Camping in a thunderstorm with the kids, stick it out, or not?

LordSutch

So you've pitched your 'sixman tent' on your two week camping holiday (on a campsite) with the kids, and a proper thunderstorm arrives in the middle of the night on day five!

So what do you do?

Take down the tent in the middle of the night? or stick it out and put the "3000 Hydrostatic head" to the test

Is it fool hardy to stick it out with the kids? And what are the options. Maybe wake up the kids and head for the toilet block till the storm passes? Or just enjoy the bangs & flashes with the kids . . . .

Any and all suggestions welcome.

PS Tent type/tunnel/ fiberglass poles/sewn in groundsheet.

LordSutch

Any ideas?

markc2951

You be grand,as long as kids are warm.I recently camped out during bad weather over on the west coast.my lad loved it.tent flapping around and the noise of the rain.

LordSutch

markc2951 wrote: »

You be grand,as long as kids are warm.I recently camped out during bad weather over on the west coast.my lad loved it.tent flapping around and the noise of the rain.

But lightening?

I've read some cautious reports from different camping sites which suggest abandoning the tent till the thunder & lightening storm passes, for fear of a lightening strike! Hence my question . . . .

markc2951

LordSutch wrote:

But lightening?

LordSutch wrote:

I've read some cautious reports from different camping sites which suggest abandoning the tent till the thunder & lightening storm passes, for fear of a lightening strike! Hence my question . . . .

Everyone is different...if it was me i would batten down the hatches and and just let it pass unless your kid(s) were crying with fear and hysterical..

LordSutch

Thanks for that, and to be honest I would be have thought the same thing until a couple of days ago, when I read several cautionary posts about tents & lightening "and what you should do" if lightening threatens, like (pack up tent and get into your car) or head for the toilet block?

As regards our kids, they would be fine I guess, they're happy little creatures unfazed by most things.

I'll pitch the tent for the duration and be done with it, come hail rain or snow sun

BarryD

Keep things in perspective.

If you're in a campsite with buildings about, caravans, trees, aerials, other tents etc. - you'd be very, very unlucky if it happened to be your tent that was struck. Lots of other objects about through which the short to ground might take place.

If you were a solitary tent, camping up on a high ridge, the only pieces of metal about for miles and sticking up on a height - then you might be worried about a thunderstorm.

That'd be my take on it and have camped through a good few thunderstorms

sheesh

leave the tent up and sleep in the car. Cars are a safe place to be in a lightening storm if you are worried about getting hit.

or just wait it out.

Tie kids to stakes, force them to sit it out, it'll toughen them up.

I don't think anyone can judge whether your kids should be exposed to a storm or not. There is hardly a "right" answer. For me it would come down to one simple thing, is the kid scared or entertained. As for safety, well that depends on the environment and circumstances, I mean if lightening is hitting the ground nearby well then I'd be in the car.

Peregrinus

In the event of a lightning strike, your tent is not safe. If it has no metal poles it won't actively attract lightning, but nor does it offer any protection if there is a lightning strike nearby. Plus, in a tent, you're basically sitting (or lying) on the ground, and being on the ground up to 10 metres from a lightning strike can be fatal; up to 30 metres away you can still be injured. Your tent is particularly risky if you have pitched it on high ground, or near a tree, fence or anything else that might attract lightning.

If you are concerned about lightning strike, get into your car (assuming it's there). The Faraday cage effect will protect you. Do not turn on the engine or any of the electrics. Do not touch the door handles, steering wheel, or anything else that might be connected by wires to the bodywork. Keep your hands in your lap.

If your car isn't handy, an enclosed building is good, esp. one which has electric wiring or plumbing which may help to ground any lightning strike. The toilet block may be unpleasant, but it's probably an ideal building in which to shelter from lightning. An open-sided picnic shelter, etc, is not good.

Lightning strikes may continue for up to 30 minutes after the thunder dies away. About a third of lightning strike injuries happen to people who were sheltering safely, but came out before it was safe to do so.

Having said all that, death by lightning strike in Ireland is rare - about 0.1 cases per million people per year. The US is about twice as high, Australia (where I am living now) three times as high, which is why lightning strike and how to manage the risk is a thing you can pick up leaflets on in any good outdoor activities shop.

Carawaystick

I'd like to hear more about this silent lightening which makes no thunder...

WheatenBriar

Carawaystick wrote: »

I'd like to hear more about this silent lightening which makes no thunder...

Yes,it does make thunder but very high out of audio
There can still be cloud to ground lightning with that too

BarryD

Carawaystick wrote: »

I'd like to hear more about this silent lightening which makes no thunder...

Maybe it's so far away, you can't hear the thunder?

Peregrinus

Since we don't precisely understand how lightning makes thunder - there are competing theories about this - there's no reason to assume that thunderless lightning is impossible.

Besides, we know it's possible, because we have seen it. It's a commonly occurrence.

BarryD

Peregrinus wrote: »

Since we don't precisely understand how lightning makes thunder - there are competing theories about this - there's no reason to assume that thunderless lightning is impossible.

Besides, we know it's possible, because we have seen it. It's a commonly occurrence.

Just curious, where and how often? I've seen lightning without hearing thunder alright, but the storm is at a distance and either the sound waves of the thunder don't reach or the ambient noise drowns them out. There's obviously a large difference between sound waves and light.

Captain Snow

When Thunder Roars go indoors.