RoyB
King George, VA
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The rule of thumb at regular camp grounds is everyone abandons the ship and heads for the bath room building during real bad storms...
* This post was
edited 02/06/12 08:50pm by RoyB *
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Roy and Carolyn
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johnbhicks
Southeast
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Don't be the highest point or camp under the tallest trees.
A lightning rod system as described by mexbungalows may help protect you by bleeding off the static charge; you have about a 90-degree "cone of protection" under the rod so you'd need to get it up high enough. If you have enough metal in your TT body that may act as a Faraday cage and conduct any strike through the skin of the TT to ground through wet surfaces etc.
But your chances of getting injured are _far far_ higher on the road to the campsite than getting struck by lightning.
-C&J-
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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It's refreshing for a change to not have the armchair physicists claiming that lifting the jacks, pulling the cables, etc., will isolate you, any more than claiming grounded jacks or lightening rods will protect the occupants.
N o t h i n g will protect you in an RV from an errant bolt, end of story.
Jeff - WA6EQU
'06 Itasca Meridian 34H, CAT C7/350
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mike4947
N. Syracuse, NY
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I have to agree with Jeff. IF lightening decides it's oing to hit you, you're hit.
As a couple of antecedences:
We used to go to a beach near our favorite campground and dig for (I forgot the name of them) glass formed when the lightening hit the sand. Have some really cool sculptures of glass. Some look like trees when inverted.
Another time when a storm was approaching all of a sudden all the hair on my head litterally stood on end. I was cose enough to the RV to dive inside. The lightening hit a tree about 10 foot from the camper and exploded the trunk. We were picking splinters up for a week.
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bucky
Eastern Shore of MD
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You'll hear the thunder first. That is when it is time to do whatever it is that you are going to do. I'll leave that up to you.
99 Chev 7.4 crew dually and a Coachmen TT.
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TechWriter
Green Bay, WI USA
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SCVJeff wrote:It's refreshing for a change to not have the armchair physicists claiming that lifting the jacks, pulling the cables, etc., will isolate you, any more than claiming grounded jacks or lightening rods will protect the occupants.
N o t h i n g will protect you in an RV from an errant bolt, end of story.
True enough, but since not every lightning strike is a direct hit, I still unplug from the pedestal during an electric storm.
The NLSI has some good advice.
2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095 DP
Wisconsin, USA
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profdant139
Southern California
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Those fused glass things in the sand are called fulgurites, I think. And someone suggested running to the bathroom -- unfortunately, we usually boondock way back in the woods -- nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
The good news is that most summer thunderstorms in the mountains occur during the afternoon, when we are out hiking. So no worries about being inside the trailer -- we will be huddled in the open under our ponchos, away from trees and high points. No problem, right??
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Salvo
California
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I think you would be quite safe in the trailer. If lightning strikes, I would rather be inside the trailer than outside. Your 'only' danger with being inside, is fire.
profdant139 wrote:
The good news is that most summer thunderstorms in the mountains occur during the afternoon, when we are out hiking. So no worries about being inside the trailer -- we will be huddled in the open under our ponchos, away from trees and high points. No problem, right??
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joe b.
Florida
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When you hear the thunder, it is already too late, lightening comes first and is much faster than the speed of sound. In reality, you are very safe in a vehicle, compared to being outside in the open. The last job I had was as a deputy coroner in western Colorado and got to deal with a few people that were victims of lightning. None of them were in vehicles. Lightening is trying to get to ground, clouds to ground, some argue it goes the other way. There was a chap named Michael Faraday that did a lot of scientific study on the subject. Different guy than was on the Lost TV show, LOL. His conclusion was being inside any enclosed space was safer than being outside. He even got a term, Faraday's Cage, named after him. Never heard what he died from thought. LOL
Stay inside your camper, unplug from power if connected to protect your electrical system, put in your awning, put away your lawn chairs, bring in the dog, and do it all when you see the heavy clouds approaching. Lightening can strike at least 5 miles ahead of the cloud's leading edge. When the hair on your body starts standing on end, get somewhere safe. Stay away for rocks with heavy metallic content and solo trees, forests are just fine for the most part. You just don't want to be the tallest thing in the immediate area and become a human lightning rod. Wildlife seems to understand this, cattle not always.
joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
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loggenrock
New Hampshire
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Here's a thread from last summer with some very good references regarding lightning safety. Being an apparent magnet for the stuff myself it has become particularly interesting to me! http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25342599/gotomsg/25343209.cfm#25343209
Maybe someone can make this one of those clicky-things... I'm better with lightning than computers! ST
2003 Roadtrek 190P Chevy 3500, and a pair of Limmers...
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