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Category: Travel
To use your watch as a compass, one must think in terms of the ordinary clock face. That is, a round clock with numbers 1 through 12.
When you need a rough compass, simply point the hour hand (or the part of your watch where that hour would be if it wasn‚t digital) at the sun.
Half way between that point and the 12:00 point on your watch points to the south. For example, if it is 8:00, point the 8 at the sun and south would be at the 10:00 position.
This will work, even if it is a cloudy day and you are not sure where the sun is. To find where the sun is, simply hold a pencil or stick upright over a light piece of paper or a lighter part of the ground or a light rock. Even on a cloudy day the stick or pencil will cast some kind of shadow.
As in using any compass, you'll need to keep rechecking which way is south. If you want to go east, simply go at a 90 degree angle to the right of south. North is opposite from south. West is 90 degrees to the left of south.
To reduce the number of times you have to recheck directions, once you have determined which way you want to go, look as far ahead as you can and pick out some prominent point, tree, rock, cliff, etc. and keep heading for that feature. (This is a good practice even if using a regular compass).
If you are not sure which way is 90 degrees; the following trick will help. Stand with the heels of your feet on an imaginary N/S line with your toes facing more or less east (or west if that's the way that you want to go), hold your arms out at shoulder height and parallel to the N/S line,
close your eyes, then bring your two hands together by swinging your arms to the front of your
body. Your hands will generally be pointing at a 90-degree angle from the N/S line. Its
important to keep your eyes closed so as not to bias where your hands meet.
(These are some tricks that I learned as part of my US Forest Service work.)
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Submitted By
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ahunter |
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I am a 56 year old Forestry type person. |
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