KRasmussen
New member
Very good info and I think all of us here should take the time to read it. I learned a lot from this
Surviving a Lightning Storm
- Thread starter BirdDogWebb
- Start date
Very good info and I think all of us here should take the time to read it. I learned a lot from this
stillkickin
Well-known member
Thanks for this guys, answered a lot of questions for me also.
I have had so much static electricity in my boat that when I leaned a rod against the gunnel, the arching of electricity cut the mono line. I thought I had a grounding problem in my electronics, until four rods all got the line cut via static electricity. Once the idiot side of me finally figured it out, we headed to shore as fast as possible. About five minutes after getting the boat on the trailer, the lighting was cracking all around. Dumb Finlander. 
Here is a pic of the closest encounter I ever had in the field. Monsoon season in northern AZ, 2011. I had an archery antelope tag and was in pursuit of a huge buck named "Socrates." It was getting late and he and two other bucks were grazing in a little pocket formed by the crest of a ridge. I was making good progress with the cover of low light and the use of a cow decoy.
Loren was filming me as I was nearing the crest of a ridge that would give me a good idea of exactly where the bucks were and whether they had moved while I made this big loop to get downwind and behind the crest of this ridge. I was about 75 yards from the crest, when, BOOM! Scared the &$#t out of me. I hit the deck, crouched there and wondering what to do. Kind of like the question in this thread.
Loren thought I had been hit. He came on a fast trot toward my position. Before he got there, I got up and was trotting back to his position. We found a low spot near where he had been filming, got about fifty yards apart, and laid down while lightning cracked all around us. It was wet, laying there while the monsoon soaked us to the bone.
I have no idea how close or how far it was. I felt/heard it almost as quickly as I saw the flash, which if sound really travels at 1,100 fps, then it was less than 1,000' away. Here is a screen shot from the tape that Loren was rolling while that bolt hit.
Needless to say, Socrates lived to see another day. He was killed opening morning of rifle season by some guys who were watching me hunt him. These guys had been given some great advice by Eli and Tony Grimmett, free of charge. Socrates grossed 90", but still not worth getting electrocuted.
Here is a pic of the closest encounter I ever had in the field. Monsoon season in northern AZ, 2011. I had an archery antelope tag and was in pursuit of a huge buck named "Socrates." It was getting late and he and two other bucks were grazing in a little pocket formed by the crest of a ridge. I was making good progress with the cover of low light and the use of a cow decoy.
Loren was filming me as I was nearing the crest of a ridge that would give me a good idea of exactly where the bucks were and whether they had moved while I made this big loop to get downwind and behind the crest of this ridge. I was about 75 yards from the crest, when, BOOM! Scared the &$#t out of me. I hit the deck, crouched there and wondering what to do. Kind of like the question in this thread.
Loren thought I had been hit. He came on a fast trot toward my position. Before he got there, I got up and was trotting back to his position. We found a low spot near where he had been filming, got about fifty yards apart, and laid down while lightning cracked all around us. It was wet, laying there while the monsoon soaked us to the bone.
I have no idea how close or how far it was. I felt/heard it almost as quickly as I saw the flash, which if sound really travels at 1,100 fps, then it was less than 1,000' away. Here is a screen shot from the tape that Loren was rolling while that bolt hit.
Needless to say, Socrates lived to see another day. He was killed opening morning of rifle season by some guys who were watching me hunt him. These guys had been given some great advice by Eli and Tony Grimmett, free of charge. Socrates grossed 90", but still not worth getting electrocuted.
