It would seem that wet clothing would provide a path to ground. Some advice on avoiding injury suggest the opposite, that is, insulating oneself from ground.

Can you provide some reference for the wet clothing theory or was that based on theory?

John

Reference? well, a short google search gave this: http://www.pocketsurvival.com/pocket-survival/improve-lightning-survival-by-wetting-clothes

Wether you are wearing soaked clothes, dry clothes or even being nude and standing on a wooden pallet does not matter. The likeliness of being struck remains the same.

The theory that wet clothes can limit the injuries in the case of being hit by lightning can be explained by the fact that current always flows in the path of least resistance. If you got struck while wearing dry or no clothes, all of the current would have to travel through your body. If you were instead dressed from top till toe with several layers of soaked clothing, witch is a lot more conductive than skin, only a fraction of that current would have to travel through your body, the rest would conduct through the clothes. Just think about the faraday suits used by HV technicians, its the same principle. This is also why you are considered to be safe inside a cars cupe, it is basically a faraday cage.

The problem however, is the head and neck. While wet clothes can reduce the risk of cardiac arrest, nothing protects the sentral nevous system from being fryed. It is a fact that lightning victims can die from suffocation, because the nervous system malfunctions so they cannot activate the breathing muscles. This can also make lightning victims dangerously disoriented.


But you are correct, insulating yourself from the ground is important when in danger of lightning strikes. This is because of ground currents. Lets say that a bolt struck 10m away from you. The current from the lightning dont just stop when it reaches ground, it radiates away from the point of impact through the soil. If you were lying flat on the ground to be as low as possible, something many people will do, a significant current could pass through your body. This is becaue your body has a much lower resistance than the soil, and current will still follow the path of least resistance.

If lightning strikes all around you, your skin feels prickly, hair begins to stand up or you witness St. Elmos fire on nearby objects, you should know that you are in a very dangerous situation. Seek proper shelter or assume the lightning crouch imediately. Stay away from trees and other tall objects.


I am pretty shure that i have ventured far off-topic, so ill end my post there. As a new member i shoulnt be testing the mod's patience like this


Edit: St. Elmos fire

 

For sure, we all agree that lightning is not to be messed with.

As for the wet clothing theory, thank you for clarifying that it is just a theory without substantiating evidence. Albeit, such evidence would be hard to obtain. Any volunteers?

I will stay dry and in my car, if I get stuck in a storm.

John

 

As for the wet clothing theory, thank you for clarifying that it is just a theory without substantiating evidence. Albeit, such evidence would be hard to obtain. Any volunteers?

I agree, lightning (and clothing) is just to random to guarantee anything. If you purpousley soak you clothes to keep you safe in a thunderstorm, you might as well end up dead from hypothermia

 

I agree, lightning (and clothing) is just to random to guarantee anything. If you purpousley soak you clothes to keep you safe in a thunderstorm, you might as well end up dead from hypothermia

Wet clothing would be of help if the moisture absorbed by the material does not come in contact with one's body. for eg. a wet, full body raincoat, in my opinion, can ground the discharge current thru it's wet surface...but provided the rain coat is of some new age material like polyurathene and not rubber!

 

The discussion is becoming awfully odd. Like someone could pour a bucket of salt water over himself and then safely climb a high voltage distribution tower.

The highest voltage considered to be intrinsically safe is 24. Beyond that, every precaution needs to be taken to prevent a possibly lethal shock. Any source than can deliver more than a fraction of a milliamp under the skin must be considered hazardous.

Survival does not mean safety.