Is it safe to camp and sleep in tents in thunderstorms?

Outdoor emergencies often occur, and it is more common to encounter wind and rain. If you are in a thunderstorm when you are camping, you must be in a bad mood. How do protect the outdoor tent from lightning? Lightning protection must first understand the properties of lightning. Lightning should belong to a natural phenomenon, but if it is not controlled and prevented, it is also a natural disaster, which can cause casualties and property losses. Although it is an irresistible natural factor, the harm and consequences caused are also very serious, but strengthening prevention and control can also be avoided. Therefore, strengthen the study of lightning-related safety knowledge before the summer thunderstorm season. It is very important and necessary to take corresponding safety precautions

1.Is the aluminum pole more attractive to lightning than the glass pole?

The choice of lightning is first of all based on the height of the conductor, among several conductors, it will hit the highest. In addition, since lightning is usually on rainy days, the fabric of the tent becomes a conductor due to wet water, whether it is a glass pole or an aluminum pole. So even if the aluminum pole is a good conductor, the attraction to lightning is more determined by the height than the material of the pole.

2.How to prevent the tent from being struck by lightning?

Lightning damage mainly comes from two aspects: one is a direct hit, and the other is a high-voltage arc. To avoid direct hacking, the simple principle is not to be the high point of this area, standing out from the crowd is the easiest to be hacked. The arc is an air discharge phenomenon caused by the high voltage of lightning. After hitting an object, the high voltage will instantly form an arc near the object, causing damage. Therefore, while not becoming a high point, you should also avoid camping next to the high point. Otherwise you will still be hit by the arc. Therefore, the ideal way is to choose a location where the overall terrain and vegetation height are relatively low, and can maintain a certain distance from tall plants or buildings to camp.

3.Which is safer, aluminum rod or glass rod?

Theoretically, the glass rod cannot share the current through the body because it does not conduct electricity, while the aluminum rod can act as a parallel conductor to help the body carry some of the currents. There are cases in history where people who were struck by lightning survived because their clothes were completely soaked and became conductive. So, the wetter the tent, the more conductive the pole is, and the less damage it will cause after being hit. However, this cannot avoid the huge damage caused by the high-voltage arc, so once hit, it is extremely dangerous.

4. Which one is more lightning rod or aluminum rod?

If the actual use situation is ignored, the aluminum pole is indeed more thunderous. But in fact, because the whole tent has become a conductor on rainy days and the poles are usually not exposed outside the tent, this difference is not big. Of course, bolts from the blue or tents with lots of metal poles outside are not considered.

5.Which is more likely to avoid hazards, glass rod or aluminum rod?

We are talking about lightning hitting the tent instead of directly hitting the human body. There is no aluminum rod directly touching the human body, so this situation is completely different from the fishing rod hitting the wire and killing a person. Lightning strikes the tent is not directly hitting the human body. At this time, what should be avoided is not the direct current passing through the human body, but the arc and high temperature, so the effect of the principle similar to the rubber shoes is not suitable in this case. The huge energy of lightning must be converted, and it is possible to enter the ground through conductors, generate arcs, and generate high temperatures in this process.

6.Conclusion:

(1)If it is raining and thundering, the aluminum pole is not more dangerous than the glass pole, and it may be safer. Because no matter what the pole tent is at this time, it will become a conductor, so the focus is on who can better digest the current after a lightning strike.

(2)If there is thunder on a sunny day, aluminum poles are more dangerous, because only aluminum pole tents attract lightning strikes at this time.

(3)Choosing a tent pole is only a secondary lightning protection measure. The real key is to grasp the basic principles of camp selection and take preventive measures for lightning protection.

In any case, choosing the right camp to avoid lightning strikes is the right way. When the lightning is very strong and there is no suitable terrain, you can even pull the trekking poles or tent poles to the longest, insert them on the ground about 10 meters away from the tent, and curl up in the tent without poles. 

When doing outdoor sports, it is inevitable to camp in the wild. When it rains, you must learn how to prevent lightning strikes when living in a tent. The above is a summary of how tents can prevent lightning strikes in lightning weather.