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I know the year's still young, but this has to take the cake:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060623/tc_ ... hones_dc_3

LONDON (Reuters) - People should not use mobile phones outdoors during thunderstorms because of the risk of being struck by lightning, doctors said on Friday.

Wonder what these doctors would say about playing a sousaphone in a thunderstorm...

REUTERS(London) wrote:"This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lighting strike injuries," said Swinda Esprit, a doctor at Northwick Park Hospital in England.

Good thing most sousaphones these days are fiberglass.
If you must play a brass tuba of any kind outdoors, please ensure that said tuba has fully fuctioning, OSHA-approved grounding straps, and that you are standing in a dry, clean place.

windshieldbug wrote:Good thing most sousaphones these days are fiberglass.
If you must play a brass tuba of any kind outdoors, please ensure that said tuba has fully fuctioning, OSHA-approved grounding straps, and that you are standing in a dry, clean place.

If it's a choice between holding a cellphone or an umbrella during a thunderstorm, I'll take the cell.

Chuck(G) wrote:

windshieldbug wrote:Good thing most sousaphones these days are fiberglass.
If you must play a brass tuba of any kind outdoors, please ensure that said tuba has fully fuctioning, OSHA-approved grounding straps, and that you are standing in a dry, clean place.

If it's a choice between holding a cellphone or an umbrella during a thunderstorm, I'll take the cell.

What about playing tuba on a metal stand in a thunder storm with a clip-on mike while sitting in a steel folding chair with the four little rubber thingies missing off the feet and a plugged in guitar across your lap?
Doomed! Doomed!

bloke wrote:What would have been my best strategy in this situation?

I've been caught out on the golf course during thunderstorms.

There is really nothing you can do if prevention is no longer an option. Probably the best thing to do is hunker down in a low spot. If there are no low spots, then it's probably best just to keep moving.

Lightning actually is likely to cause injury in a near miss. When the lightning hits the ground, it creates a voltage spike. The difference in voltage potential attenuates out into the earth. But the voltage is so high that it takes some distance for this to occur. If you are touching the ground at two spots, the voltage gradient between the two points can cause the injury. That's usually what kills cattle in near misses.

So, jogging is as good as anything if there's no low spot to hide in. I probably would have done it in a group to minimize the exposure for everyone as quickly as possible.

Rick "thinking that the metal skin of a car is better protection than a wood building" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:I've been caught out on the golf course during thunderstorms.

"If you're caught out on a golf course during a thunderstorm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron." Lee Trevino

Rick Denney wrote:I probably would have done it in a group to minimize the exposure for everyone as quickly as possible

"Flocking Theory", eh?

windshieldbug wrote:"Flocking Theory", eh?

Yup. Keeps the lightning confused.

Rick "who also suggests serpentine" Denney