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  1. #31
    Senior Member dejoha's Avatar
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    FYI

    Lightning awareness week
    http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=55955

    There is some great info on a link to the NOAA site too.

    http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

    One thing of note was information that lightning can and does follow irregular patterns and can leap or change directions contradicting what seem like the logical "path of least resistance". Last year, my dad helped resuscitate two students at the school where he teaches history. The boys were standing under a large lone tree when the storm hit (they were seeking shelter, waiting for their ride home...the school was only 50 feet away). Lightning struck the tree and then jumped over to the boys who were about 5 feet away from the trunk. The lightning passed through one boy and then hit the other one before angering the grund. The second boy suffered the most injury.

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/hero-teache...ry?id=11829631

    I don't believe hammocks are any safer in a lightning storm. In other words, I wouldn't run into my hammock for shelter during a lightning storm. There are safer tactics.
    Last edited by dejoha; 06-16-2011 at 12:07.

  2. #32
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    I did hear that a large part of people killed while seeking shelter from a thunderstorm under a tree were killed by the steam explosion and stuff flying around. Whether that is true or not I don't know.

    Choose smaller trees than the highest and enjoy the spectacle, knowing that you already survived the drive to the trail head

  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by bristolview View Post
    Add rubber drip rings to your suspension. <Snip> They would offer quite a lot of insulation IF they aren't soaked. If they'er completely wet, then there could be a completed electrical circuit across them via the water. If dry, they're rubber and the current stops dead. Not an elegant solution, but better than nothing.
    Sorry, but not quite correct. Lightning just jumped 1/4+ mile through the air. A 1 inch rubber insulator is not going to make much difference. Chances are the lightning would continue straight down the tree to ground, or, more correctly, up the tree to the air. But if the potential voltage difference indicates the shortest path is through you then that is where it is going. Wether the rubber is wet or dry doesn't matter when air has become a conductor.

  4. #34
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    I'll never forget when a telephone/power pole outside our rural Minnesota house was hit by lightening (this was about 25 years ago). The next day, I was out mowing the lawn and as I got near that pole (we didn't know exactly where it had hit the night before), I stopped and stared at the ground for a bit before realizing what I was looking at. There were about 40+ "darts" stuck into the ground all at the same angle. The darts were varying sizes of telephone pole wood. You know, that slivery, jaggedy kind. Most were around 6" long but one was about 24" with a diameter of about 2" and was imbedded a good 5 inches into the ground. Took a bit to pull it out. All darts were at the exact same angle and in an area of about 10 foot diameter so the force was localized. Pretty strange.

  5. #35
    Senior Member Busky2's Avatar
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    A friend and firefighter in our town was electrified when a aerial platform came in contact with power lines he was on the ground touching the hose connecting it to the pump when it hit. He lost fingers, part of his arm, and foot when the it went through his foot and RUBBER boot to ground and it also did in some tires, he survived and is a lucky man. Of the two in the bucket one died some time latter with heart problems and the other has nerve damage and was forced to retire. While years latter another friend and firefighter made contact with power lines in the same way in an aerial platform his head made contact with the line and was killed. These both involved less than 12000 volts and in no way could equal the blast of energy from a bolt of lightning. IMO. In my years I have been hit by low amperage 15k and once 22k by flyback transformers, was accidentally defibrillated once and I thought was going to crap on the spot, been close to a lightning strike and felt weird afterwords for some hours. As a sailor I also always dragged a heavy welding cable overboard from my main shroud line because my sailboats mast went through the deck to the keel and was fearful of a bolt punching a hole through the hull and sinking us. I like the lightning and the storms that come with them scarey or not and will always enjoy them.
    Whether trail or paddle don't you know
    My hammock is the way to go
    There peace and solitude I find
    To ease all troubles from my mind
    Both body and soul revel in delight
    As day surrenders to inky night

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