Still I think it is safer as being suspended I have no DIRECT path to ground VS a tent. The path to ground would have to be better going through my horizontal ropes to another tree. I guess I look at how a squirrell and birds can land on a wire without getting fried because they are not touching ground. In the end regardless of the truth, I will always TELL myself it is safer just for sanity
I have been in a couple pretty bad ones up there. You know the kind where when your alone and still yell out F##K ME!! when the strikes hit because it scared you so bad? A guy I work with was out in CO with a group of 6 a couple years ago. They came back with 5 due to a strike. 2 of them got hit while bowhunting elk. One guy woke up they figured about 2 hours later and tried some CPR on the other guy. Sad deal. When I am solo I try to always email GPS coords to the wife daily so she knows where to send them looking if I dont make contact every couple days. It will not do me any good but it will make the search easier for the fried remains of the bear pinata
spook12
New member
Still I think it is safer as being suspended I have no DIRECT path to ground VS a tent. The path to ground would have to be better going through my horizontal ropes to another tree. I guess I look at how a squirrell and birds can land on a wire without getting fried because they are not touching ground. In the end regardless of the truth, I will always TELL myself it is safer just for sanity
A guy I work with was out in CO with a group of 6 a couple years ago. They came back with 5 due to a strike. 2 of them got hit while bowhunting elk. One guy woke up they figured about 2 hours later and tried some CPR on the other guy. Sad deal. When I am solo I try to always email GPS coords to the wife daily so she knows where to send them looking if I dont make contact every couple days. It will not do me any good but it will make the search easier for the fried remains of the bear pinata
You might read page 2 of natives link. If I'm understanding it, surface arcs come from taller objects getting hit. What do you suspend your hammock from ?
dustinf
Active member
Damn. Truly sorry to hear it.
To be honest, I've had some crazy experiences but never descended. Always had the ignorant belief that it'll never happen to me.
Never again.
dustinf
Active member
A picture of the lightning filled monsoon I endured just last year at 8,000ft in south east Arizona.
BirdDogWebb
Member
Sorry schmalts, not picking on you or trying to dampen your hunt. lol. But ....the squirrel is insulated from the ground via the insulators on the pole. if your hammock is tied to a tree (or other structure) with out insulators, it becomes part of that tree. therefore you are grounded to earth same as a tent.
I may be wrong.
BirdDogWebb
Member
Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother, miller.
You might read page 2 of natives link. If I'm understanding it, surface arcs come from taller objects getting hit. What do you suspend your hammock from ?
But once again, even if the tree is hit the big question is how much current would want to go across a rope that is not touching the ground VS just keep going down the tree trunk since it is already that close to ground. Either way you will feel some effect I am sure but it may be the difference between life and death of a strike. Ohms law is pretty simple, the strike will take the path of least resistance. I dont think going through a rope to another tree or jumping the gap between a suspended hammock is an easier path than finishing down the last 5 feet of trunk. There has to be someone here who works for a utility company as a lineman that could have some good opinions since I am sure they go through a lot of training about these things.
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spook12
New member
I was just messing with you schmalts. I'm thinking that even the experts don't fully understand the subject, all the rest of us just need to follow a few suggestions to lower the odds of being hit.
schmaltz- You are on the right track. The bulk of a lightning surge will take the path of least resistance. Straight down is the prefered path. That is why standing is not good. Being horizontal is best.
I could type pages on how we ground comm towers in an attempt to shunt the energy to ground (vs enabling a path into equipment).
Electric shock kills the most folks when it crosses vital organs. (Head to toe or arm to arm). If it goes across the heart or the brain, the bodies electrical signals are interupted and death is very possible.
For fisherman and hunters in the field, get down low and get into a ball or lay on the ground. Even if there is a strike and you take on energy, you want the high point of your body to NOT be your head. (Energy will travel through your body, across the heart and brain to ground. Not good) If it goes from your hip and through your leg, you will likely get hurt but it won't kill you.
I met a broadcast engineer who got into some high voltage from equipment. (He missed a preventative step and it almost killed him). The energy traveled from his hand, through his arm and out the top of his head. (His head was touching the transmitter cabinet). He thought he was fine and didn't go to the doc for a day. But he began experiencing terrible headaches and one side of his face started sagging. He suffered brain damage, one side of his face was permenently paralyzed and he lost all of his teeth. (The nerves were killed) He suffered for years and likely still to this day.
