Lightning Master Static Dissipater Rod

This past year I have been hit by lightning twice on the mast which fried a bunch of equipment and caused over ten thousand dollars of damage. I have been scared lately being the tallest thing around and can't sleep when there is any hint of a storm. So far this has prevented at least 2 near by lightning strikes that I am sure would have hit had this not been installed. When I got it, I was surprised how small it was. The directions and everything I have read online says the fuzzy brush part needs to be at least as big as and cover the whole exposure of the top of the mast to the sky. It protects a cone shape below it supposedly. This thing ends up being about 4-5 inches in diameter when it poofs out and didn't come close to "covering" my mast because it mounts on one side. I ended up buying 3 of them and creating a special triangle bracket holding them in such a way that they cover about 8-10 inches of sky over the mast. That being said, they seem to do the job very well. I am a lot less fearful of lightning after being passed over the last 3 months of storms. Saw lightning hit a shorter mast about 1500 ft away and avoid me entirely. Wish they made one that was 12-18 inches in diameter on a 1 inch rod.

La guardo pero no la he instalado aun

It is well made and may be helpful in preventing a lightning strike. From the research I did, I felt that it would and installed it. Unfortunately it is too short and you will have to fabricate an extension. For it to work (even the instructions say so) it needs to extend at least a foot higher than your VHF antenna. But it's the same length as your antenna. Since your antenna is installed at the top of your mast, this needs to be at minimum a foot longer. I installed mine on a 3 foot extender rod. Disappointing that such an incredibly obvious fix is required! If it wasn't for that issue, I'd give it five stars. If I hadn't already purchased it and could no longer return it, I would have gotten a similar device from another source that was longer.

I researched this, and learned a lot about lightning in the process.Your mast should be well grounded to the water for protection from a strike. That means the massive amount of image charge in the sea water flows through a low resistance path to the tip of your mast. You mast head will have the same potential as the surrounding sea.....and due to its shape, it will have a high electric field. Bleeding off a bit of charge into the atmosphere will not lower that potential. The idea of bleeding off charge to lessen the probability of a syndrome is compelling, but it just won't be enough.Ground you mast, disconnect your electronics, hope for the best, and save your money.BTW, Practical Sailor has a nice review of this product.