How can you survive quicksand?

Answer 1

First, don't panic! Panicking in quicksand is pretty much one of the few ways to turn this slightly dangerous situation into deadly. Second, if you are wearing something heavy attached to yourself like a backpack, unstrap it immediately if you feel it pushing you down.

Outside of having something attached to yourself that is heavy relative to its volume vs. the mass of the quicksand per unit volume, it turns out that it is impossible to sink in quicksand. If you were simply to stand completely still, the lowest you are likely to sink is to around your waist.

Thrashing around however, has been shown to cause the sediment and water to separate somewhat. This will cause you to sink deeper and deeper the more you thrash, to the point where you're almost completely submersed; then your thrashing, due to some suctioning effects, can pull you under.