Poly-fleece, Lightning Hazard
apbading
Given the latest info on the dynamics of lightning, I have wondered if
this static charge could make you a more likely candidate for lightning
strikes, as a negatively charged stepped-leader will work it's way
downward and will seek an area of highest positive charge. Anyone ever
hear of any info on this, or have thoughts on the subject?
Galen Hekhuis
These are simply thoughts, with no evidence to back them up. I don't think
what a person wears has enough mass to make much of a difference. This goes
for metal tent poles also. If you are in or on a spot likely to be struck by
lightning, you might be able to exert some influence for a bolt to come your
way. By the same token, if you are in a place that is unlikely to be struck,
there isn't much you can do (or wear) to increase the odds.
While I say I have no evidence, and I don't, I am not without experience in
this stuff. I used to live on (and sail) a sailboat, where you didn't always
have the option of not being in a boat on a large body of water when a
thunderstorm came up. There's a lot of guesswork and supposition where
lightning is concerned, coupled with the fact that it isn't only the
electricty that'll get you. You don't want one of those bolts even *near*
you.
Galen Hekhuis, NpD, JFR, GWA ghek...@earthlink.net
Voilets are the last refuge of the incontinent
Gary S.
> I have often noted a static electricity in poly/fleece garments.
>Given the latest info on the dynamics of lightning, I have wondered if
>this static charge could make you a more likely candidate for lightning
>strikes, as a negatively charged stepped-leader will work it's way
>downward and will seek an area of highest positive charge. Anyone ever
>hear of any info on this, or have thoughts on the subject?
Think magnitude. Static from your clothes is trivial compared to
charges built up in clouds and the ground.
Static discharge from you can cause microscopic damage to an IC
component. Static discharge from lightening can vaporise the whole
unit.
Happy trails,
Gary
------------------------------------------------
Beware of enterprises which require new toes. DA
Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom
Jerry M. Wright
> I have often noted a static electricity in poly/fleece garments.
>Given the latest info on the dynamics of lightning, I have wondered if
>this static charge could make you a more likely candidate for lightning
>strikes, as a negatively charged stepped-leader will work it's way
>downward and will seek an area of highest positive charge. Anyone ever
>hear of any info on this, or have thoughts on the subject?
Think common sense. Lightening is attracted to conductors as short
cut to the ground. The static builds up on poly synthetics because
they do not conduct electricty.
Lou W.
apbading wrote in message <38820511...@fuse.net>...
apbading
Latest research indicates that in the instant before a lightning
strike all objects in a given area (trees ,phone poles, etc.)"send up" a
very small positive static charge, thus victims hair will stand on end
just prior to lightning strike.A stepped-leader is a jagged column of
negatively charged air particles extending down from the clouds that
becomes lightnings path of least resistance.
That lightning is attracted to, or more likely to strike a good
conducter is fallacy.Yes lightning will follow a path of least
resistance once a strke occurs,but a strike is more likely to hit
whatever has the highest pos. charge in an area.
Jerry M. Wright
>"Jerry M. Wright" wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, 16 Jan 2000 12:51:13 -0500, apbading <aba...@fuse.net> wrote:
>
>> Think common sense. Lightening is attracted to conductors as short
>> cut to the ground. The static builds up on poly synthetics because
>> they do not conduct electricty.
>
> Latest research indicates that in the instant before a lightning
>strike all objects in a given area (trees ,phone poles, etc.)"send up" a
>very small positive static charge, thus victims hair will stand on end
>just prior to lightning strike.A stepped-leader is a jagged column of
>negatively charged air particles extending down from the clouds that
>becomes lightnings path of least resistance.
Keep reading. The positive charge is local to the area and influenced
by the large negative charge overhead. The contribution of your
clothing is vastly overridden by your surroundings.
> That lightning is attracted to, or more likely to strike a good
>conducter is fallacy.Yes lightning will follow a path of least
>resistance once a strke occurs,but a strike is more likely to hit
>whatever has the highest pos. charge in an area.
And you have determined the charge on your poly is positive by what
means? This type of static charge is usually negative.
Ed Huesers
apbading wrote:
> I have often noted a static electricity in poly/fleece garments.
> Given the latest info on the dynamics of lightning, I have wondered if
> this static charge could make you a more likely candidate for lightning
> strikes
AP,
I think I would be more worried about setting some spilled white gas
on fire.
Ed Huesers
http://www.grandshelters.com
Steve Davis
struck all around me. I'm still alive. Not scientific, but not bad.
Steve
apbading wrote:
> I have often noted a static electricity in poly/fleece garments.
> Given the latest info on the dynamics of lightning, I have wondered if
> this static charge could make you a more likely candidate for lightning
Bob Giddings
ever want to be. And I was warned in time by the screams from a nylon
shell.
It was the summer of '98. I had been knocking about in the Pagosa
Springs-Creede, Col. area, making day hikes. Every time I thought about
calling home I was driving down some canyon where the cell phone didn't
work. When I pulled up at the trailhead going to Mt Uncompahgre,
outside Lake City, I remembered again, but still couldn't get through to
a repeater. Then on a whim I threw the phone into my daypack with the
water and sandwiches. I got a late start, and then had to take shelter
behind a rock for maybe 30 minutes when one of the many passing
thunderheads dumped on me. I used the opportunity to eat. All I was
wearing was loose jeans, a light sweater, and a nylon rain parka. It
wasn't cold at all, maybe 50F.
After the rain quit and I scrambled up the talus to the summit, it was
about 5:30, a little late to spend much time up there and still get back
before dark. I guess there's an uneven but pretty flat acre at the
top. The side opposite the approach is a shear 2000 foot drop.
