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Suppose I'm caught in a heavy thunderstorm while lying in my tent, on my foam sleeping bad, in my nice waterproof tent. Suppose I have a good campsite so I don't need to worry about flash floods. However, suppose that I happen to be in a rather exposed place, far away from any forests. What is the safest thing to do, to minimise the risk of injury (or worse) as a result of a lightning strike?

Should I stay where I am, cuddle up in my sleeping bag remaining on my sleeping pad? Or should I get out and crouch on top of my sleeping pad, while minimising the surface area of my contact with the ground? Am I safer inside my tent or outside?

See also: Is my tent pole a lightning rod?

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gerrit
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3 Answers3

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The first thing to do is to not pitch your tent in the middle of a flat area when there is a chance of thunderstorms. Sometimes that's not so easy, but that doesn't make it any less a good thing to do.

For a properly sited tent, the best thing to do during a thunderstorm is to stay put. Lightning shouldn't hit the tent directly, but it could hit something else nearby. That can cause large ground currents, which causes voltage over a distance across the ground. Inside your sleeping bag on a insulated pad on top of the tent floor should be fairly safe from voltages caused by large ground currents.

If you are in badly sited tent, perhaps in the middle of a flat area with the tent being the tallest thing around, then staying put inside your sleeping bag is still the best thing to do in a bad circumstance. If lightning does strike your tent, then there is at least some chance the current will be conducted by the wet skin of the tent or the tent poles (if metal). This will make the current go around you instead of through you to the ground. It will be very unpleasant nonetheless, but still a whole lot better than getting zapped directly.

Again, the right answer is to not get yourself into this circumstance in the first place.

Toby Speight
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Olin Lathrop
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I agree with being sure to properly site the camp but I disagree with laying on the ground during thunderstorms. Crouching on the balls of your feet is the safest course of action. Do not lay on the ground ... the infinitesimally small insulation from your mat isn't going to do much when it comes to current that first made it through the air and then through the ground.

Randy G
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Crouching on the balls of your feet will make you taller and unbalanced and is not a practical position for the average person to be in. Some tents are not even tall enough to crouch in. I think the mattress is your safety zone as long as you keep everything in the confines of your mattress you’ll be fine unless the tent gets struck and catches fire then just run for your life.

Bob
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