Shot in the hazard stays in the hazard, where do I drop?

I was in a lateral hazard that was a small ravine.  The ball was on soft dirt way above my feet and it was playable.  I chunked it and advanced about 15 feet, the ball never left the hazard and now was in a thicket of brush.  I deemed it unplayable.

Do I have to take my drop in the hazard or can I drop it outside of the hazard (which would be at least 20 feet away)?

Your options are the same as they were before, just with one extra stroke added to your score.

-You can go back to where you last played from outside of the hazard and hit +1 penalty (and plus your failed extraction attempt obviously)

-You can drop within two club lengths of where it last crossed into the hazard plus the same 2

-And you can drop on opposite side of where it last crossed into hazard, + same 2.

And that would continue to be true if you kept trying to extricate yourself.

You can drop it outside the hazard for a 1 stroke penalty following the rules for the hazard.

Yes.  When you do what you did in a hazard you get the benefit of what the rules call "regression", meaning that you still get to play under rule 26-1 using the last point where the ball crossed the margin as your reference point.

If the same thing happened trying to hit out of the woods, you don't have a "margin" to refer to, so you are stuck with the lie you hit into and must play under Rule 28.

Technically speaking because the ball was still in the water hazard, you can not deem it "unplayable" under the rules, however you may still continue under the hazard rule.

Specifically, you may proceed under Rule 26-2, which is "Ball played within Water Hazard".

In addition to what others have said you may  also (incurring 1 PS) drop the ball in the soft dirt again if you'd like to try the stroke again from the hazard.  If however you don't like the lie after the drop, it costs you another penalty stroke (2 total) to then drop outside the hazard.

Let me add this, which is a little complicated.  If your ball, after a stroke from the hazard was deemed unplayable OUTSIDE the hazard, you have some more options and the penalties are slightly different.

First the only way to incur only 1 PS is to proceed under the 3 options under the Unplayable Ball rule, not the hazard rule.  So you could drop where you just played from in the hazard,  drop within 2 club lengths where you deemed the ball unplayable, or drop a ball on the extended line from where the ball lay unplayable to the flag. (You could actually drop back in the hazard with this last option).

You could also proceed under R26-2 (the Hazard rule)  as mentioned previously, using the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard as well as playing from where your last played a stroke  outside the hazard. This however, means a total of 2 Penalty Strokes.   One under the unplayable ball rule and one under the hazard rule.

Lastly, if you drop a ball where you last played a stroke in hazard under the unplayable ball rule, you are not required to play it, you may still pick the ball up and drop outside the hazard under one of the options under R26-2.  2 penalty strokes total.

R26-2......always the toughest question on the test.

Thanks to all for your answers.

(Can't believe I forgot that one.)

+1 perfect.

I just add that someone was talking of unplayable. The only place a ball cannot be called unplayable is a water hazard.

I also beleive that 26-2 is the only rull I can recall where a ball may be dropped in a WH.

Some rules specifically prohibit dropping a ball in a WH.  Anytime a rule requires you to determine a NPR (Nearest Point of Relief), for example, the ball must not be dropped in any hazard.  Other rules like R28 (Unplayable ball) do not have such a restriction.  Under R28b  I could see dropping in a hazard.  Even R28c if the ball was close enough to the margin of the hazard.

In addition to John's reference to Rule 28, you can also drop in a water hazard under 26-1b.