Does a fiberglass camper act as a Faraday cage when struck by lightning?

[rotorbudd]

Probably the best Faraday cage you'll have access to is your tow vehicle. Unless it's an early Corvette

[GeorgeB]

Originally Posted by hugh

Hah, this sounds like the one advantage of owning an Airstream over an Escape. I'm surprised Airstream hasn't added it to their product comparison.


"Unlike Escape, an Airstream protects you from lightning strikes, and government mind reading. You can leave your tin foil hat at home!"

Hilarious! My kind of humor.

[Upfisk]

Our time in the tropics with lightning (Panama) involved throwing all hand held electronics in the stainless steel oven (a faraday cage) and tossing into the ocean 2 2-0 cables attached to the upper stays. Friends were transiting the Panama canal and were struck by lightning. Their engine was running and they did not shut it off. Their boat was a double hulled Olympia (I think) and one of their through hull fittings blew out. All electronics were fried. They made it to Colon and were hauled out, then shut the engine off. The starter and alternator were fried. Took over a year to replace all the electronics, repair the damaged through hull fitting, and lots of other fried areas. They were insured, the haulout fees alone were $5000/month.

[JohnE3]

A fibreglass trailer provides absolutely no protection from lightning.

All lightning safety guides suggest the safest place is within a substantial building that has plumbing and wiring, while avoiding activities associated with said plumbing and wiring. The second choice is a metal roofed vehicle, while avoiding touching metal vehicle components.

Of course life's not that simple. I'm sure that plastic plumbing and panoramic sunroofs, respectively, compromise building and vehicle safety. Furthermore, lightning is nothing if not unpredictable. But in any case, following these guidelines significantly reduces the chance of getting hit by, or also very bad, being in close proximity of a lightning strike.

However, as long as you don't have an antenna, or metal flagpole sticking up, the electrically low profile of a fibreglass trailer does not make it a particularly likely target. Conversely, again, because life's not that simple, solar panels, AC, lighting and associated wiring does add to a trailer's attraction to lightning.

So to be truly chivalrous, one would carry their sleeping wife into the tow vehicle where they could continue to slumber with maximum safety.

P.S.
The graphic I chose for my profile is not by random. One of my jobs was to destroy... I mean test equipment for susceptibility to transients such as lightning. Notice the character already had his fingers in his ears... because he knows what's coming. I had so much fun!

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Lightning is to be respected. There are any number of guidelines to increase chances on not being injures when lightning is in the area. First off are lightning detection units that have ten mile or greater range for detection of an incoming storm. This allows you to seek safe shelter as is available. Once detected it’s up to you to initiate your chosen protocol.

Personal anecdote alert:

Rita and I spent the summer of 1970 as Forest Fire Lookouts for the Forest Service in Idaho. We lived in a
55 foot tall tower capped by a model L-4 lookout. It was 14X14 feet square. We were trained and sent up to watch for fires, mostly lightning caused. When lightning storms came we had two “barstool” seats, a step stool and a bed that had glass insulators screwed onto the legs. We stayed on those pieces of furniture until the storm moved through. Lightning rods on the roof and 4 large copper cables to ground the strikes that hit the tower. It was loud and exciting when it happened. And it happened numerous times that summer. From then on I’ve respected lightning a lot more than when I was younger.

Big highly conductive trees like cottonwoods are not your friend if you’re parked under one when lightning walks about. I have cleaned up exploded charred wood from cottonwoods many times and the pieces often weighed 100 lbs or better.
Respect nature for its power and unpredictability. Common sense, which is not as common fas it used to be is your best protection
Iowa Dave

Three anecdotes come to mind; I was on the high school golf team and one of the mowers was knocked off a tractor twice one summer by the sparky bolt.
One of my friends , a park ranger when I was working for the NPS had been hit by lightning three different times.
And a friend of mines garage had a big tree next to his garage that was hit directly and his garage concrete floor exploded into concrete shrapnel.

Nature bats last

[DGLP]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Lightning is to be respected. There are any number of guidelines to increase chances on not being injures when lightning is in the area. First off are lightning detection units that have ten mile or greater range for detection of an incoming storm. This allows you to seek safe shelter as is available. Once detected it’s up to you to initiate your chosen protocol.

Personal anecdote alert:

Rita and I spent the summer of 1970 as Forest Fire Lookouts for the Forest Service in Idaho. We lived in a
55 foot tall tower capped by a model L-4 lookout. It was 14X14 feet square. We were trained and sent up to watch for fires, mostly lightning caused. When lightning storms came we had two “barstool” seats, a step stool and a bed that had glass insulators screwed onto the legs. We stayed on those pieces of furniture until the storm moved through. Lightning rods on the roof and 4 large copper cables to ground the strikes that hit the tower. It was loud and exciting when it happened. And it happened numerous times that summer. From then on I’ve respected lightning a lot more than when I was younger.

Big highly conductive trees like cottonwoods are not your friend if you’re parked under one when lightning walks about. I have cleaned up exploded charred wood from cottonwoods many times and the pieces often weighed 100 lbs or better.
Respect nature for its power and unpredictability. Common sense, which is not as common fas it used to be is your best protection
Iowa Dave

And the root systems on cottonwoods are shallow, making them more susceptible to toppling over in high winds. Given the large hail we've had locally and severe weather events like the derecho that struck South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa in recent days, I'm considering purchasing a good weather band radio for use in areas with marginal or no cell phone coverage. Any thoughts?

[Rockhead]

This is the one we use

[k4zvu]

In your recent post I saw your RV and the carport; Can you provide information on carport as it might be suitable for me. Thanks Gil Lucas. 863. 557-5403

[MyronL]

Bought 12 x 20 ft canopy online at Shelterlogic Corp, Watertown, Conn.
It was a sunny day in the back yard the other day, then...

https://youtu.be/MljTbDVqDys