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  1. #1
    Member Canadian_Eh's Avatar
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    Caught in a storm

    The other day I was reading an article in a magazine regarding camping and lightening storms and tips for the ground dwellers if they were caught in one, which got me to thinking - being in a hammock is kinda the last place I would want to be during a storm (of any kind but especially lightening).
    Has anyone ever been in one? What did you do?
    www.youtube.com/user/BCkayakcamper

    "The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man." ~Author Unknown

  2. #2
    Senior Member stefprez's Avatar
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    Why is being in a hammock any worse than being on the ground? The straps aren't conductive, and you aren't grounded. I'd say it's actually a bit safer, but I'm not hammock lightning specialist. Also, if it were down pouring, and the ground started flooding (a little, I'm not talking catastrophic floods) I'd rather be hanging happily above it, dry, rather than hoping my tent's bottom is free of holes and is properly seam sealed! As long as you've got a tarp above you, and the ends are protected well assuming wind, you should be fine!

  3. #3
    Senior Member exup's Avatar
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    I surely have. Only one though. It was last june, fatjers day. It was the first backpacking trip I had ever done and knew nothing about it. I just loved the idea of the primitive camp, and it was the first saturday off I had had in over a year as well as the first two days off in a row. So when weather predicted thunder storms I said screw it, I had to go even though no one would come with me.

    In a nut shell here's what happened. I took my 45ish pound pack, way out of shape, hiked 6.5miles in pouring rain in cotton clothes, the rain let up for a few so I could set the eno single and 10x8 blue tarp my friend let me borrow. Then the thunder,lightning and wind came. I was freezing from being soaked, got eaten alive by skeeters, and it was maybe the scariest night of my life. But that horribly pitched wal mart blue tarp, pitched high and wide kept me dry all night in the chaos. The next day I woke up and thought, I never want to do this again but hours after I had got home I told my girlfriend, that was horrible but I can't wait to do it again. Haha.

    Ok sorry for the long story, but the moral is that you probably need much less than you'd expect. If I were to go back the only thing I would have changed is to pitch the tarp steeper.

  4. #4
    Senior Member JohnSawyer's Avatar
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    Nice Story! Just goes to show you... a bad day in the woods ain't so bad as no day in the woods... Next time you'll know what to do different!
    "Do or do not, there is no try." -- Yoda


  5. #5
    Senior Member NewtonGT's Avatar
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    yea I was in the middle of a hail storm in burrells ford SC. I was under the guide gear 12 x 12 and was dry . it rained for about 45 minutes and towards the end of it the rain started to flood my site so i just picked up my stuff and climbed in the hammock and napped til the storm quit. I was actually pretty comfy during the storm with that huge tarp.

  6. #6
    Senior Member creativeKayt's Avatar
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    I give you...http://www.youtube.com/user/shugemer...39/iyoad4A1094
    Part 3 of 8 of Shug's Linville Gorge trip. I recommend watching the entire 8 parts to end up with a lasting grin and more than a couple giggles. Good stuff!!

    My voyeur self thanks you again, Shug, for posting this adventure!

  7. #7
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    There are numerous threads on lightning and hammocks. The consensus between the quants and the first hand experience (yep been there done that) is that you are no worse off in a hammock than in a tent. But you might not be better off either. The often disregarded danger with a tree getting struck is not the electrical charge (water is a good conductor and the straps can serve as a pathway.) but the shrapnel from the tree exploding when hit. All in all lightning is not something to take lightly in any circumstances. But neither is crossing the street or any other activity we take for granted.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

    "Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
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  8. #8
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    Ive been hanging in some bad storms including one in the Sipsey where the wind blew down one of the trees I was hanging on, one in Lost Cove area of Pisgah where the lightening was close enough where there was no obvious delay from the flash to the bang, one in St. Mary's Wilderness off of BRPW where I had water running down the straps of an old Safari Deluxe in a regular stream into the end of the hammock, one up at 5000 ft at the Newton Bald campsite in the Smokys where the rain blew in the end so hard I was soaked, and numerous other times where the wind was blowing hard enough to bounce me in the hammock or to push the tarp into the hammock.

    Over all though I would say that I learned some stuff and I realized that riding out a storm in a hammock can be fun. Even the time I got soaked I found that things get dry much easier in a hammock than in a tent.

  9. #9
    Senior Member QChan's Avatar
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    we got caught in a really bad storm last summer, and ended up having to sleep in the car because the wind ripped all the tie downs off the tarp causing it to leak like a sieve when it touched everything. So we had to take turns sleeping because we had so much stuff in the car(we were both going to be out of town for 2 weeks after that camping trip and didn't have time to go home before we left) and we could both barley fit. Worst sleep ever.

    It was hilarious in hind sight because earlier that day an old guy asked us how hammocking would fair in the rain. Haha I blame the fact that I've never really had to deal with wind in my life so I had no idea the stakes would get ripped out of the ground.

    Live and learn.

  10. #10
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    WARNING, REAL BAD SCARY STUFF TO FOLLOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

    My worst storm experience was backpacking in the Sierras along the Kern River. It was looking pretty dark and bad so I...OH THE HORROR...set up on the ground in a tube tent.

    Made supper of C rations (those Lucky Strikes were good) cooked over sticks lit with a Zippo lighter...did I mention this was about a 100 years ago? Prolly also left out my pack was a Camp Trails with military surplus gear (ground pad...what's that!?) and base weight was probably in the range of 60 lbs or more. I warned ya about the scary...

    That night the rain hit hard with lightening striking all around the area. Fortunately my set up was right (though not planned that way) for the wind and rain and I only got mostly wet. The thunder was almost instant and so loud that...WHAT? SAY AGAIN?

    Real scary all right. The storm was pretty bad too.

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