have. Here's the story.

[Will Carry]

The TV show Myth Busters did a thing on quicksand and proved that you cannot sink in "quicksand" (theirs was just water and sand). I wanted to slap some sense in those guys. Quicksand is very real and you can sink to death in seconds if you step in it. I stepped in some while fishing on Majors Creek in Lower Alabama and the only thing that stopped me from sinking to my death, was that the Mar bottom of the creek was 4 feet under the quicksand. A Mar Bottom is a hard clay bottom.
Quicksand is created when layers of leaves fall into the creek in autumn and get trapped in an eddy. Then sand piles on top of the leaves during high water events. Over the years in becomes a lasagna of leaves and sand. When the leaves break down, they create methane gas, which gets trapped between the sand layers. It's the methane that gets you. When you step in the quicksand the methane escapes and you sink in the hole it creates. I about $#!+ my pants when I stepped in this stuff. It took great effort to get out of it and if the Mar bottom was a foot deeper, I would still be there.
I had to use my arms to sweep path through the quicksand and let fresh creek water flow in. That loosened the sand enough that I could belly crawl and swim out of it. I was exhausted after this and quit fishing for the day.

[Slappy]

Man that is scary.  I have indeed been in real quick sand and it's no joke.  Fortunately the sand I found myself in next to an urban river, was only about 2 feet deep. 

[TripleGGG]

I've heard about it but your the first person I've ever read of that's experienced it. Crazy stuff. 

[Rust Shackleford]

wow, that's insane.  was just talking about this with a friend and neither of us had ever heard of anyone having trouble.  glad you made it!

[Handsome Rob]

I did the self same thing, bank fishing near Sisters Creek in Jacksonville. I went from ankle deep to waist deep very quickly. I had to flop over at the waist to try & spread some weight & grab like hell at grass, twigs & rushes on the bank to drag myself free. Genuine panic set in after a few minutes, screaming for my buddy in the other side of the bank. He never heard a thing. It felt like it took about an hour to get free (it was probably 5 minutes, max) & I couldn't breathe when I got loose. My Chacos & broken fishing rod are still there. 

The thought of Bull Sharks & gators is quite the motivator to get out. 

[Erich]

Never thought of fishing as a life threatening activity, until now! Wow, truly scary brushes for both of you.

Thanks for those stories. Glad you both ended up OK.

[NoBanStan]

As a kid, movies made it seem like quicksand was a trial I would inevitably face.

[Defender]

10 hours ago, NoBanStan said:

As a kid, movies made it seem like quicksand was a trial I would inevitably face.

But at least there’s always a tree vine hanging with it reach so you can save yourself, or just walk on the train rail like Cleavon Little did in Blazing Saddles!

Edited June 22 by Defender