I've been in boats during really severe lighting storms but never a Kayak... one lighting bolt striking within 50 FEET of my (sail) boat. The sea "lit up" but we didn't feel a thing except fear. My dad, who had arthritis at the time, didn't have another bout of arthritis for 20 years. He is 87 now and says he thinks he needs "another treatment." I Heard about one guy getting struck while sitting on the fantail of a steel hull boat when lightening struck him. It blew a hole in the boat and burned his bottom badly, but he survived. If you are paddling and your boat begins to glow... you are in trouble. Robert *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I woner if Carbon Fiber is a positive or negative feature (no pun intended) in a lightning storm. > > If you are paddling and your boat begins to glow... you are in trouble. > > Robert Bob Denton President Gulf Stream International Sink the Stink - The Water Sports Deodorizer That Works! Boynton Beach, FL http://www.flinet.com/gulfstream/scuba.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Bob Denton wrote: > > I wonder if Carbon Fiber is a positive or negative feature (no pun > intended) in a lightning storm. Probably not a significantly better conductor than a wet (with water) glass/epoxy shaft, but I don't know the specific conductance of a carbon fiber/epoxy laminate. Maybe that "Lightning!" paddle guy will know -- he makes 'em, after all! -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR sea kayaker -- and chemist *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Bob Denton wrote: > > I woner if Carbon Fiber is a positive or negative feature (no pun > intended) in a lightning storm. > > > > If you are paddling and your boat begins to glow... you are in trouble. > > > > Robert > Bob Denton > I'm not sure how the carbon compares to the carbon fibre used in sport kite tubing but I know that it is very conductive. James *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Bob, Dave, et.al., >>Bob Denton wrote: >> >> I wonder if Carbon Fiber is a positive or negative feature (no pun >> intended) in a lightning storm. > >Dave Kruger wrote: > >Probably not a significantly better conductor than a wet (with water) >glass/epoxy shaft, but I don't know the specific conductance of a carbon >fiber/epoxy laminate. Maybe that "Lightning!" paddle guy will know -- >he makes 'em, after all! Carbon in graphite form will conduct electricity. Not as well as aluminum, but better than fiberglass. I did some testing with an ohm meter years back to see, after I'd heard from one of my specialty suppliers that they quit selling graphite for composite structure building after noticing that it wreaked havoc with their computers. The wife of a couple (near Boulder, CO) ran the little home composite reinforcement supply business while her husband was a computer consultant of some kind. We have a couple computers here at Lightning Paddles and I've not noticed any problems that I couldn't blame on Bill Gates' lack of programming expertise....<grin> Maybe the "can't hire decent help" is Billy's best excuse? I don't remember the resistances I measured, and I'm sure they'd vary considerably from paddle to paddle. They were pretty high, but still did conduct. I don't think I'd worry about using a graphite paddle on the water from that standpoint. I do remember that someone (in Maine?) was killed a few years back by lightning and his paddle shaft was aluminum. I don't know if it had any bearing on the death, just that the fact was mentioned in the info source. High voltages such are produced by lightning (the electrical kind, not the paddle kind <grin>) would probably not be affected much by paddle material (or boat material -- some boats have graphite reinforcing in them, too). The air is a pretty good electrical insulator. Fiberglass is a slightly better insulator than air. Graphite would be less so. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned the "cone of protection." I've heard that it works both ways. A tree gets hit by lightning and there are burn spots in the grass all around the tree where minor bolts hit the ground near the tree. All the power in lightning doesn't take the path of least resistance. I wouldn't even hesitate to use an aluminum shafted paddle on the water if nothing lighter was available. I see someone else just posted a similar "don't worry, nothing you can do about it" response. Hank Hays Lightning Paddles http://www.paddles.com/ lightning_at_paddles.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
There has been some discussion regarding paddle material and whether one material increases your chance of being hit by lightning. It seems to me that no one is considering that your paddle blade will most likely be partially coated with (salt) water, running to your drip rings and then down to a larger body of water. Sorta like a path from the tip of your paddle to ground. I suspect this has a non-negligable effect and, therefore, makes the actual paddle material less of a factor. Bill Leonhardt *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
My Dear Dear Friends, I have followed this lightning and paddle thread and am mildly surprised that such erudite people as the Paddlewsie contributors have not picked up on this, the true reason why the Inuit developed the Greenland paddle. It is well known that bone is a poor conductor of electricity and that is why the Inuit paddle maker tipped his paddle with bone. Some labor under the impression that the bone tips were to protect the paddle from rock damage but which would you be more concerned about - being fried by lightning or a rough paddle tip. Indeed, a rough tip could have been an advantage in producing more sensation in the Inuit game of "slap and tickle". What makes the discovery of the non conducting paddle more significant is Lightning is a rare thing in the Arctic. Thus the Inuit deduced its existence and took preventative measures just in case there was a climatic change and thunderstorms moved north. Of course, being very cautious people they also developed the low Greenland stroke that keeps the paddle tip low and away from lightning strikes. I myself have witnessed how people paddling with the Greenland stroke rarely get struck by lightning unless paddling on a golf course with their Nibblick elevated in a sign of elation for holing a seal in one. Many have maligned the Inuit saying they had no science but surely this proves the opposite. It is a superb example of pure science that the Inuit theorised the existence of lightning and even developed a method of dealing with it. In this they anticipated the modern sea kayaker's concern for safety and obsession with being prepared for every eventuality. What matters is that the Inuit anticipated Benjamin Franklin by centuries. Dr. Peregrine Inverbon, Ph.d., DD, LL.d, Ph.G Transcribed by his humble servant John Winters *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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