Topband: how to hear through static crashes?

[Robin]

Maybe this is a good time to share the techniques we individually find successful for
hearing through the giant sparks.

Directional receive antennas, obviously,

Receiver AGC?
IF bandwidth?
IF and RF gain distribution? (includes antenna preamps)
what classes of digital processing do better?
what's the best way to keep the receiver processing from ringing and increasing the
effective duration of the crash?
noise blanker performance?
post receiver audio processing?
can you let the IF strip "clip" in a modern receiver and be an effective "peak limiter"
without serious ringing?

What do YOU do?  and with which receiver?

some shared experience might remind all of us of things to try to hear when the big sparks
are flying

Robin, WA6CDR