I am 40 ft from pole,,and its well grounded into the ground,,cable is rubber coated,,I am not hangging in a storm when at home from it,,will use the trees if I want to storm test,,and like I said,,its detachable. Pole does have 200 amps on it, as I go underground from it to house with no wiring overhead..lol,,yeah,,you have to consider the issues..or your liable to get alittle juiced. I have had lightning take out my hot tub and water softner once,,as living in a woods on a pretty high hill I do take lightning strikes every now and then, so I even have my 10000 watt generator totally grounded when I fire it up.