2G wrote on 9/28/2019 3:30 PM:
Lightning rods aren't used to conduct the current of a strike, but to dissipate the high electric field created before the strike, which prevents the strike from occurring (this is why you don't see large gauge wire going to the rod).

I've read and heard several times that lightning rod systems can and do conduct a
lightning strike to ground. For example:

"A lightning rod is very simple -- it's a pointed metal rod attached to the roof
of a building. The rod might be an inch (2 cm) in diameter. It connects to a huge
piece of copper or aluminum wire that's also an inch or so in diameter. The wire
is connected to a conductive grid buried in the ground nearby."

https://science.howstuffworks.com/na...lightning7.htm

I'm sure some of them also work as you described, and that the system design
depends on the what's being protected and where it's situated.