OT: Shocking!

FlyDunes · Since 09 Oct 2007 1034 Posts Aloha XTreme Poster

So yesterday some friends and I went to the coast to paraglide, and we were land-kiting while we were waiting for good conditions.

There were some big over developed cummies off shore behind Tillamook head and occasional lightning strikes way off in the distance. So anyway, Kelton is pulling off some jumps next to me and when he landed there was this cracking noise like he had a load of ball bearings in his pockets or something. So I asked "what do you have in your pockets?" And he says "nothing" and jumps again. And then he said "but its really strange, coz every time I land there's this noise and I get strange tingling sensation in my legs, like I'm being shocked".

Shocked

I yelled "PUT THE KITE DOWN!" Shocked

Holy shit. I think he was about to get zip fried! I've read 1st hand accounts of people who got struck by lightning and they had described the same kind of sensation.

I figure he was collecting a little charge every time he jumped and then discharging like a big static shock every time he landed. Maybe that's the worst that would have happened, but we decided not to find out....

pdxmonkeyboy · Mon Aug 18, 08 7:03 am

I was climbing in Colorado once and there was electrical storms coming in. My hair started standing on edge and I swear to god my ice axe had this weird faint halo around it. Scary indeed and uber dangerous.

Diggy · Since 25 Nov 2006 342 Posts Gorge to Coast Obsessed

Growing up on the west coast of Florida I've always heard that before a lightning strikes that you will feel it and hair will stand and to drop flat on the ground if you experience this. I think putting the kite down and fast was certainlty appropriete, along with re-evaluating the choice to have kites up when lightning is hitting the water offshore. Lightning will look for the path of least resistance which will typically be the highest object.

Nothing you didn't already know I'm sure, just glad there was no serious incident.

KidCorporate · Since 10 Jul 2007 563 Posts Addicted

Heh, I'm listening to the thunder rolling over Bingen as I read this Smile

So we had a big debate over how likely you would be to struck by lightning while kiting, does anyone have any input on this?

tekko · Since 20 Feb 2006 376 Posts White Salmon Liquid Force

not on being struck.. but definitely being shocked.

Had similar description happen a couple times in Hatteras back in the day. Even miles ahead of the storm, there would be static. Same thing.. every time you left and came back to the water, there would be a shock.

One day in the ocean, it was enough that it was uncomfortable to hold the bar during the shock.. and would get shocked each time you went over a wave and dropped off the backside.

Loud enough that people standing around could hear it.

Chooch · Mon Aug 18, 08 8:02 am

Ask Ben Franklin.....I think if your out on the water you are a huge target for Lightning(kite 90' off the water with nothing else around).....either way I don't want to find out the hard way

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

but didn't ben franklin tie a key to his kite string? He didn't get shocked, but his key did...

so how would electricity strike a kite anyway? There's nothing conductive in it is there? Can our kite lines actuaclly conduct electriciy? Even with that...though the carbon fiber bar is somewhat conductive, the rubber around the grips should insluate you.

I have no idea what he was feeling, but it seems more likely that his body was passing through the charged air particles and creating static charge, but what do i know?

does anyone have a scientific explanation?

forrest · Mon Aug 18, 08 8:22 am

Air doesn't conduct, but lightening finds a way through it. Kite, lines, and bar are all better conductors than air. It's the path of least resistance.

Chooch · Mon Aug 18, 08 8:26 am

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

lines could hold some moisture, and possibly trap the ionized air (O3 - Ozone) which itself is conductive. In open air the ozone can get blown around and it could make it difficult for the lightning to find a complete path to the ground (hence lightning rarely forms a straight path through the atmosphere). If the ozone forms between the fibers of the lines, it is somewhat trapped and will be more likely to provide a complete path to the ground. Moisture will definitely aid in this, especially on the coast because salt water is WAY more conductive than fresh water because the salt dissolves into ions, which are conductive.

btw, ozone is created by the charge differential between two molecules, so great charge differentials tend to create paths of ozone which eventually conduct electricity (lightning)

scottman · Since 08 Jun 2007 150 Posts hillsboro Stoked

Similar experience Sunday too. I was salmon fishing off the Astoria coast when our VHF antenna started crackling like a high voltage power line with static electricity. My wifes hair was standing straight up in the air! This is a sign the cloud looking for a low resistance discharge path but does not have enough charge to send down a bolt. My buddy grabs his gaffing hook (non-conductive wood handle) to lower the antenna without getting shocked. We decided to get out of there. Before we could reel our lines in I lock into a 30lb king with a highly conductive graphite rod standing in an aluminum boat. There was no lightning strikes close to us but it sure felt imminent.

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4911 Posts Portland Unstrapped

Scarry shit

More fun with weather
Was fishing the flats in keys - wading with a 9' fly rod in the middle of a 2 sq mile flat of 6 inch water. Some black clouds roll by (a few miles away) - I lift up the rod and I hear this buzzing sound - ignore it for a while - kinda weird - must be imagining things

I lower the rod and it stops, raise the rod it starts again and gets louder, do this a few times, before i wise up and boogie.

Heard stories of the fly line hanging suspended in the air while guys are fishing.
Guess this is not so uncommon that or all fishermen all full of shit

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/flytalk/2008/08/lightning-struc.html

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

chanson · Since 31 Jan 2006 1874 Posts WISCONSIN Chimey

Reaper356 · Since 10 Dec 2006 781 Posts Salem / LC Oregon Opinionated

As far as lightning and electricity goes, I always think of voltage as electricity's ability to jump gaps and Amps as electricity's ability to blow things to peices...

Multiply and you have power...

If you can jump a gap w/ ions in the air, the organics in the kitelines are going to have enough polarization that they can temporarily ionize... this effect doesn't last for long because your lines will burn in half because they pose a lot of Resistance (which gives off heat). The electricity is going to kill you in a split second, then burn your lines half way back to the kite while it's jumping to ground!

Very Happy

Sid · Since 31 Mar 2008 83 Posts Right behind you. Â

A was flying a 2m foil kite on standing in wet grass a few years ago with a electrical storm going off about 30 miles South of me when I started feeling a tingle in my hands and my hairs stand up. When I loosend the grip on my bar the tingles would increase in intensity and I could hear an audible electrical crackeling noise. I couldn't put my kite down fast enough.

When I was a kid I had that happen to me once when I was mowing a golf course during an electrical storm and two seconds later I heard the most defening crack you could fathom and my vision went white for about ten seconds. I'm pretty certain a bolt hit the mower I was riding or at least the ground next to me. I wasn't about to stick around to see if that would happen twice.