Nice long-read but with a title like that I was hoping for a small FAQ summary somewhere in the article?
(Stretching out arms sounds strange, don’t you want to minimize your reach of contact points with the ground, considering how many V/m there will be if lightning strikes close to you?)
We're a little coddled now though, I'd say.
Just being on the farm, 20 acres back (a few miles), and a surprise storm... where do you go? Under the tress, surely not!
Laying flat may be the only hope.
People used to be outside more, I'd say. I wonder what the historical vs modern wrt population strike numbers look like?
Well, hitting the ground with your face first would be unpleasant
> (Stretching out arms sounds strange, don’t you want to minimize your reach of contact points with the ground, considering how many V/m there will be if lightning strikes close to you?)
I'm guessing it's to basically try to be as flat as possible, covering head would make you be overall higher off the ground
Most of the advice I've seen pretty much goes by "just try to be least conductive target around"
But also try to be not around a slightly worse conductor, like a tree. A slightly better conductor is also not a good idea (getting 1/2 of the current is still deadly).
Current tends to flow around and over things, rather than through them. That is, on the surface. Which means that the conductivity of dry wood ("through") matters far less than the conductivity of slightly mineralised water ("over" or "around").
The pacemaker itself probably isn’t designed for lightning strikes, but it probably is designed to survive hits from a defibrillator. I’d put money on a pacemaker/ICD surviving a lightning strike.
I feel like there's less risk from ground current than there would be from a direct strike. There's probably a certain compromise; you don't want to be too close to the tree (otherwise lightning can jump back onto you from the tree), but neither too far away where you become the only path to ground.
1) Drop and step away from all metal (golf clubs, backpacks with metal frames, etc). You are not Thor and cannot wield lightning.
2) Crouch and cross your arms over your knees to make the shortest ground to ground circuit. Lightning is looking for a high point and you don't want to be it.
If I were to guess why the first guy was struck in the article, it could have been the pin flag in his hand or his golf club in the other hand (presumably) that was the catalyst for the strike.
Source: Been backpacking since the days of external metal frames.
edit: I've heard from witnesses that sometimes you get 1-2 seconds of your hair standing up as a warning signal before being struck. So if your arm hair stands up, DROP.