Trekking Poles in a Thunderstorm

[KenC]

Interesting question. The times i've been caught (while a pole user) in a t-storm, I just collapsed them and stowed them plastic handle skyward. Not that it matters much but i figured i'd keep the more pointed/prominent end down.

 

[HikerBob]

I always stash my poles because I find it difficult to manage both them and the umbrella...

Bob

 

[crazymama]

Algonquin lightning strike

I found this archived news story on the net:

Lightning Strike Knocks Out Hikers: 7/23/01
Two hikers were knocked unconscious when lightning struck the summit
of Algonquin peak. The pair was knocked out and temporarily immobilized
when the strike hit the bare-rock summit. They suffered minor burns and some
small cuts to the head but were able to hike out then transported to a hospital.
The hikers were using metal hiking poles when struck, with the bolt traveling
from one pole to the other. Eleven more hikers in and around the summit
were jolted as the bolts charge traveled through the rock. A dog also suffered
swollen paws but was reported fine. The pair sought shelter in a cave but began their accent before the storm fully passed. Rangers say they were on
the summit when they probably shouldn't have been.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I keep carrying my rock bar during a thunderstorm... 6 feet long, 19 pounds of steel.

Last time I was struck by lightning (not while hiking), it bounced me around good, but not much else... to me, at least. The pizzza ended up on the walls and ceiling. Don't ask me how. It was there when I woke up. My sister, who was watching wasn't watching because she closed her eyes.

I was afraid of lightning for some time after that, but the fears faded. Now, the mass of small peices of metal (yes 19 pounds is small) doesn't worry me at all.

 

[masshysteria]

My feelings are that if you are on a ridgeline, in a thunderstorm, you need to get your butt off of that ridge ASAP. And if the poles help with balance and speeds up the retreat from that ridge, use em'! Plus the fact that they have cork or a composition grip they shouldn't conduct as much electricity. But I'm no MIT grad.

 

[jbreen]

With everyone talking about the insulating properties of plastic pole tips, cork handles and such, I'd like to point out a few things...

Air is also an insulator -- that's why we can walk by an electrical outlet and not get zapped. But, higher voltages (like Tesla coils show) can travel through the air.

With lightening, I would not assume that a metal object is safe because of a little plastic on it.

Jim

 

[TomEske]

Jim,
I'm not sure if you're technical guy or not, but the irony (forgive the pun) in your post really struck me (Forgive that one too). I don't know if you know this, but many of Nikola Telsa's experiments with hi voltage sparks (man-made lighting if you will) were done in Shoreham, L.I. as well as Manhatten, and Colorado Springs.
To protect himself during these experiments he would stand on a thin sheet of rubber, or a thicker sheet of cork. Without getting into a long and very boring discussion about dielectric constants of various materials and compunds, suffice to say that rubber, plastic and cork provide a more difficult path for the current to pass through, with cork being the worst of those due to it's porosity I guess. Consider that you have a very thin layer on the outside of an extension cord to protect you from getting a shock. The currents are much lower, but the principal is the same.
On the other hand, a spark can and will jump thru nearly anything if the proximity is close enough and the potential difference is high enough.
It just occurred to me that I may have dragged this thread into the "off-topic gutter". Sorry, back to the point.
My Opinion is that anything can happen given the right conditions, but with Hiking poles, I wouldn't worry, I would just get off the darn mountain! By the way, I never believe anything technical I read in the press, because they are relating information about subjects thay have no knowledge in and usually get it very wrong.
Happy Hiking,
Tom

 

[Grumpy]

Good summation!

My feelings are that if you are on a ridgeline, in a thunderstorm, you need to get your butt off of that ridge ASAP. And if the poles help with balance and speeds up the retreat from that ridge, use em'! . . .

My gut instinct tells me this is the best advice.

G.

 

[Rob S]

My Opinion is that anything can happen given the right conditions

Right you are, Tom.