Be smart and have a healthy respect for lightning. You likely won't get a do over if you make mistakes.
I could type pages on how we ground comm towers in an attempt to shunt the energy to ground (vs enabling a path into equipment).
Electric shock kills the most folks when it crosses vital organs. (Head to toe or arm to arm). If it goes across the heart or the brain, the bodies electrical signals are interupted and death is very possible.
For fisherman and hunters in the field, get down low and get into a ball or lay on the ground. Even if there is a strike and you take on energy, you want the high point of your body to NOT be your head. (Energy will travel through your body, across the heart and brain to ground. Not good) If it goes from your hip and through your leg, you will likely get hurt but it won't kill you.
I met a broadcast engineer who got into some high voltage from equipment. (He missed a preventative step and it almost killed him). The energy traveled from his hand, through his arm and out the top of his head. (His head was touching the transmitter cabinet). He thought he was fine and didn't go to the doc for a day. But he began experiencing terrible headaches and one side of his face started sagging. He suffered brain damage, one side of his face was permenently paralyzed and he lost all of his teeth. (The nerves were killed) He suffered for years and likely still to this day.
Be smart and have a healthy respect for lightning. You likely won't get a do over if you make mistakes.
Elkmagnet
Well-known member
Lighting is to be respected.
But then again if the high country was safe and comfy I would do something else.
But then again if the high country was safe and comfy I would do something else.
BirdDogWebb
Member
Thanks for the info!
Learn from well understood concepts. For example, lightning must connect a cloud to earthborne charges maybe five miles away. A shortest path is three mile directly down to a tree. Then four miles through earth.
A cow was standing maybe 30 feet from the tree. Therefore killed by a direct strike - a current incoming and outgoing through its body. The incoming current is maybe its hind legs. Outgoing via its fore legs to those distant charges. One example of how direct lightning strikes can pass through a body.
Some campers were sleeping adjacent to a tree when it was struck. Campers sleeping tangent were unharmed. Campers sleeping pointed to the tree required immediate hospitalization.
So, what to do? Keep your feet together. So that the body only has an incoming path and no outgoing path.
Experts who write papers on this also recommend squatting down with arm together.
However geology is important. Lightning strikes mountain tops less often. Strikes are more often to the mountainside or the valley where more electrically conductive geology exists. A strike is determined by a geological connection to distant charges. If ground beneath the soil is a more conductive rock, then a human is at greater risk.
Some gold courses may have a shed to protect from rain. But to also protect from lightning, the shed should be surrounded by a buried ground wire loop. Then the incoming and outgoing path is that wire loop. And not humans inside the shed.
Some laymen do not learn the science. Then assume lightning is capricious. The danger is well understood. But many never learned from above examples and the science. Protection is always about connecting lightning to earth on a path that never passes through the body.
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RobG
Well-known member
It hasn't been said... If you are with someone you should split up. That way if one person gets hit the other can help him (CPR, etc).
Lightning can kill two ways - a strong hit will burn your internal organs - not much you can do about that. A smaller hit can stop your heart.
Here's a story of 3 hikers who were struck earlier this year in Glacier Park and brought back to life by some other hikers. http://missoulian.com/news/local/hi...cle_b211a12e-f34e-11e2-b64d-0019bb2963f4.html
Lightning can kill two ways - a strong hit will burn your internal organs - not much you can do about that. A smaller hit can stop your heart.
Here's a story of 3 hikers who were struck earlier this year in Glacier Park and brought back to life by some other hikers. http://missoulian.com/news/local/hi...cle_b211a12e-f34e-11e2-b64d-0019bb2963f4.html
Southwind
New member
I gained a real healthy respect for lightning back in the eighties when a freakish lightning storm plowed through while I was deer hunting the first week of December in Kansas. It was producing a lot of lightning and I had my hair stand up on end and saw a purple glow through out the woods so I left my rifle hunched down and made it to open country and stayed low until it passed.
It left a very deep impression on me.
It left a very deep impression on me.
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