Finding north with a wristwatch, having trouble.
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Well it does that on two days of the year, that is at the equinoxes.
And your latitude.
Not only do you need to know how how accurate you need to be, but you need to know how accurate are your approximations, and where and when they can be used. The wrist watch method and the sunrise/sunset directions are approximations, and much of the time not good ones. There are parts of the world where at times they are of no use at all. In the arctic circles, at some times of the year the sun neither rises nor sets. Either it just goes around you all day, or you don't see it at all. In the tropics, the midday sun never strays far from overhead. Inbetween the tropics and the arctic circles, things can get intersting. It's all in the book.
Same arguements could be used against the accuraccy of a magnetic compass.
Yup. A little ways north from you it's all over the place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mv-world.jpg
Hmmm, The watch method of navigation!
Not too sure if anyone will come back to this forum so late in the year however here goes.
When I teach the watch method I tell students it is a quick method to be used when traveling through the day in our thick Canadian bush to roughly locate south. Being as it is a very rough method in its concept to help make it more accurate only use it around three hours before and three hours after midday. Early morning and afternoon are (presuming you are in a survival situation) periods when you should be putting up camp or carrying out general duties such as building shelters, drinking water and sleeping. During the night be diligent and spot a star (north star!) mark its direction on the ground or on a prominent object that will set you off in the right direction in the morning until you can rely on the sun again. It is prudent to learn other ways to use natural objects or signs for wilderness navigation.
Not too sure if anyone will come back to this forum so late in the year however here goes.
When I teach the watch method I tell students it is a quick method to be used when traveling through the day in our thick Canadian bush to roughly locate south. Being as it is a very rough method in its concept to help make it more accurate only use it around three hours before and three hours after midday. Early morning and afternoon are (presuming you are in a survival situation) periods when you should be putting up camp or carrying out general duties such as building shelters, drinking water and sleeping. During the night be diligent and spot a star (north star!) mark its direction on the ground or on a prominent object that will set you off in the right direction in the morning until you can rely on the sun again. It is prudent to learn other ways to use natural objects or signs for wilderness navigation.
I've got a compass and GPS in my belt pouch, a compass on my key ring and a button compass in my match-safe. My watch may run out of battery or I might lose it. Less likely to lose all compasses.
Point hour hand (the short one) at the sun
Bisect the angle between this and the number 12 on the watch face
This will be pointing you south.
Bisect the angle between this and the number 12 on the watch face
This will be pointing you south.
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From "How To Stay Alive In The Woods" by Bradford Angier (1956):
(a) the sun must be shining brightly enough to throw a shadow,
(b) the timepiece must be accurately set,
(c) it must show the local standard Greenwich time.
The watch we lay face up with the hour hand pointing directly toward the sun. This can be checked by holding a twig or pine needle upright at the edge of the dial, whereupon it should angle a shadow directly along this shorter hand.
South with then be midway along the smaller arc between the hour hand and twelve o'clock.
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It's worth noting that you can use a digital watch for this. Just note the time and draw a picture depicting an analog watch with the time.
(a) the sun must be shining brightly enough to throw a shadow,
(b) the timepiece must be accurately set,
(c) it must show the local standard Greenwich time.
The watch we lay face up with the hour hand pointing directly toward the sun. This can be checked by holding a twig or pine needle upright at the edge of the dial, whereupon it should angle a shadow directly along this shorter hand.
South with then be midway along the smaller arc between the hour hand and twelve o'clock.
**************************
It's worth noting that you can use a digital watch for this. Just note the time and draw a picture depicting an analog watch with the time.
Even this is wrong I'm afraid. Just leave the computer and try it in the morning and again in the evening. It doesn't work.
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The watch "compass" was only ever the roughest of guides to direction, just like "the sun rises in the East and sets in the West".
Both are highly inacurate but when combined with other nav hints from nature they should be good enough to stop you wandering in circles ... and that is about it!
Both are highly inacurate but when combined with other nav hints from nature they should be good enough to stop you wandering in circles ... and that is about it!
See this article, and further links from there, on Chris Malloy's "Graves' Bushcraft" site for a sun clock/sun compass.
Also try googling "Bagnold Sun Compass" and/or "LRDG Sun Compass". The Long Range Desert Group used sun compasses on their vehicles during WW2 in the desert as regular mag. compasses don't work so well in steel vehicles.
This article on the Viking Sun Compass is also of interest.
Also try googling "Bagnold Sun Compass" and/or "LRDG Sun Compass". The Long Range Desert Group used sun compasses on their vehicles during WW2 in the desert as regular mag. compasses don't work so well in steel vehicles.
This article on the Viking Sun Compass is also of interest.
Great info on those links bearbait, thanks.
Sigh. I'm confusing myself now. Checked today at 6:30AM and 3PM and it worked with north being at the end of the line on each occasion.
Maybe it changes based on the time of year? Maybe it only doesn't work around 6 (makes sense). Or maybe I was just wrong about it not working? I've been over and over it so many times now...
Sigh. I'm confusing myself now. Checked today at 6:30AM and 3PM and it worked with north being at the end of the line on each occasion.
Maybe it changes based on the time of year? Maybe it only doesn't work around 6 (makes sense). Or maybe I was just wrong about it not working? I've been over and over it so many times now...
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