Brian Oakley wrote:
"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 4, 3:20 am, "download.com" wrote:
"RHF" wrote in message
. .
Ever wonder why they use Fiberglass Poles in a Tent ?
I didn't know that. I learned something!!!!!

Burr
Burr - Sort of like the story of the Golfer who
raised his Cub and said : Looks like We could
be getting some Thunder & Lightning . . .
zzzzzzzzzzz ZAP ! ~ RHF

Filerglass Tent Poles are lightweight and breakdown
to a small Packable Size and that is good -but- they
also do not function as a Lightning Attractor like a
Metal Pole would.

The "Plastic" Tent Poles in creap Tents will
often start to wrap in high heat areas.

Know a few people who will only use the "Non
Metalic" Tent Stakes up in the High Sierras as
an extra step to protect themselves from T&L
-but- they leave their metal Pack Frames in
the Tent ? ? ? ;-)
.
.
Now we are getting a little ridiculous. if lightening will jump thousands
of feet, what in the world would make you think that a little bit if metal
such as a tent pole would attract it away from where it was headed in the
first place? Youre talking about hundreds of thousands of volts, if not
more. You think that fiberglass wouldnt conduct electricity at that kind of
voltage and current? Please
B




The issue is not whether the fiberglass pole would conduct better or
worse than the metal pole, but rather, the issue is where the discharge
originates.

There are multiple phases of a lightening strike. Two significant
phases, the visible ones, are the leader stroke and the return stroke.
The leader stroke is from cloud to sky. It's often not visible, or
obscured by the return blast. The leader stroke will strike an object,
and often, but not always, create an ionized path that will facilitate
the return stroke. It's the return stroke that contains the Wrath of God
energy. And the return stroke originates at the surface and moves from
ground to sky.

The leader stroke, like all electrical phenomena, seek the path of
least resistance to ground. Height and conductivity will matter most,
here. If there is a high object of relative conductivity, the leader
stroke will move there. Living tissue, owing to the solutes within it's
fluids, will have a greater conductivity, and/or break down resistive
materials under heavy voltage more readily than a fiberglass pole. So,
the use of fiberglass is often, but not always, an effective measure of
safety where electrical storms are an issue, because an ionized path can
be created more readily elsewhere with much lower electric field strength.

A metal pole, however, presents a number of electrical advantages to
both the leader stroke and the return blast. Among them, besides the
obvious enhanced conductivity while in contact with the ground, is the
high curvature at the top end of the pole. High curvature on a conductor
concentrates the electric field flux offering a dramatically much easier
release of current than a flat object. This is why users of a Van De
Graaf generator note a corona discharge around the heads of tacks,
points of pins, and the like. A metal pole, stuck in the ground offers
an enormous level of electric activity that should a potential develop,
a discharge would happen at a much lower potential. Making both leader
stroke and a return blast more likely than with a fiberglass pole should
conditions develop.

It also means that many such strokes may be dissipated before they
can become dangerous by releasing electrons through corona discharge at
points of high curvature. This is how lightning rods work. But in the
case of metal tent poles, the ground system is random, not engineered
for efficiency, and poles of even height are often too few in number to
offer sufficient corona release to forestall a stroke.

So, a metal pole becomes more dangerous than a fiberglass pole when
conditions are right for lightning to occur.