Thunderstorm!

PaigeJason

PaigeJason

Novice
We were camping over the weekend, my daughter and I in the camper, and my husband and two boys in the tent. Around midnight we got hit with a pretty nasty thunderstorm, with severe lightning for about two hours. Jason and the boys moved to the minivan, and my girl and I stayed put (she can sleep through anything!).

My question is this: should we have moved to the minivan, too? Would we have been safer from the lightning there? Or are we just as safe staying put in the camper? We've been only fair-weather campers up to this point, so it's never come up before. How do others handle these situations?
 
Paige,

What is the difference between a vehicle and the teardrop?
Both are made of metal, have tires, batteries.

I would stay in the teardrop myself.
 
I'd check with an expert like Evan on this one, but if it was me, I'd choose whatever vehicle it's easiest to hit your knees in… and start praying'!!
 
I'd opt for the van if it was that bad....tree limbs falling on a steel vehicle will do much more harm to a plywood trailer, no meter how well the trailer is built....
 
Since AsheWolf has nominated me as the expert, I'll give the best biblical advice I can for this situation:

When Jacob heard that Esau was coming (to kill him, most likely) he divided all his people into two groups so that at least one group could escape. This may have been one of the few times that Jacob found it handy to have two wives...

Use this advice in the best way you can.
 
Evan..... funny...

I'd stay in the camper and have.
both are on tires (Rubber insulators) and the hitch is probably a hard core version of rubber, so trailer for me and watch in the overhead windows...

Now, if I were out in the desert? would depend upon what time but 90% chance stay in camper especially at 3 am when everything "Happens" then...

So if the wife did the same thing? a little role reversal... we can do that??? heheh.. funny...
 
Oh man...I needed that giggle today! Evan, you are hilarious and I love the rebuttal from Paige. Totally classic!

Back to painting exterior trim....not so funny.
 
Evan -- great! So we were in a storm and had not unhitched from our tow and were fine. The POP up by us had unhitched and the trailer moved a couple of feet. So I think if we expect a high wind we will probably hitch up for the add "tie down" but when it comes to lightening?
 
Alan here;

Evan: I would make sure no one near by was named Noah... If that were the case 2 husbands would be to no avail since the gathering would be 2 by 2.
 
It's a myth that the tires act as insulators and that's why a car is safe in a storm. The safety in the car comes from the steel cage which can help redict a lightning strike around you....

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/cars-can-be-safe-place-during/17283636

The car is what is safer....especially if limbs are falling and wind.....campers can be thrown around with greater ease than a car...a camper weighs 900-1200 pounds...a car is two to three times that.

Like most things, it's you choice...and based on my study and first hand experiences with tornados and thunderstorms....I'll take the car :)
 
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You'll have to ask Bear about this some time. His trailer was struck by lightening with him in it once. He describes it as pretty surreal with the glow all the way around the trailer. Bear was fine, the trailer suffered some damage. The battery charger was blasted and both electric brake pucks were melted. The brake pucks being melted probably lends something to Sweeney's point that the tires do not insulate enough in a lightening strike. They were probably in the path to ground. I think the wood structure and aluminum skin is what protected Bear.

Cary
 
Sweeney is right, the car (and the camper) will act as a Faraday Cage and redirect the lightning around the vehicle to ground. If you were touching an internal piece of metal on the inside of the car, you would receive one heck of a jolt which could be deadly. The same would be true if you were touching any exposed metal on the inside of the trailer.

As others have pointed out, the car would likely be structurally safer given that they have to pass a certain level of rollover protection and therefore protect the occupants from falling debris.

However, the aluminum skin of trailer performs a similar function as the steel on the car in redirecting the lightning to ground. The wood structure of the trailer acts like insulation since wood is a poor conductor of electricity.

So, if it were just purely lightning strikes you are worried about, the trailer should provide a level of safety. However, in any storm strong winds are usually present so falling debris should also be considered.

Anyway, just my opinion.
 
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