Lightning at night, lower levels in lean to?

[topshelf]

I'm not afraid of bears or snakes or any of the objective hazards. Rather, I show a healthy respect to the forces that could kill me in an instant. The fact that you'd all rather make fun of me rather than actually help shows you people dont give a flying F about anyone but yourselves.

Good day.

Sorry greg, you asked an honest question because there were contradictory statements from a pretty reliable source and you ran into the know-it-all dirt bag group who was never new to hiking and never had things to learn. They were born with all the knowledge they needed to hike. These are the people you avoid on the trail.

I have been out with guides, as a kid, who have suggested doing the same thing whether being in a shelter or a tent. Running into lightning in a shelter is not as common as running into lightning mid-afternoon when you are still hiking and away from any shelters. Especially when the trail is following the spine of a ridge. If you are in a shelter and lightning is extremely close I would advise getting to the back of the shelter and stay away from metal objects. You should be fine.

Now I will wait for my torching from the WB know-it-all group

[hikerboy57]

There are so many perceived threats on the trail that sometimes we do have a little fun with them.The only time Id be overly concerneed about lightning is on a ridgeline.Redeyes advice about getting to the rear of the shelter is good advice, as you are much better off in a shelter than anywhere outdoors when heavyv storms are around. If you are above treeline with lightning around and cant get lower, make yourself as small as possible, get away from any metal objects(jewelry, watch, knife).

[Blissful]

I'd take precautions about lightning above treeline. Other than that you could be killed walking along the trail by a large limb that falls from a gust of wind. Or killed in your car driving to the trailhead. Don't worry about it unless you worry about dying, then that is another subject...

[JAK]

I try and pitch my tarp under a tree, but use smaller trees if there is lighning. Still basically in the woods though, not in the open. Once in the woods, but not under the tallest trees, I think the form of shelter doesn't matter so much.

[RGB]

Take it from an idiot that did not frequently check forecasts and ended up in the middle of a storm between Abingdon Gap shelter and Damascus. The wind and falling branches were way more scary than the threat of lightning. Stay in the shelter.

[ALLEGHENY]

So a Hammock Hanger shall during a lightning storm. 1) hang in a shelter. 2) only tie off to shorter trees in low areas with taller trees all around. 3) never hang in open ground with sparse amount of trees.

[Tinker]

Now I will wait for my torching from the WB know-it-all group..............

No such group or person here .

[Tinker]

I'd take precautions about lightning above treeline. Other than that you could be killed walking along the trail by a large limb that falls from a gust of wind. Or killed in your car driving to the trailhead. Don't worry about it unless you worry about dying, then that is another subject...

Your signature line borrowed from Muir says it all (of course, he used to climb to the tops of tall trees during lightning storms ). I guess they just didn't know as much as we enlightened modern folks know about lightning (or possibly more about God's care for His people ).

[Jersey Tim]

I just want to thank all participants in this thread for numerous good hearty laughs. Between statements, retorts, general attitude, and other statements which suggest that certain parties will pretend they're going away and aren't going to lurk and read on, this has been a good one. As for my constructive contribution, I'd take any general published list of lighting safety guidelines that advise against lean-tos -- such as the good, thorough one linked to by the OP -- with a big grain of salt; considering that their primary advice is "get to a real building", they obviously weren't written with distance hikers in mind, so I'll take my advice from hikers who've been through it, thanks.

[Wise Old Owl]

Un Believable.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Un Believable.

Which part?

Not sure if it's something going on with the weather, or possibly the upcoming solstice, but it's been a very interesting few days on WB. Maybe we've finally all gone mad? Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad thing.

[Lostone]

Thank you for a fantastic Fathers Day chuckle.

Giggles

Yet another 24 year old expert, who quotes the experts, who comes to a forum of experts to ask a question he believes he already knows the answer.


Yep, that couch and tv are great, nice and safe if you can avoid the heart disease.

[general]

nice troll, caught a bunch of suckers.

[general]

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medical.htm

are you really worried about a 1/10000 chance of being struck by lightning in your life time? i find that really hard to believe, otherwise, how could you ever leave the house. and *** is the lightning position? is there really such a thing? i hiked through many thunder storms in my life, and can't say i've ever worried about being struck by lightning. if you're struck and die from it, then it was just your time. period. if this bothers you this much then you should just stay at home, really.

[~Luna~]

Life is short, don't spend it worrying about what hazard is around the next corner. :-)

[Toolshed]

So a Hammock Hanger shall during a lightning storm. 1) hang in a shelter. 2) only tie off to shorter trees in low areas with taller trees all around. 3) never hang in open ground with sparse amount of trees.

Every hammock hanging jacka$$ (and I'm one of them) knows you tie on of these to the bottom before you go to bed.....

[Wise Old Owl]

Which part?

Not sure if it's something going on with the weather, or possibly the upcoming solstice, but it's been a very interesting few days on WB. Maybe we've finally all gone mad? Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad thing.

Honest - conflicted I am... He was a new troll and I got suckered, the best part is when he backed it with .gov handout. Yea next storm I going to walk out of the shelter and curl into a ball and kiss my feathers good bye.

We should move this to the Humor troll thread.

The other part is that Chester County looses a few kids to 11 kids each year to lightening. It's really under reported, one so far this year.


Toolshed - could you send me a set of those - I need one for each tree strap.

[gregpphoto]

If you are referring to me then you are an ******* of the highest caliber. I asked a serious question and only when I got dickheaded replies did I whip out the cited source (I could offer up more if needed, not just a .gov site). However, morons like you aside, I want to thank those who took the time to give a serious answer to a serious threat. Lastly, I would find nothing more poetically humorous than if you were to one day get struck. I don't want you to die, just to feel the burn and maybe lose whatever few remaining brain cells you have left. Schmuck.

Honest - conflicted I am... He was a new troll and I got suckered, the best part is when he backed it with .gov handout. Yea next storm I going to walk out of the shelter and curl into a ball and kiss my feathers good bye.

We should move this to the Humor troll thread.

The other part is that Chester County looses a few kids to 11 kids each year to lightening. It's really under reported, one so far this year.


Toolshed - could you send me a set of those - I need one for each tree strap.

[TheRaven]

You want fun....try riding a motorcycle in a thunderstorm....that really sucks. Generally two choices...ride or get off into a ditch. Neither one is all that preferable. I'll take hiking in a t-storm in the woods with wind any day over that.

[jazzmessenger8]

Do not ask questions on these forums. Almost all of the members are arrogant, belittling asses.