3 ms·
>The old SAS Survival Handbook (by John Wiseman) contains the advice that if you feel any “tingle” in a thunderstorm, get on the ground, preferably hitting the
by xani_ 4y ago
>The old SAS Survival Handbook (by John Wiseman) contains the advice that if you feel any “tingle” in a thunderstorm, get on the ground, preferably hitting the ground with your hands/arms first. I wonder how much it’s based on anything that helps in real life.
Well, hitting the ground with your face first would be unpleasant
> (Stretching out arms sounds strange, don’t you want to minimize your reach of contact points with the ground, considering how many V/m there will be if lightning strikes close to you?)
I'm guessing it's to basically try to be as flat as possible, covering head would make you be overall higher off the ground
Most of the advice I've seen pretty much goes by "just try to be least conductive target around"
- amelius 4y ago> Most of the advice I've seen pretty much goes by "just try to be least conductive target around" But also try to be not around a slightly worse conductor, like a tree. A slightly better conductor is also not a good idea (getting 1/2 of the current is still deadly).
- xani_ 4y agoWould tree be bad conductor tho ? It's more conductive than air, much taller than average human, and probably similar in conductivity when wet
- dredmorbius 4y agoTrees where lightning is prevalent are often wet, the water itself often containing dissolved salts (which enhance conductivity). Current tends to flow around and over things, rather than through them. That is, on the surface. Which means that the conductivity of dry wood ("through") matters far less than the conductivity of slightly mineralised water ("over" or "around").