Hey all! I've been into mud for a while but in terms of actually going mudding, last season was my first. I have a tidal spot I go to with really thick clay-like mud, and I want to know some tips of how to sink past my waist . It seems that when I hit waist-depth, it gets reeeeeally hard to go deeper for some reason, even though I haven't hit any bottom yet. Thanks!

Mud is denser than water, so you'll have neutral buoyancy pushing you up out of the mud after a certain depth. Your body size/shape and weight will have massive effects on how deep or floaty you are.

Before you try anything, hook up an escape rope, and/or have a decent sized inflatable (pool float)- something to grab to pull yourself back out.

Nornally I sink waist deep.
I've gone chest deep; point your toes down and try to make yourself as tall and thin as possible, then wiggle your feet to sink down deeper.
I can get almost to shoulder deep by pulling up on the mud with my hands while toe wiggling.

Going deeper than waist becomes significantly harder to pull yourself back out, almost a reverse of the wiggling motion.
(I was in quarry mud)

Remember, every little bit deeper becomes much harder to pull yourself back out. People have died in tidal flats after getting stuck and the tide coming in. No amount of mud is worth a Darwin award.

Thanks for the tips! I do have a safety float (My inflatable paddleboard) which I plan to keep near me at all times. If I get stuck, I plan to use that to aid my escape. I am a bit spooked by that though lol.

The best way go 'go deeper' that I have found is to pick a mud spot right at the water line and work to mix the mud with some of the water. (or just look for more watery mud, in general)

As mentioned above mud is denser than water, so the more water you can mix in, the less dense the overall mix is, meaning the deeper you can sink in.

Also, I guess personal preference, but clothes - to some extent, and definitely things like wet-suit material, neoprene, etc all trap air, and increase buoyancy...meaning shallower sinking. If anything, something like a thin layer of spandex, a dive skin or similar will keep excess buoyancy to a minimum. Though those always tend to fall off in pretty short order.... at least for me! lol

If you want to take it to the extreme (or maybe you already are), but toning up and building muscle will also help sink deeper as muscle is denser than fat.