What do with in lightning

Iain Jones <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Excuse the "with", I dunno where it came from ;-)

"Iain Jones" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've just read Dan Bailey's lucky tail in Trail about being struck by
lightning a few months ago on The Cobbler. It occurred to me that if I
found myself up on a mountain in a thunderstorm I wouldn't know what to

do.

Quoted message said:

Heck, it's even happened, last year on Ben Cruachan a noisy storm sounded
very close. Any advice?

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary. Don't
shelter under a tree. Don't experiment with umbrella's ;-) that has been
done before.

Theo (there is a thunderstorm above me right now but luckily the computer is
inside ;-)

...and sit ontop of your rucksack (having emptied it of metal conductive
objects) and away from rocks

Alternatively - run like the wind crossing and recrossing your fingers that
you're more likely to win the lottery
;-)

Quoted message said:

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary. Don't
shelter under a tree. Don't experiment with umbrella's ;-) that has been
done before.

Theo (there is a thunderstorm above me right now but luckily the computer

is

Quoted message said:

inside ;-)

"Iain Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've just read Dan Bailey's lucky tail in Trail about being struck by
lightning a few months ago on The Cobbler. It occurred to me that if I
found myself up on a mountain in a thunderstorm I wouldn't know what to

do.

Quoted message said:

Heck, it's even happened, last year on Ben Cruachan a noisy storm sounded
very close. Any advice?

There's a bit of advice at
http://www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk/safety/lightning.html
and also
http://www.nols.edu/resources/research/pdfs/lightningsafetyguideline.pdf

--
Duncan Gray

homepage - www.duncolm.co.uk
also www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland

"theo" wrote after>

Quoted message said:

"Iain Jones" wrote...

Quoted message said:

I've just read Dan Bailey's lucky tail in Trail about being struck by
lightning a few months ago on The Cobbler. It occurred to me that if I
found myself up on a mountain in a thunderstorm I wouldn't know what to

do.

Quoted message said:

Heck, it's even happened, last year on Ben Cruachan a noisy storm

sounded

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

very close. Any advice?

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary. Don't
shelter under a tree. Don't experiment with umbrella's ;-) that has been
done before.

Why on a mountain? The same dilemma applies when walking through a wood or
across a flat field. Get away from the trees and find yourself in a flat
field? Get out of the field and find yourself in a wood?
Personally I prefer the wood to the flat field, but just wouldn't stand next
to a big tree and never next to a lone big tree.
Even when working on our allotments I get back inside the LandRover and keep
away from the metal bits when thunder & lightening comes around, it's just a
flat field after all and the metal box will protect you even if struck,
unlike a wooden shed.
--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

Plenty of sensible advice in the current issue of The Angry Corrie

Richard Webb

"Bob Hobden" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
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Quoted message said:

"theo" wrote after>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary.

Don't

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

shelter under a tree. Don't experiment with umbrella's ;-) that has been
done before.

Why on a mountain?

Because the OP asks

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Get away from the trees and find yourself in a flat
field? Get out of the field and find yourself in a wood?

See you own answer

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Personally I prefer the wood to the flat field, but just wouldn't stand

next

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to a big tree and never next to a lone big tree.

Lightning doesn't 'think logical'. There is no 100% garantee you won't be
struck.

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Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

Regards
Theo
in Naarden, many miles eastnortheast of London

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Bob Hobden" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Why on a mountain? The same dilemma applies when walking through a wood or
across a flat field.

Yebbut one *feels* more exposed on a mountain plateau where there is
little if anything higher than oneself.

--
Cheers,

Compo.

"theo" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
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Quoted message said:

Don't shelter under a tree.

In Belgium a man took shelter beneath a tree during a thunderstorm
yesterday. L'homme est mort.

Theo

Quoted message said:

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary.

Actually I think ditches are a bad plan owing to the tendency for the
ground currents to pass through the contents of the ditch where it
interrupts the flow.

