Would it be possible to dig yourself out?

naomi24 | 22:07 Sat 22nd Jan 2011 | Science

62 Answers

Just been watching QI. The question is if you and a spade were buried in a coffin with 6ft of eath above you, would escape be possible - and if so, how would you go about it?

Is using peat for domestic heating 'sustainable'?

Last night I watched journey to the edge of the universe and what a fantastic and thought program it was

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boxtops

Not if the lid was on....

and if not, I guess not, the soil would fall in on you as you scraped.

This was actually a serious nightmare of my grandma's, she used to really scare me with stories about people buried alive by mistake, when they were dug up (why, I now ask?!) there were nail scratch marks inside the lid of the coffin.....

-- answer removed --

society

No, I'd die in a few seconds because I am very claustrophobic.

sherrardk

Isn't there a saying which is based on bells being attached to the graves of the newly buried which were attached to the body of the deceased by a bit of string. The theory being that if they well still alive they could move their hand and the bell would ring. Can't remember the saying though.

boxtops

I remember hearing that too, sherrard (no doubt from my grandma!).

jomifl

didn't you see 'kill bill 2' no spade needed, just a couple of years training starting with rice pudding and ending with a paper bag.

sherrardk

It's bugging me now - that I can't remember what it is.

Clanad

Then... for goodness sakes, don't read Poe's (Edgar Allen) "Premature Burial"...

That fate was such a concern in the 17th Century that several sayings we recognize today are attributed to the fear, such as: Saved by the bell, Dead ringer and Graveyard shift, the genesis of which are described here:

When England began to run out of room to bury recently deceased people, they dug up the coffins of people who had long been deceased, removing their bones from the coffins and placing them in a bone house and re-using the gravesite.
When opening the coffins of long ago buried bodies, they noticed that 1 out of every 25 coffins had scratch marks on the inside. The town folks had been burying people while they were still alive.
To avoid anymore people being buring alive, a string would be tied to the wrist of each corpse, threaded through the coffin,up through the ground, and tied to a bell.
Someone would have to sit in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell to ring, just in case the corpse was not really a corpse.

To avoid anymore people being buring alive, a string would be tied to the wrist of each corpse, threaded through the coffin,up through the ground, and tied to a bell.
Someone would have to sit in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell to ring, just in case the corpse was not really a corpse.

ChocolatChip

I'd assume you'd probably not be able to breathe?

sherrardk

Found it now - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_coffin

boxtops

That must be what my grandma used to go on about, sherrard, she was born in the 1860s.

naomi24

Question Author

In Victorian times bells were put into coffins just in case the deceased wasn't actually deceased,. and yes it is all very Edgar Allen Poe and hence, absolutely horrendous - but it got me thinking about the actual logistics of it. Would someone be able to get out? Someone on the programme said they'd break the side of the coffin rather than the top to prevent the earth above falling on them, but I can't actually see what difference that would make. You will still be under 6 feet of earth with no air.

DTCwordfan

but the expressions actually came later then the saftey coffin, that was a Victorian thing. The phrases liek saved by the bell are 20thC and the origin of that was boxing. Deadringer is 20thC.....

naomi24

Question Author

jom, Kill Bill isn't my style.