Spectacular. Thinking I didn't have much time, and generally having my
head up my ass, I went to the highest point, a little knob right above
this drop. The wind was blowing pretty good as I dug my phone out of
the backpack. I extended the antenna and punched in the number, and
after a few seconds -- Success! The phone started ringing through to
Texas.
In the few seconds while I was doing all this, I noticed a strange
whistling sound, and the wind blew my parka up around my neck. Then I
noticed it wasn't the wind. When I tried to brush the billowing parka
back, it sparked at me, little noisy points of light that stung my
neck. Then the phone screamed a chattering high whistle and went dead.
I stared at it, looked up, and the BIGGEST, BLACKEST, NEAREST CLOUD I
ever saw was right over my head. For just a moment I felt like a
character in a cartoon, rooted to this knob of crumbling rock. The
thought that went through my head was: "What a stupid way to die." Then
I DOVE off that rock, grabbed my pack, and RAN very low back to the
start of the trail down, a distance of maybe 75 yards. The cloud passed
harmlessly overhead. The sparking stopped. I got the hell out of
there.
Nobody was up there but me. If lightning had struck anywhere on that
peak, the shock would have knocked me off. Maybe they would have found
me, in a week or two. Maybe not. I don't know about poly-fleece, but I
believe that cheap nylon parka saved my life. Otherwise it would have
been a clear case of evolution in action.
A cautionary tale. Of course none of you would have done anything like
that.
Bob
Pete Hickey wrote:
>
> In article <PMpg4.1491$Sc2....@news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com>,
> Lou W. <sai...@home.com> wrote:
>
> >Wool does the same thing............dont worry about it
>
> Know how many sheep get struck by lightning each year???
>
> -Pete
Pete Hickey
Lou W.
Pete Hickey wrote in message ...
Bob Gross
ascended on skis to the 8000 foot lake and dropped our packs.
Then we skied on up near the summer trail toward the summit. When
we were about 200 vertical feet below the summit, the wind was
picking up. I looked at my friend Craig, and his blonde hair was
standing on end, and he had a funny look on his face. Right then,
a static discharge went off inside my raised parka hood. It
sounded like bees buzzing. Then Craig and I realized that we were
in position to become crispy critters from an impending
lightning strike. We layed down flat on the snow until the static
cloud passed over us. Then five minutes later we said "Screw the
summit. We're bailing!" Then we skied straight down to camp.
---Bob Gross---
David Van Baak
Cheers, DVB
Bob Giddings wrote:
> . . . Then the phone screamed a chattering high whistle and went dead.
Bob Giddings
charge completely to the surrounding air.
bob
Pete Hickey
>I looked at my friend Craig, and his blonde hair was
>standing on end, and he had a funny look on his face. Right then,
>a static discharge went off inside my raised parka hood. It
>sounded like bees buzzing.
and
Bob Giddings <bo...@igg-tx.net> wrote:
>In the few seconds while I was doing all this, I noticed a strange
>whistling sound, and the wind blew my parka up around my neck. Then I
>noticed it wasn't the wind. When I tried to brush the billowing parka
>back, it sparked at me, little noisy points of light that stung my
>neck. Then the phone screamed a chattering high whistle and went dead.
When I got struck by lightning, I had no warning at all. At
least none that I noticed/remembered. One moment I was there,
and the next I was on the grownd, 7 feet away, and pizza wasn all
over the place.
-Pete
blinking...@gmail.com
struck all around me. I'm still alive. Not scientific, but not bad."
It will hit the ground just a few feet from
a 300' radio tower. It will enter one window,
pass through a living room, and exit out
another window. It will hit wood, plastic, or
anything else considered non conductive.
It will cause electronic musical bears to start
playing their pre-recorded ditties. It will
fuse a giant construction crane into one big
useless mass of metal, and make the insides of
an electrical box just disappear, leaving
nothing but soot behind,
but leave the wires on the outside mostly
unscathed.
Lightning does not always 'follow the rules'.
It also does not care if your clothes are woll,
polyester, cotton, or tinfoil. If it strikes,
it's going to strike regardless. Of course,
if it does 'choose you', you don't want to
be wearing anything that can make the situation
worse (polyester melted to your skin for example).
Same with cars. Even if the tires are 100% non conductive
(they're not), a bolt which managed to turn
miles of insulating air into a conductor would
have no problem jumping from the underside
of your car to ground. A metal bodied and roofed
car is safER than being out in the open because
it directs most of the current around you to
ground, but this is no 100% guarantee either.
blinking...@gmail.com
whistling sound, and the wind blew my parka up around my neck. Then I
noticed it wasn't the wind. When I tried to brush the billowing parka
back, it sparked at me, little noisy points of light that stung my
neck."
static electricity" experiments we did
during our elementary school years.
" Then the phone screamed a chattering high whistle and went dead."
Stuff like this make electronics and microprocessors go haywire
"I stared at it, looked up, and the BIGGEST, BLACKEST, NEAREST CLOUD I
ever saw was right over my head. For just a moment I felt like a
character in a cartoon, rooted to this knob of crumbling rock. The
thought that went through my head was: "What a stupid way to die." Then
I DOVE off that rock, grabbed my pack, and RAN very low back to the
start of the trail down, a distance of maybe 75 yards. The cloud passed
harmlessly overhead. The sparking stopped. I got the hell out of
there"
to a ground streamer, one of many in the area,
that was growing and getting ready to
connect with the growing downward streamer
from the cloud. Had they met-BOOM-lightning.
You didn't hear any thunder or lightning
after you "dove off that rock", simply because
the connection wasn't completed for some
reason. Could've been wind preventing any connections,
maybe the cloud started to discharge into the air around it,
slow enough to not produce a bolt, who knows?
But what I do know is that you lucked
out big time, because you came very close to being
in the path of a sucessful lightning strike