--
Boo

"Boo" <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary.

Actually I think ditches are a bad plan owing to the tendency for the
ground currents to pass through the contents of the ditch where it
interrupts the flow.

If the lightning hits the ground that near to you it doesn't make any
difference whether you're lying in the ditch or standing beside it.
The purpose of lying (or sitting in the right position) in the ditch is to
avoid becoming an aiming point for the lightning. But there is no garantee.
Lightning can hit you even when you are standing next to a skyscraper.

Theo

"compo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Bob Hobden" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Why on a mountain? The same dilemma applies when walking through a wood

or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

across a flat field.

Yebbut one *feels* more exposed on a mountain plateau where there is
little if anything higher than oneself.

--

I once departed the Cheviot summit plateau at an enormous rate of knots
chased by a mid-summer thunderstorm of epic proportions and can confirm your
hypothysis. I certainly *felt* exposed. I was an absolute gibbering wreck by
the time I got back to the car. Ah, happy days :-)

simon

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful person theo
<[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't shelter under a tree.

In Belgium a man took shelter beneath a tree during a thunderstorm
yesterday. L'homme est mort.

"Consider it Evolution in Action."

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 11:59:09 +0100, compo <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Bob Hobden" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Why on a mountain? The same dilemma applies when walking through a wood or
across a flat field.

Yebbut one *feels* more exposed on a mountain plateau where there is
little if anything higher than oneself.

Its bad news being out on a loch too, even one with high hills on
either side.

--
Richard Webb
Serious Wa*king - http://www.sub3000.com

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful
person Boo <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> said

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary.

Actually I think ditches are a bad plan owing to the tendency for the
ground currents to pass through the contents of the ditch where it
interrupts the flow.

I think they're not a bad idea if you keep your feet together. Having a
ground current flow under you is not a big problem. Having it go up one
leg and down the other is. Even just a small part of it.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.

The message <[email hidden]>
from "theo" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

"Boo" <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Make yourself lower than your surroundings. In a ditch if necessary.

Actually I think ditches are a bad plan owing to the tendency for the
ground currents to pass through the contents of the ditch where it
interrupts the flow.

Quoted message said:

If the lightning hits the ground that near to you it doesn't make any
difference whether you're lying in the ditch or standing beside it.
The purpose of lying (or sitting in the right position) in the ditch is to
avoid becoming an aiming point for the lightning. But there is no garantee.
Lightning can hit you even when you are standing next to a skyscraper.

It is certainly the case that advice used to given not to shelter from
lightning in holes in the ground or behind boulders as the lightning
energy, as it decays across the ground around the strike, skips across
voids and straight though you should you be sheltering in one.

Personally I would feel completely safe standing next to a skyscraper as
long as I wasn't too close. If its lightning conductor works there won't
be a strike in the vicinity and if it doesn't then the building will be
hit.

--
Roger Chapman so far this year 39 summits
New - 22 (Marilyns 8, Sweats 5, Outlying Fells 11)
Repeats - 17( Marilyns 6, Sweats 12, Wainwrights 11)
Knackered knee - 4 times

"GSV Three Minds in a Can" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Having a
ground current flow under you is not a big problem. Having it go up one
leg and down the other is. Even just a small part of it.

Much wincing at the thought.

--
Gary Webster
Birmingham, England

"GSV Three Minds in a Can" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
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Quoted message said:

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful person theo
<[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't shelter under a tree.

In Belgium a man took shelter beneath a tree during a thunderstorm
yesterday. L'homme est mort.

"Consider it Evolution in Action."

At the speed of lightning it's more "Vive la Revolution" :-)

Theo

"GSV Three Minds in a Can" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful person theo
<[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't shelter under a tree.

In Belgium a man took shelter beneath a tree during a thunderstorm
yesterday. L'homme est mort.

"Consider it Evolution in Action."

Candidate for a Darwin award methinks

simon