As an engineer myself, (I work in product safety - Underwriters Laboratories, TUV, VDE, etc.) I can confirm that dielectric strength tests often show the very random nature of the current path from one point to another (corona discharge). In a carefully constructed circuit, Ohm's Law is a very reliable method of calculating voltage, resistance, and current flow. In nature, however, with so many variables like humidity, pollution, etc., the path of a bolt of lightening doesn't always seem logical. There have been times when a person was lying low and still got hit while other people several yards away did not. That said, I'm with Masshysteria and Grumpy on this one ...... get off the ridge as quickly as possible. While I doubt the hiking poles would increase the odds of being hit, I know my fiance would insist on stashing them in the pack if only for the psychological benefits. And if she feels safer and happier, then I'm happier.

 

[ken]

>>There have been times when a person was lying low and still got hit while other people several yards away did not.<<

the reason is that if lightning is going to strike someplace... it will no matter what is nearby - a person nearby is like a lightning rod, but a lightening rod only protects a cone shaped area below it, that is why you have them all along the ridgeline of a building - they are also pointed to help them attract lightning (how many hikers have pointed heads) - - - - also do not depend on rubber soles and cork or rubber handles to protect you, if lightning travels thousands of feet through air (a good insulator) do you think a thin layer of cork or rubber (probably wet or sweaty) is going to stop it? many people think cars are safe because the tires will insulate them, but that is not the case, the car is safe because it conducts the lightning around you to ground - - - - laying low has been recommended many times but they all left something out - it is good advice to be lower, but do not put your hands on the ground - when that lightning travels along the wet ground you do not want it coming in your knees and out your hands since it will be passing through your heart along the way!

 

[ken]

talk about lightning - i was on the macintire range yesterday... looked like a nice beautiful sunny day - till about 3:00 when the clouds started to move in - about 3:30, while on top of algonquin it started raining - one stray bolt of lightning hit behind me (we also saw one other hit some mountain near big slide) the one behind us was close, it was very quick (less than one second)for the thunder (sound travels at 1100 feet per second). and no... i didn't throw away my trekking poles - i hightailed it outta there.

 

[Outtabreath]

>>it is good advice to be lower, but do not put your hands on the ground - when that lightning travels along the wet ground you do not want it coming in your knees and out your hands since it will be passing through your heart along the way! <<

What about when you're sleeping in your tent? Had some good lighting Friday night in the woods and the thought crossed my mind!

 

[ken]

hopefully you were below treeline - trees have a root system so if it hits a tree it will get into the ground (not on the ground) and since you and the inside of your tent are dry (and possibly the ground below you tent) it may go around you and hopefully you won't feel it. but... usually when it hits a tree the sap steams and splits the tree which can come down on you - so if the lightning doesn't get you the tree might.

 

[Rik]

Ken,
Was wondering about people up there and thinking about this thread. I was on South Meadow truck trail when thunder and then rain rolled in. The sun was out when we were on Avalanche Mountain a couple hours earlier!

 

[ken]

i only heard the thunder from the one strike on algonquin (a few hundred feet behind me) - the other strike over towards big slide we didn't hear - that was the only lightning that we saw that day, those 2 strikes - so even when the "thunderhead" clouds are not present you can still have a few stray bolts.

 

[teejay]

A golf joke says

if you're caught out in a lightning storm, hold a one-iron high over your head, 'cause even God can't hit a one-iron. I don't have a one-iron, so I've never tried it. Don't think I will, either. Get a one-iron, that is.

Seriously, though, lightning takes the easiest path to ground. Thick rubber soles or plastic grips on trekking poles are no insulation to the megavolt potential in a lightning bolt. If the easiest way is down your spinal column to your arms or legs to ground, that's the way it's going. The only way to be safe in lightning is to get to an area where there are better ways for it to get to ground than through you.

teejay

 

[David Metsky]

Re: A golf joke says

if you're caught out in a lightning storm, hold a one-iron high over your head, 'cause even God can't hit a one-iron. I don't have a one-iron, so I've never tried it. Don't think I will, either. Get a one-iron, that is.

Um, teejay, did you read page 1?

-dave-

 

[teejay]

apparently not.

teejay