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its only comon safety after all Andrew K...whats wrong with that mate?

its not whataver flaots my boat!! its where its safer...im sorry caravans are not safe in thunder and lightning and thats that!

Quote: Originally posted by HappyCamper2004 on 12/5/2008

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its only comon safety after all Andrew K...whats wrong with that mate?

its not whataver flaots my boat!! its where its safer...im sorry caravans are not safe in thunder and lightning and thats that!

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Assertion is not the same as proof.   I suspect that you have precisely zero evidence that caravans are less safe than cars during an electrical storm.  If you have evidence, can we please see it.  I strongly suspect that the situation is actually the reverse of what you suggest and that you would be safer in a caravan - because there are no large chunks of metal, such as gear levers that you can grab hold of.

You might be interesting in this:
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/vehicle_strike.html

and this ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSKlnQDURjo

It doesn't seem so safe in a car, does it?  You can find lots of stuff on caravans being blown away by high winds or swept away by floods - but I've yet to discover anything using Google about folks being hurt or caravans being seriously damaged as a result of being struck by lightning.

Cheers
Andrew

your just being arsey now i have no evidence but what i do have is COMMON SENSE!! get some you might like it!!

and no i wont stay at home OK

all im saying is the caravan is not the safest place to be during a storm and your all saying stay in dont go out full stop!! OMG come on now...

Quote: Originally posted by HappyCamper2004 on 12/5/2008

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your just being arsey now i have no evidence but what i do have is COMMON SENSE!! get some you might like it!!

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Nah, I don't set much store by common sense.  I'll stick to science - it works better. 

Cheers
Andrew

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewK on 12/5/2008

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Quote: Originally posted by HappyCamper2004 on 12/5/2008

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its only comon safety after all Andrew K...whats wrong with that mate?

its not whataver flaots my boat!! its where its safer...im sorry caravans are not safe in thunder and lightning and thats that!

---

Assertion is not the same as proof.   I suspect that you have precisely zero evidence that caravans are less safe than cars during an electrical storm.  If you have evidence, can we please see it.  I strongly suspect that the situation is actually the reverse of what you suggest and that you would be safer in a caravan - because there are no large chunks of metal, such as gear levers that you can grab hold of.

You might be interesting in this:
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/vehicle_strike.html

and this ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSKlnQDURjo

It doesn't seem so safe in a car, does it?  You can find lots of stuff on caravans being blown away by high winds or swept away by floods - but I've yet to discover anything using Google about folks being hurt or caravans being seriously damaged as a result of being struck by lightning.

Cheers
Andrew

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Hi Andrew, you say potato, I say potato (not so good in print!)

Both those references you give suggest to me that a family car is a safe place in  a storm. If you were hunkered down in the back seat the protection would be very good. The youtube report interviewed the driver, QED he survived even that direct strike.

The best place to be is lying in a ditch and pulling a length of chicken wire over you, but I accept that it is a bit extreme.

I will stick to the car.

Mr U-M

Quote: Originally posted by postie on 14/5/2008

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Ladies and Gentlemen, why is the thunder going to strike the car that is inevitably going to be sat within 3 metres of the caravan? Conversly why is it going to strike the van over the car? Lightning is electricity and as such will take the path of least resistance.

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Yes, the path of least resistance from ground to the charged cloud.  Both caravans and cars sit on tyres that insulate them from the ground. Whilst that won't prevent a strike running to earth if a one actually does strike a car/caravan, it'll reduce the likelyhood of a strike in the first place, I think.  Nearby trees (which are taller) and wet tents in the middle of fields are far more likely to be struck.

An equally important issue, I think, is what happens when something is struck by lightning.  Would you be at risk of injury if you are inside a caravan or car which is struck?  This might depend upon how sensible you are.  If you are holding a chunk of metal in the car that is at the same potential as the car bodyshell, such as a gear level, you'd probably not be very safe.  In a caravan, there is little or nothing I can think of that is connected to the aluminium outer skin.  Even the taps are fixed into composite boards and connected by plastic pipes. 

If being struck by lightning whilst in a car or caravan were a statistically likely event, I think we'd have heard a lot more about it.  It's quite difficult to find anything about it on the internet using Google.  My bet is that you are more likely to be abducted by aliens or bitten by a rabid dog!!

Cheers
Andrew

One point I will make to this thread is that car, caravan, motorcycle or any other road going vehicle tyres are  most certainly not electrical insulators!!!. The amount of carbon black that goes into modern tyre compounds is significant and this is, I can assure you, conductive. Certainly at the sort of Megavolt potentials we are looking at here.

By the way AndrewK I am not holding out much hope for myself as I went out for a few jars with some rugby mates last Saturday and woke up Sunday feeling like I had, indeed, been abducted and bitten by some very rabid alien types. 

Quote: Originally posted by stevewils on 12/5/2008

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How do you get to the campsite? Tardis?

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Actually, yes, that is what we use.  Of course, Tardis is just what my OH calls my Land Rover Discovery  - it's a big, blue box that magically takes us wherever we want to go, and always seems bigger on the inside than out!!

Back on the lightning theme - all four of us were woken in the middle of the night a couple of years ago.  We sat up in bed, pulled open the curtains at the front of the Tristar we had then, and sat in a line watching the lightning coming over from Ireland and rolling around the Galloway coast.  The four were me, OH and our two dogs - they were just as fascinated as we were.  Ashamed to say, any potential danger just didn't occur to us  (nor did getting out of bed and going and sitting in the car!) - we just marvelled at nature's fantastic display!